Hot and Cold Compost

There are two major ways to make compost. You can cook hot compost or you can let nature decompose your cold compost. Hot compost is labor intensive, and cold compost is not.

Here's how you can make a good cold compost with little effort. Mix together some yard waste like cut grass,leaves, and weeds and heap them up in a pile. Now, wait 6 month to 2 years for microorganisms, earthworms, and insects to break down the material. As time goes on while you are waiting, add new material to the top of the heap. Occasionally, you could choose to turn the pile to keep the process nearer the six month mark rather than 2 year. Occasionally adjusting the moisture levels will keep you on a faster track to compost as well. The bottom of the compost heap finishes first and is not recognizable as what you originally used to make the heap.

  • Strengths of cold compost
    • Low maintenance
    • Can be built over time
  • Weaknesses of cold compost
    • Takes a long time to finish
    • Doesn't kill pathogens or weeds
    • May require filtering when complete
Hot compost heaps are discussed extensively throughout this website, so we will not go deeply into it here. We'll just examine some pros and cons

Hot composting is more labor intensive and requires you to monitor the compost environment regularly. Also, it requires a measured amount of browns and greens to keep your C/N ratio balanced. These points aside, you can make some highly fertile compost in a couple of months.

  • Strengths of hot compost
    • Makes compost quicly
    • Kills pathogens and weeds
    • Disposes of lots of material
  • Weaknesses of hot compost
    • Requires frequent turning
    • Requires attention to brown/green ratio
    • Very fertile but not as fertile as cold compost