Temperature Monitoring
Ambient and Pile Temperature to be checked regularly. Probe Thermometer is stick 1/3 deep into the pile daily at different locations along the pile. Allow for ample time to each reading say 2 minutes in order to get more accurate results. Temperature readings shows the microbial activity in the piles.
Moisturing the Pile
Moisture content is to be kept at best in the right amount, that microbial activity will required during the process time. Too much water will block oxygen needed by microbes, and finally leads to anoxic condition. Picture below is the compost master (Mr. Konsalad) using all his see, smell, and touch senses to determine whether water is to be added to the pile or not.
Turning the Pile
First turning of the pile is generally done after 3 days of the start of pile, and weekly thereof until almost mature. Of course, Temperature and moisture will tell how often the mixture should be mixed.
Controlling Moisture
In rare season, when we experienced with too heavy rainfall, we could use compost covers to protect our pile from excessive moisture. The compost cover sometime is also used to protect birds’ droppings that comes with sort of seeds that could contaminate our compost. This special compost cover while shielding rainfall will allow for air movement in and out of pile. Windrow Turner normally have compost cover rollers to help rolling of cover at ease.
Reaching Final Stage
In approximate 45-60 days, the pile will reach almost stable temperature which indicate that compost is reaching its peak for use. However, some organics mixture are still persistent in pile, therefore we shall screen to separate those ready for use and portion that needs to go back to re-mix in new piles.
