How to Tend Your Compost Pile 4 of 7 in Series: The Essentials
of Composting A well-constructed pile can be left to rot on its
own timetable, rewarding you with useable compost in three to
six months. If you want to dig out black gold faster than that,
or if you didn't have quite the right mix of ingredients on hand
when you created your pile, you can speed the process by turning
and remoistening the pile and incorporating more ingredients as
needed. The following table touches on some possible problems
you may encounter when tending to your compost pile. |Slow
decomposition||Lack of nitrogen||Add "green" nitrogen-rich
organic matter.| |Slow decomposition||Poor aeration||Turn pile.|
|Slow decomposition||Too dry||Turn pile and remoisten all
materials.| |Slow decomposition||Pile too small||Add more
organic matter to increase pile size to 3–5 cubic feet (1–1.5
cubic meters).| |Slow decomposition||Cold weather||Insulate
outer pile with thick layers of cardboard, sod, straw, or
leaves. Use a compost bin style with