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Sun or shade
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Author:  Navasota320 [ Tue Jun 17, 2003 2:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Sun or shade

I had a compost pile in Houston way before it was the thing to do. In fact the movers probably thought I was a total nut to have them cart all that wonderful stuff out to the country. I'm sure they don't get paid to move dirt very often. Now that we have moved to the country and have no shade trees I'm not sure if a compost pile will do well in total sunshine. Once you get into composting you feel sinful throwing anything away. Thanks for any advise, Kathy

Author:  Mr. Clean [ Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:15 pm ]
Post subject: 

Navasota320

My own pile is comfortably located in the shade, however HG has often said that effective composting can be accomplished in either sun or shade.

Paying to move compost materials :shock: That is dedication :D

Author:  drchelo [ Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:15 pm ]
Post subject: 

I have one of my compost piles in full sun...but I cover partially with plastic when it gets really hot and dry. One of my compost bins gets sun about 6 hours a day. The unprotected pile is the one I put weeds and dug-up plants that may have seeds that need a "hot" compost to kill the seeds. I get good compost from this pile, it just cooks more quickly that the others, perhaps because I pay more attention to it.
drchelo

Author:  CaptainCompostAL [ Wed Jun 25, 2003 7:30 am ]
Post subject: 

All of my composting is done in the shade.
I have a 4'x4'x12' pallet bin, plus several large stockpile windrows on the ground. My piles get so extremely hot, that I can make mature compost every 2-4 weeks.

The internal heat of composting has nothing to do with the direct sunlight and heat of the sun. All organic matter, especially greens, has collected photosynthesis sun energy locked up in the molecules of the decaying plant and animal material. (NOTE: Remember all living organisms get energy from plants from the food chain somewhere down the line.) As the microbes digest the organic matter into compost and ultimately humus, the stored energy gets released and converted into heat energy inside the pile. The heat is a waste product of microbes, but it also acts as a "sterilizer", hence cooking and breaking down weed seeds and mild toxins and pathogens too in the pile. These chemical, biological, and physical processes are basically nature's way of expressing the laws of thermodynamics: Everything in life moves from high energy to lesser energy, from more complex to less complex, from highly organized to less organized....

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