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PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:12 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:47 pm
Posts: 12
Location: Denton
Hi! :D

I was wondering something. We're looking into getting some organic compost to put on our lawn and in the flower beds.

Is healthy compost suppose to be black in color?

I saw a link here on this mb for a company in Dallas who sells alot of organic compost, but in their pictures none of it looks black.

I've been buying bags of "organic compost" from Lowes lately (which is black in color). I'm wondering if this is a healthy enough solution, but I'm also looking into alternative sources (because of trying to save money).

Thanks in advance!
~Paisley


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:17 pm 
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Location: Odenville,Alabama
No. Don't be fooled by those blackish looking, fancy, commercial composts in stores! Homemade compost can be any color from black, to dark brown, to dark orangish, etc. It's all based on the original organic matter used in the decomposition process.

My compost is mostly horse manure and untreated pine sawdust. Therefore it is mostly dark brown or dark orange sometimes, based on how long I let it rot.

Composts made from mostly leaves, tend to get blacker faster, but they can have let nitrogen in the mix than compost made from mostly greens.

Keep in mind also that humus is not the same as compost. Compost is ready when all the browns and greens are decomposed to a mostly homogenous state, dark in color, crumbly, cool to touch, and most of all pleasant in smell. In my case that can be from 2-6 weeks in decomposition in my bins.

Humus is the final stable end of all composts. It is black and crumbly. It is composed of mostly carbon and beneficial aerobic microbes, that consumed all the nutrients in the original organic matter into their microbial bodies. For me it takes over 6-12 months to make humus.

Humus is more of a soil conditioner. Freshly made composts are more of a slow release fertilizr, especially for growing vegetables.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton


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 Post subject: humas/compost
PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:41 am 
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Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:25 am
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Location: denton,TX
Please explain more about the difference between humas and compost. I hadn't realized there was a difference until I just read this post. Now I'm confused about when I should put my compost out and where.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:43 pm 
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Location: Odenville,Alabama
It's really quite simple:

Homemade compost, made from various "greens" and "browns", is ready for all lawn and garden applications, when it is not hot, not smelly, crumbly, and pleasant smelling. Period.

Based on hot you compost, if could take 2-8 weeks if you're an aggressive hot composter, or 6-12 months if you're a passive, cold composter.

Humus looks like black dirt. It is the ultimate final end of all forms of composting. It is mostly made of digested carbon, and healthy microbes, full of digested organic matter. Almost all the nutrients of the originial raw organic matter has been converted into totally insoluble non-available forms inside the complex humate molecules or the microherd.

Getting compost to look like humus is not necessary for vegetable gardening or lawn maintenance. Compost is decomposed just enough to be safe, healthy, and disease-free for all soil/plant needs, and it contains both soluble and insoluble forms of nutrients for available, and slow-release plant nutrients uptake.

Humus is used mostly as soil food source for soil conditioning.
Compost is used mostly for both soil building and for feeding crops over time.

Both humus and compost will definitely improve the soil, and feed soil microbes and earthworms.

The sustainable farmer needs to be better informed which form of these versions of decomposed organic matter, best fits what he or she is trying to accomplish, in the sustainable farming environment.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:50 pm 
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Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 10:51 pm
Posts: 747
Location: Garland, Texas
Well, try as I might I just can't muster up any further response than...

Yeah, what he said :lol: Thanks again Cap'n.

Cap'n Too bad you and your operation isn't in Texas, I would love to compare "end products" Of course, your products have a much more diverse component base. Are you still getting lots of "fish"?

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:11 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 11:14 am
Posts: 16
Location: Atoka,OK
Ok Captain I need help How do I push the compost or make hot compost
How fine do you need the material I have several bag of leaves that I added green grass and sugar and old jam and jelly to and cake mixes that had bugs in them I want to make compost to make compost tea for the hay fields
cowboysheart


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 Post subject: compost
PostPosted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:12 am 
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Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:25 am
Posts: 33
Location: denton,TX
Thanks for the tips. I will be adding more to the garden pretty soon now. :lol:


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:11 am 
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Yes, Mr. Clean, I'm still composting over 20 lbs of salmon and grouper fish scraps per week, with my regular tons of high carbon horse manure/sawdust/leaves mixtures.

Shredding is totally unnecessary for large stockpiles in my opinion. The increase decomposition speed factor in hot composting is totally a function of increased nitrogen and/or sugar additives, constant moisturization, and more constant aeration (but not necessarily constant turning).


Instead of turning all the time, (which is just as bad on mycorhizza fungi in a compost pile, as excessive tilling is on fungi in the soil), I use lots of high nitrogen and/or high sugary biostimulants on my stockpiles.

My favorites are manure teas, compost teas, urinated rainwater, etc.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:37 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:04 pm
Posts: 53
Location: Breckenridge,TEXAS
If you buy the Organic Compost, buy one bag and test it. I bought some Organic Compost from Wal-Mart this spring for $1.07 a bag. Black in color, spread it out, watered it in. Black disappeared revealing what seemed to be mostly sand with a little bit of gravel. Figured it was just something that was dug from a river or creek.


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