How to Know Compost Is Ready: The Most Obvious Signs
If you want to learn about composting, you need to learn about how to know compost is ready. Most people know that composting takes a while, but not many of them know the exact time to do the whole thing. The knowledge of how to tell when your compost is ready can be handy, so you won’t make any mistakes when you do your own composting.
Basic Knowledge about Composting
The first thing in learning about how to know compost is ready is to understand the whole process. When you want to decompose something, it will take time. Nature has its own timeline and way to recycle and decompose stuff. Basically, compost would be ready when animal and plant matter is broken down to smaller and tinier particles, so they can be absorbed by the soil.
You can do the process, but you can’t really rush the composting timeline. The best thing to do is to help Mother Nature speed up the process, but that’s the best thing you can do. After you do it, you can rest and wait. Let everything play out on its own.
Shape and Form Recognition
When you throw in your kitchen waste and scraps, they will break down and decompose. The problem is: different kinds of item lead to different decomposition timeline. Do you know that a banana peel or an apple core only takes around a month (two months, top) to decompose? Meanwhile, orange peels need around 6 months to completely decompose. A seed for mango even takes a year (give or take) to decompose. So, as you can see, different things have their own different time for rotting.
If you want to help make the process go faster, you can do some of these things: Cut the peels (veggies or fruits) to smaller chunks. It will help speed up the decomposition process. Add up compost microbes (a teaspoon would be enough) once a week so the decomposition rate will be stable and intact.
The key take in how to know compost is ready is the fact that you shouldn’t be able to recognize your food waste anymore. If you can still recognize the shape or form, then your compost isn’t ready just yet. In the event you have bigger bones or seeds, you may need several cycles so everything will decompose completely. When it happens, you can pick it (by hand or manually) and then put it back into the compost.
The Right Texture
When compost is ready, it should look moist with a crumbly and loose texture. It’s somewhat aerated with earthy smell, so it shouldn’t be smelly. When it’s compacted, soggy, or wet, then it’s not ready.
One of the most important things in making the compost is to occasionally stir the mix. Stirring the mix will make sure that there is no water left within the bin (decomposition tends to generate water) which can lead to soggy and wet results. Introducing oxygen into the mix will also help because you can have a faster process that is free from any odor, especially the unpleasant one.
What if your mix becomes too dry? You can add water. But don’t pour it. Just sprinkle the water. It should be enough to create a moist outcome.
Reduction in Volume
Another sign of compost is ready is the volume should be now half the initial one. You see, organic stuff will break down over time. When it happens, not only it loses the moisture, but the microbes will also break the waste down into tinier particles. That’s why the volume would be reduced to half. When you see this and you see the change in the texture, then you can be sure that your compost is set and ready.
The Sweet Smell
Ready compost should smell nice. As stated before, it should have this earthy fresh smell. Some people say that it smells like the forest. So, if your mix still smells bad or foul, it means that your compost still needs to go through a long process in the making. You may also want to check the bin (or the pit).
In the overall end, the process to turn scraps and waste into compost can be natural and even fun. You can also help Mother Earth clear out the landfill. So, when you are composting and you understand how to know compost is ready, the knowledge can be very valuable and also helpful.