- Choose a warm and warm location.
- Deposit a layer of dry and woody materials at the bottom of the composter (straw, dried leaves, pruning remains, ...), and on that layer add mature compost, already made, or a little manure, so that the microorganisms that They have started the process on the new material.
- Alternate in the composter layers of wetter materials (fresh crop residues, grass, ...) with drier materials, and occasionally include some layer of old compost or manure.
- Regularly it will be necessary to remove with an aerator , to mix well its content and to aerate it, so that it improves the decomposition of all the components, mixing especially the areas closest to the lateral ones that dry before.
- If we see that the mixture of the different materials over time is very dry, we can water it and even add some biostimulant such as nettle slurry.
- To incorporate fresh material into the compost that has been processed for some time, it would be advisable to make a hole in the material by depositing the new material inside it and covering with drier materials.
If everything went well and we have thoroughly removed the mixture, at 4 or 6 months in the lower layers of the composter , the fermentation and decomposition will be finished so we will obtain high quality compost prepared for use . In the case of composters that have a lower door they have the advantage that as the process is completed in the lower layers they can be unloaded and continue filling up.
We will have to control the humidity of the mixture to allow the microorganisms to work properly. To know if the humidity is adequate, we will take a handful of the material and tighten it. If it is wet and only drips one or two drops, it has the correct humidity. If it is very dry we should add water little by little. If it drips a lot, it means that there is plenty of water, which prevents good aeration of the battery, which can lead to rotting processes and bad odors.
Domestic composting is usually done by the passive method, that is to say without an exhaustive control of the temperature of the battery, although this is usually between 35 and 55 º C, sufficient temperature to eliminate most of the pathogenic organisms.
