Do I need to inoculate my compost pile?

[Owdboggy]

Our heap has millions of wood lice, worms, spiders, slugs (decomposing material eating types) even at this time of year. I turn it once in its life time and we get really good material. However at this time of year there is a lot less activity than in the warmer months.
As long as the stuff is not smelling rancid, then just leave it until you get some Spring sun on it.

 

[alp]

Now I know what organic activator is made of - woodlice! And I bought several boxes!

 

[DirtMechanic]

Mix a cup of 48-0-0 into a 5 gallon bucket of water. Drench it. Plus remember, these are bioactivities and are temp sensitive. >50f ambient is a minimum for what you are doing so "chill" and it will be ok

 

[Purrfluff]

I'll take a tape measure out to the heap tomorrow. I still don't think it's more than a foot deep. I could shovel the compost from one end and plop it onto the other. It couldn't hurt. The compost pile rests on the bare dirt, not a container.

I am hoping to add significantly to the heap in the spring. Once the lawn starts growing again I intend to dump a lot of grass onto the heap. I stockpiled a significant quantity of shredded fall leaves as "browns."

Aside from that one worm I haven't found a single living critter in the heap. They may be there but too small for me to notice.

Should I get some worms from a bait shop and dump them in there? Will that help?

 

[MaryMary]

Should I get some worms from a bait shop and dump them in there? Will that help?

No, you will be wasting your money. Google tells me it's too cold there. Wait for Spring, like the rest of us!

Red wiggler worms thrive in temperatures between 55° and 75° Fahrenheit (12° to 24° Celsius). (...snip...) If your worm bin conditions are too cold, worms may congregate together in a ball that looks like ground hamburger meat to keep each other warm. If temperatures drop below 40° Fahrenheit (4° Celsius) for extended periods of time, your worms will die.
https://naturesfootprint.com/community/articles/worm-bin-temperature/

The Science of Composting
There are different types of aerobic bacteria that work in composting piles. Their populations will vary according to the pile temperature. Psychrophilic bacteria work in the lowest temperature range. They are most active at 55° F and will work in the pile if the initial pile temperature is less than 70º F.

Do you have a temperature probe? If so, stick it in the pile at a couple places, then let us know the highest and lowest temps. That will help determine your next step.

Meanwhile, in the Portland area, you should be able to find a Starbuck's. They collect coffee grounds for gardeners and give them away, just walk in and ask. Coffee grounds are a source of nitrogen, so if you need a bigger compost pile, that's a good (free!) resource. Get some of them, and you can use your stockpile of leaves now.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

We have large compost containers ( about 8ft x 3ft and deep) they are full of red worms. We add all kitchen waste ( not meat obviously), paper, card ,tea , coffee + garden waste keep it damp over the summer but cover with a lid. During the winter( most gets used ) leaves are added to it and mixed well in and then it gets well covered up using old carpet and corrugated iron sheets. This is then left untouched until spring and grass cuttings get addded. In the meantime we use our ' dalek' compost bins through the winter for the kitchen waste and other odd bits from the garden. This will eventually get mixed into the big containers in spring. But even in our ' dalek ' bins we find these red worms ,even on the lids! We have never had to add anything to them.....just leave mother nature to work her magic !

 

[roadrunner]

I'll take a tape measure out to the heap tomorrow. I still don't think it's more than a foot deep. I could shovel the compost from one end and plop it onto the other. It couldn't hurt. The compost pile rests on the bare dirt, not a container.

I am hoping to add significantly to the heap in the spring. Once the lawn starts growing again I intend to dump a lot of grass onto the heap. I stockpiled a significant quantity of shredded fall leaves as "browns."

Aside from that one worm I haven't found a single living critter in the heap. They may be there but too small for me to notice.

Should I get some worms from a bait shop and dump them in there? Will that help?

It's ok if the pile is not in a container, but when it's not in a container, the size of the pile is more crucial, because the outer perimeter of the heap acts as the insulation. If your pile is only a foot deep, that's definitely not deep enough, if it's creating any heat, it's quickly being lost to the atmosphere; you need to make a big pile, I'd say at least 4 cubic feet and since it's winter time you'd have better results with an even larger pile, despite your mild winters in Portland.

I would recommend against buying worms, you should have enough in your local area to get started with native worms. I live in very dry sandy area and much of my yard didn't have worms, because they just can't live in the sand. However, my yard is now full of worms, because I've created habitat. They use to live only in pockets of my yard around trees and the corners of the lot where yard debris would accumulate, but since mulching with yard waste, that created habitat and they naturally spread throughout the majority of my yard, but still some areas where they can't live, only because it's still sandy and unmulched.

You probably have the same species of worms found in British Columbia back in 2007 http://ibis.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/EarthwormsofBritishColumbia.html

 

[Purrfluff]

Yep, those look like our earthworms.

I actually don't think we have many earthworms in our soil. When I've dug up the ground before (in all seasons) I almost never find earthworms. My assumption is that our soil is so clayey that the poor little guys can't get through it.

If it stops raining for a while I'll get out there and measure the heap. I strongly suspect it isn't four cubic feet.

Is it possible to put not fully finished compost into my raised beds and still have it be useful?

 

[Bootsy]

I don't know much about the technical side of things but have been producing compost for over 50 years.

This is on open compost heaps and not in 'Daleks' and similar.

I put in virtually everything that I think would rot down or can add to the mix. A large proportion of my heaps (I have a lot of garden waste and therefore a lot of heaps) is made up of grass cuttings and leaves. Amongst this I add other green, non-woody, clipping and prunings (non-woody simply because I want to use the heaps fairly quickly), horse manure and ash from my bonfires (not too much ash).

I can't remember having seen any worms in my compost but I don't really look for them. As long as it rots down OK I don't worry about it. As I'm no longer fit enough to do too much heavy work I turn the heaps with a rotavator. This is much quicker and easier and gets done about once a month.

This area was emptied of compost last November and started to be filled with grass cuttings and leaves almost immediately afterwards and this is how it looked by the end of May. (If you're wondering why I have a large patch of nettles alongside it is because I leave it as a habitat for butterflies to breed, and at the end of the season they get cut down and put on the heap)

This was the last of that heap being turned, end of December, and then immediately spread onto the garden. The new batch of leaves for that heap are, to the right of the rotavator, will be spread into the bottom to start the new heap.

As these heaps are quite big they do generate heat but nothing particularly noticeable.

The horse manure is, of course, good nutrients for the heap and the ash (probably about a total of 4" deep on that heap) helps to keep a good consistency when spread through the heap. It also adds some potash.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Looks good @Bootsy We have a very large one too that is left mostly open. We do however seal it up during the winter. We live surrounded by farmland, woods and a large allotment that houses chickens and domesticated rabbits, so have over the last 35yrs found an increase in rats using our large compost heap as their winter home. Sealing it up for the last couple of yrs has thankfully eliminated the problem, the Daleks are only in use during these sealed up months and as they are stood on slabs vermin cannot gain access Can't beat home-made compost

 

[Bootsy]

We used to get rats but the use of bait boxes solved that problem. We also used to get rabbits making their home in the heaps but the regular turning of them and the use of the rotavator disturbed them too much and we don't see any sign of them anymore.

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Don't mind wildlife such as rabbits, deer etc ( we have loads) ...but not rats !!! I use to run a child daycare business from home and didn't what bait boxes around

 

[Bootsy]

The bait boxes are not accessible to anything but rats and mice.

I now have a rabbit fence and a deer fence but the rabbits occasionally find a way in. The badgers are kept out by a very occasional spraying of Jeyes Fluid around the boundaries. Apparently they hate the smell. Our badger expert, @zigs , gave me that tip

 

[Upsy Daisy]

I know , but still not good to have around very young children......and I'm sure OFSTED and the parents wouldn't have been too keen either

 

[roadrunner]

Yep, those look like our earthworms.

I actually don't think we have many earthworms in our soil. When I've dug up the ground before (in all seasons) I almost never find earthworms. My assumption is that our soil is so clayey that the poor little guys can't get through it.

If it stops raining for a while I'll get out there and measure the heap. I strongly suspect it isn't four cubic feet.

Is it possible to put not fully finished compost into my raised beds and still have it be useful?

I use my garden as my compost pile, because it's heavily mulched, I just dig down into the mulch and bury the stuff (in the mulch, not in the ground), making sure not to make a pile of it, which would increase the chance of it going anaerobic. So yes, perfectly fine to put in the garden, especially bits of wood. http://www.carryoncomposting.com/416920201

You'd never guess there is raw kitchen waste here in this picture....