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If composting material is high in carbon, such as tree branches, they need to be broken up, with a mulcher for example.The compost heap needs to be 1m x 1m (3′ x 3′) wide and roughly 1.5m (5′) high.The C:N (carbon:nitrogen) balance in the composting materials is approximately 25-30:1.Compost temperature is maintained between 55-65 ☌ (131-149 ☏).The requirements for hot composting using the Berkley method are as follows:
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The hot composting method, known as the Berkeley method, developed by the University of California, Berkley, is a fast, efficient, high-temperature, composting technique which will produce high quality compost in only 18 days. In contrast, cold composting is slow anaerobic process (without oxygen), it’s a different chemical process, and as a result, nitrogen and carbon are lost to the atmosphere, which causes a reduction in the volume of compost to 20% of the original volume. Hot composting is a fast aerobic process (uses oxygen), so given volume of compost materials produce almost the same volume of finished compost. The other issue with cold composting is that it produces a coarser compost, with lots of large pieces of the original materials left over in the compost when the process is completed, whereas hot compost looks like fine black humus (soil), and none of the original materials are distinguishable. This process breaks down the material much better to produce a very fine compost.īy comparison, the slower cold composting methods will NOT kill disease pathogens or weed seeds and roots, so if this compost is put into the garden it may spread weeds and plant diseases, hence the common advice not to (cold) compost diseased plants. It will effectively destroy disease pathogens (such as powdery mildew on pumpkin leaves), weed seeds, weed roots (such as couch and kikuyu) and weeds which reproduce through root bulbs (such as oxalis). The other approach to composting is hot composting, which produces compost in a much shorter time. The Difference Between Hot and Cold Composting But there’s a better way to do composting… It can be sped up by turning the compost, that is, moving around the material at the bottom of the heap to the top and vice versa to mix it up and get more oxygen in there, but it’s still a long wait. It’s a very slow process and typically takes 6 to 12 months. Regular composting, also known as cold composting, involves placing a variety of organic materials in a compost bin, enclosure, or even just in a large heap, and leaving it there until it breaks down several months later.