One of the best ways of recycling organic waste and increasing fertility in soils is composting, consequently reducing your environmental footprint. Still, most experienced composters continue to make these twelve common mistakes that slow down this process and give less-than-perfect results. Here are twelve common composting mistakes and how to fix them to ensure that your compost is nutrient-dense and ready to nourish your garden.

1. Adding Meat, Dairy Products, Oils

Mistake:

Adding composting meat, milk products, and oils in the compost heap attracts pests and creates foul odors. Materials such as these are very slow to break down, making a drippy mess.

Fix:

Only confined, limited input of kitchen scraps should be restricted to plant material such as fruit and vegetable peels, fruit peeling, coffee grounds, and eggshells. If you must compost these, consider a more advanced system—a Bokashi bin—which is capable of doing this without attracting pests and causing odors.

2. Don’t Worry about the Carbon-Nitrogen Balance

Mistake:

To some extent, composting does require a carbon balance between such “brown composting material” as, e.g., leaves, straw, and cardboard and nitrogen-rich “greens,” including kitchen scraps and fresh grass. Too much of either one, and decomposition slows down.

Fix:

Mix in a ratio of about 3:1 browns to greens. Balancing the materials in this way will guarantee heat and an efficient break-down. If your compost is too wet and smelly, that is because there are too many greens. Add more browns. If it is dry and slow to decompose, with too many browns, then add more greens.

3. Forgetting Aeration

Mistake:

Composting is an aerobic process, meaning it involves oxygen. If the compost heap is not turned regularly enough, this will lead to anaerobic conditions with foul odors and delayed decomposition.

Fix:

At least once a week, turn over your compost heap to include some oxygen and mix up the contents. That will raise the temperature in the composting process and avoid the development of foul odors. If your heap is generally too big in size to turn, then you may want to go for a compost tumbler since that allows you to aerate the heap easily.

4. Sick Plants

Mistake:

If plants with diseases are brought into your compost, you risk transplanting the pathogen to your garden when you use the compost. Most compost piles never reach extreme temperatures that are involved in killing plant diseases.

Fix:

Excluding obviously diseased plants from the compost, either dispose of them with the municipal waste services, or burn them if that is allowed where you are. To be ultra-cautious, compost at high temperatures by ensuring that the pile reaches 140-160°F or 60-70°C to kill most pathogens.

5. Ignoring Water Content

Mistake:

If too dry, then the compost pile breaks down very slowly. And if it is too wet, then it can be slimy and stinky.

Fix:

Dampen to the consistency of a wrung-out sponge. If too dry, sprinkle water at turn; if too wet, add dry browns such as straw or shredded newspaper and turn more frequently to dry out.

6. Adding Weeds Gone to Seed

Mistake:

Adding weeds that have gone to seed to your compost pile could very well give you those same seeds sprouting the following season, the next time you spread compost in your garden. Most home compost piles don’t get hot enough to kill weed seeds.

Fix:

Never put any weedy material that has gone to seed into your compost. Instead kill the seeds by solarizing them in a clear plastic bag in the sun for several weeks before adding them to your compost.

7. Treated Wood and Sawdust

Mistake:

The treated wood and sawdust can hold chemicals that will harm your compost and garden. They leach into the soil, which may harm plants or other beneficial soil organisms.

Fix:

Only raw, natural wood and sawdust should be in your compost pile. Avoid anything that’s been painted, dyed or treated with chemicals.

8. Adding Big Chunks to the Compost

Mistake:

Big organic materials break down slowly and may hold up the rest of the process.

Fix:

Chop or shred larger items before adding them in your compost. This will increase the surface area and thus speed decomposition. Examples include breaking up branches and stems, and cutting up large fruit and veg peelings.

9. Too Many Grass Clippings

Mistake

Adding too much grass clippings at once can create thick compacted layers that shut out all the approaches of air and create anaerobic situations.

Fix

Grass clippings need to be mixed with other browns before putting them in the pile. Thin Layers must be applied to ensure space is maintained for aeration and to prevent compaction.

10. Not Preparing Kitchen Waste

Mistake

Mixing large, whole kitchen scraps will lead to very slow composting. It is much harder and takes a lot more time for decomposition to occur with whole fruits and vegetables than with small ones.

Fix:

Before you add this kitchen waste to your compost mix, be sure to shred it into smaller pieces. This easy step can speed up decomposition substantially and give you finished compost faster.

11. Glossy Paper in Composting

Mistake:

Many glossy papers and magazines contain inks and coatings not suitable for compost. Such material is most likely to add hazardous material in your compost.

Fix:

Composting plain paper and cardboard must be limited only to simple, non-glossy items. Shredded newspapers, office paper, and cardboard boxes must be added as browns. Avoid items with a glossy finish or those printed with heavy inks.

12. Not Checking pH Levels

Mistake:

Very high or very low values of pH inhibit this process and thus make acid or alkaline compost improper in a garden.

Fix:

Manure: The pH should always be kept neutral by balancing green and brown materials. In case the compost becomes too acidic, a little lime or wood ash will raise the pH. And if it is overly alkaline, then some slightly acid things like pine needles or coffee grounds will help bring down the pH. Monitor regularly, making adjustments to maintain the health of your compost.

Conclusion

Composting is both an art and a science because it requires some attention to detail and a bit of trial by error. Keeping out of these common mistakes, with their suggested fixes, will go a long way to keeping your pile healthy, active, and productive. Note that proper management of a compost pile is one of the ways for waste reduction and, at the same time, fertilizing your garden for more effective and sustainable gardening practices. Happy composting!