Recycle nutrients by composting – a quick guide to start composting

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Composting is an excellent way to recycle nutrients and bring nutritious soil to your plot.

You can either choose a hot composter or a garden composter.

Garden composters are meant for raking waste and other plant components for example. They do not need a closed container, but a wooden frame is required. Food waste must not be placed into garden composters to prevent pests.

Hot composters are needed when food waste is composted. They need a closed container to prevent pests. If there is enough space, you can also place garden waste in a hot composter.

Here are instructions for starting composting with a hot composter.

What do I need to start composting?

Choose a suitable location for your composter. Please note that you will have to be able to reach the composter also in the winters. The composter must be placed at least five meters away from the neighbor’s plot. With the neighbor’s permission, the composter may be placed closer.

Acquire a good and suitably large composter. For a family of four, an approximately 200-liter hot composter is suitable.

Year-round composting of food waste requires an insulated, rodent-proof, and well-ventilated composter. The composter must be fully enclosed, with a base, walls, and a lid.

You will need compost mix that can be purchased from stores, or you can mix it yourself out of raking waste, wood chips and peat. Additionally, you will need a tool to mix the composter, such as a garden fork.

Why is composting worthwhile?

By composting, the decomposing waste breaks down into nutrients and soil. By composting, inhabitants of detached houses could save money as the frequency of waste collection can be reduced. Also, by composting you will gain nutritious soil conditioner in your yard.

You can use the soil created by composting to fertilize, for example, grass, bushes and plants or it can be used in flowerpots mixed with sand. If you are spreading compost soil on your vegetable patch, it is a good idea to mix it into the soil.

What can I compost?

You can compost any waste that decomposes, such as domestic food waste, vegetable and fruit peels and coffee grounds.

How do I take care of the compost?

Mix the compost 1–2 times every month. Place the same amount of compost mix into the composter as food waste.

Compost mix is sold in stores, but you can mix some yourself from, for example, wood chips, raking waste and peat. The compost mix binds moisture, improves airiness, repels flies and prevents odors.

What are good conditions for a composter?

The temperature in a well-functioning composter is between 30–50 degrees Celcius.

If the composter is too dry, the activities of micro-organisms stop. A suitable moisture level is 50–70 percent. You should add a couple liters of lukewarm water into a dry composter and mix it thoroughly.

If the composter is too wet, the compost will rot. Compost is rarely too wet, but you can prevent it by adding a lot of compost mix and mixing it.

How long does decomposing take?

In a well-functioning composter, waste decomposes in about two months so that the raw materials cannot be separated. Sometimes decomposing can take longer.

When organic waste has properly decomposed, the compost can be matured, for example, by gathering a pile of compost outside of the composter or, for example, thinly by the roots of bushes.

Finished compost is loose, dark-brown or almost black.

Problems and solutions

• There are ants in the compost
  This can be a sign of too dry compost. Remove any ant nest that may be present. Water with warm water and mix thoroughly.
• Compost freezes
  You can prevent freezing by piling snow over the walls of the composter for insulation. If the compost freezes, fill a plastic bottle or container with hot water and bury it near the top layers of the composter. Replace the warm water in the container frequently enough. The compost will melt by itself in the spring as temperatures rise.
• Compost smells bad
  Compost is never odorless, but strong, bad odors can be caused when very condensed food waste has been added into the compost repeatedly and it has not been mixed thoroughly enough. Alternatively, there might be too little compost mix.
• There are flies and fly larva in the compost
  Using a lot of compost mix and mixing often usually prevents flies. Wipe the fly larva off the sides and lid of the compost bin.
• Waste does not decompose
  There may be several reasons for this. The compost may be too dry, in which case it should be watered with lukewarm water and mixed thoroughly. The compost may also be too wet, in which case plenty of bulking material should be added and the compost mixed well. Another possibility is that the compost lacks nitrogen, in which case a nitrogen-rich material (such as nettle fertilizer/liquid nettle feed) should be added.
• There is mold and fungi in the compost
  Mold and fungi belong in the compost, you can leave them be.