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Home >> Plants >> Composting >> Compost Methods and Techniques

Homemade Compost Accelerator

By Joan Clark

Composting is a fantastic way to reuse and recycle organic waste like kitchen scraps, grass clipping material, and dry leaves. Yet, it’s discouraging when your pile stops efficiently breaking down your food and garden waste. When your hot compost pile starts to underperform, a homemade compost accelerator helps.

Hot composting relies on the perfect conditions inside your compost heap, tumbler, or bin to make an ideal environment for decomposition. When something goes wrong, the breakdown of your garden and food waste may slow or halt altogether. A DIY compost accelerator rebalances your system, supports the existing microbes, or encourages new ones to increase the rate at which finished compost is produced.

Whether you compost to enrich your garden soil, make compost tea, or dispose of your kitchen waste responsibly, it’s crucial to keep the composting process moving. Make your own compost activator to keep your pile working effectively and foster the perfect conditions to make high-quality, organic fertilizer for your houseplants and garden.

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Table Of Contents
  1. Make Your Own Compost Activator at Home
    • Why Do I Need a DIY Compost Accelerator?
    • Homemade Compost Accelerator
    • Urine is a Compost Booster
    • Use a Homemade Compost Starter Recipe
    • Commercial Compost Catalyst Products

Make Your Own Compost Activator at Home

The goal of compost piles or a compost bin for the kitchen is to speed the decay of organic matter into finished compost with the help of microorganisms. The beneficial bacteria in your compost heap process organic material by performing aerobic respiration. Part of a beginners guide to composting includes learning how compost works.

A homemade compost accelerator usually works by supporting these microbes as they hasten the decomposition process or by correcting an imbalance in your pile’s carbon to nitrogen ratio, whether you are using a compost tumbler, bin, or have a pile in the yard.

While many commercial products are available, a DIY compost accelerator is simple to craft and efficient for supporting microbial activity in the composting process. Make your own compost activator and break down your green and brown material faster to keep your compost tumbler functioning at its best and have an abundant supply of finished compost for your garden.

Why Do I Need a DIY Compost Accelerator?

There are several reasons why your compost pile may be sluggish. Composting is a straightforward process requiring only a few basic parameters. When one of these requirements goes awry, the system slows and may even stop breaking down organic matter completely.

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Compost System Requirements

  • Enough volume to retain heat
  • Moisture
  • Aeration for microbial respiration
  • Controlled carbon to nitrogen ratio
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Keep your pile or the contents of your bin or tumbler at no less than three cubic feet to ensure it generates enough heat to function and is damp, not wet. A compost pile is simple to maintain but does need some care. Turn or tumble weekly and add brown to green materials in a 3:1 ratio to keep the composting process moving.

Homemade Compost Accelerator

Many everyday items are ideal to use as a compost accelerator as a way to make compost faster so you can put it out in the garden. Commercial boosters are less budget-friendly and variable in quality. Use simple things to kick-start the composting process and get your tumbler back to peak performance.

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Compost Additions to Speed Decomposition

  • Coffee Grounds
  • Hair
  • Feather meal
  • Blood meal
  • Alfalfa
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These products are easy to obtain, and you likely have some of them at home. Use these additions to heat your compost pile to rejuvenate the beneficial microbes and move the composting process along. In addition to a leaf composting solution, these additions are ideal for your compost heap.

Urine is a Compost Booster

Try adding urine if your compost bin is slow to break down your compost material. Though it might seem counterintuitive, urine is a free compost accelerator and works surprisingly well to stimulate the decomposition process.

Urine is an underappreciated yet excellent source of nitrogen that is accessible, renewable, and cost-free. An excellent natural fertilizer and compost activator, the urine of all animals contributes significantly to the nitrogen cycle on Earth.

Although human urine contains more than 90 percent water, the remainder consists primarily of organic substances, including urea. Urea is used as fertilizer in agriculture.

The average NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) value of our urine is 11-1-2.5; it has considerable amounts of nitrogen. This liquid nitrogen is the fastest method to ignite a slow compost pile.

As long as you are not on any medications, it is perfectly okay to urinate on your compost. The optimal time to collect urine for your pile is in the morning when urea concentrations are at their maximum.

Use a Homemade Compost Starter Recipe

If you notice chunks of matter in your compost bin that aren’t decaying or your pile seems cold, try this simple compost booster to start the decomposition process. Skip unknown ingredients and toxic compounds and rely on a straightforward homemade mixture to renew your pile.

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DIY Compost Accelerator

  • 12 oz flat beer
  • 12 oz cola
  • 1/2 cup ammonia
  • 1 gallon warm water
  • 5-gallon bucket
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Ensure the beer and cola are at room temperature or slightly warmer, and add them to the bucket with the other ingredients. Stir until the solution is thoroughly mixed, and spray or pour it over the compost pile. Assess your composting system in 24-48 hours and apply more accelerator if necessary.

Commercial Compost Catalyst Products

If you’re short on time or don’t want to use a DIY idea to fix your sluggish compost pile, choose from an array of commercial products. There’s something for every system, from a microbial inoculant to introduce new microbes to your compost bin to supportive nitrogen and carbon mixtures to jump-start the microbes you already have.

Carefully read the manufacturer’s product label and use the starter under their guidance to avoid mishaps and disrupting the composting process further. Avoid harmful chemicals and choose natural products like Jobes Organics compost starter or bokashi bran to keep your finished compost natural and chemical-free.

Composting is an intelligent way to cut down on food waste and generate free natural and organic fertilizer for your garden. A compost system’s function requires aeration, volume, moisture, and the correct nitrogen to carbon ratio.

Sometimes, even the best-maintained compost system gets out of balance. Signs of an imbalanced compost pile include slow decomposition and chunks of unprocessed waste. Don’t panic when your compost pile slows down. A homemade compost starter boosts microbial activity and generates more finished compost and then you can make the best compost tea recipe or use the compost itself to benefit garden plants.

The composting process in a compost heap breaks down organic material to make finished compost. When your compost pile is slow, try a compost activator to break down more compost material. Use a compost catalyst like urine, coffee grounds, or a DIY mixture. #homemade #compost #accelerator
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