Hi everyone,
I’m completely new to composting and just started my first compost pile. I recently measured the temperature and it’s around 50°C (122°F) After 7 days it reach to 55°C (131°F). I’ve read different things online, and I’m not sure if this is a good sign or if I’m doing something wrong.
There’s not much composting knowledge in my local community, so I’m relying on online guidance.
Can someone please tell me:
– Is 55°C a good temperature for a compost pile?
– Should I turn it now, or wait?
– What should I watch out for in the coming days?
Any tips for beginners would be really appreciated!
by Plenty_Trade8635
3 Comments
I never turn my piles, I only do static. Just move the top layer away when adding new material. 131 F is within the ideal temperature range. Honestly… no notes, keep up the good work 😊
This temp is great composting. At 140, the weeds seeds(if you have any) will start to breakdown, so more heat might be better
The temp is great. But remember that’s only in the hot center. The outside of the pile, (most of your pile) is not that temperature.
So you want to rotate the hot center to the outside and the cool outside to the inside.
There’s really great info in Dr. Elaine Ingham’s YouTube videos about the Berkeley method.
I usually build a new pile and leave it alone for ten days and it will get up around 140°F in the center.
I’ll turn it by removing the top 1/3 of the pile and putting that to the side temporarily.
Next I take the middle 1/3 of the pile which contains that hot center and I move that about a few feet over from my previous pile and construct my new pile using that middle 1/3 as my new bottom of the new pile and I may add water if it’s too dry. (Often times it will be very dry because it’s been very hot.
Next I take that first top 1/3 of the old pile and place it as the new middle of the new pile and water it if it needs.
Next thing is to take the remaining bottom of the old pile and put it as the new top of the new pile.
And again I may water that if needed. (Usually needs it)
Now I have successfully turned my pile and I place my thermometer back into the pile so that the tip of the stem is in the center of the pile.
In about 3 days I expect the center temp to be back up to 130-140°F and I’ll turn it all again using the same procedure so that effectively the top moves to the middle and the middle moves to the bottom and the bottom moves to the top as described above.
3 more days and I’ll check the temp and if it’s above 130° I’ll do it again.
After 5 flips you can be assured that you’ve successfully ran every part of your pile through that hot phase and killed all of the pathogens and weed seeds.
At that point you can let the pile finish and cool off to ambient temps which may take a number of months.
As it cools it will gradually start picking up fungal development so that by next spring you should have a good 50/50 mix of bacterial to fungal microbes that will be very good compost for any applications and you’ll know that you put the entire pile through that hot center and killed all the pathogens and weed seeds.
I find this assurance worth the efforts of turning 5 to 6 times worthwhile of my time and energy.
For me the Berkeley method gives me the weed free pathogen free compost that I want.
https://youtu.be/Q9YuUDyE0JE?si=gXvvAQB8pH0EpjeS