I’ve been layering veggie scraps (like sweet potato skins and greens) with shredded brown paper. I poked holes in aluminum foil as the lid for airflow and keep the jar wrapped in a paper bag so it stays dark.
After a few weeks, I started seeing white mold and (I think) some good mycorrhizal fungi—there was no bad smell at all, it actually smelled kind of like a forest, which I read is a good sign. I try to keep it balanced between “greens” and “browns,” and give it a little shake every now and then to keep it from getting too compact.
This has been a really fun side project for me. If anyone has tips or advice, especially about moisture or airflow in jars, I’d love to hear them!
by SadEditor893
11 Comments
I’ve never seen anyone do this before. Is this just a fun experiment, or is this how you are composting With the intention of using the compost? It kind of fun to see what’s going on!
first time seeing indoor mason jar composting
hell yeah
Any problem with fruit flies? Or other bugs?
wow – how neat!
Fantastic! Keep those next to the jugs of urine for easy access.
This looks fun!
You might also enjoy bokashi precomposting. I mix bokashi bran with food scraps in airtight mason jars so I can watch the fermentation. I have 12 jars going right now. It’s anaerobic and sealed, so you can have a collection indoors with no bugs or smell.
You didn’t add anything to help the compost along? I compost indoors with a 5 gallon bucket, but I add bokashi bran every layer. That ends up costing about $15 a month, so it would be nice to skip that step. Though I put everything including meat and cheese into my compost and I read that the bokashi is why I can get away with that indoors.
looks like some fire nugs dude
Small scale composting like this is great for compost worms. And it’ll stink a lot less.
Mychorizal fungi grows on or with plantroots, so bit unlikely to be that. Saprobic fungi decomposes ‘dead’ organic materials. So you most likely got something like that.
Airflow is important in this proces, as bacteria need to breathe to don’ the bizz.
Normaly i’d advice to pee on it, but i wouldn’t personaly in this case… 😆
Hey that’s dope!