Making The Compost Pile: The Green And Brown

For making the delicious dish in the restaurant a chef needs to accurately measure the ingredients that have been used in the dish.

Same is the case with the compositing. The customers of compost will be the plants and the soil. So you have to ensure that you have mixed the proper amount of green and brown to make the compost dish successful.

Green and brown are the names that have been used for the organic materials that are used in making the compost pile.

It is not the color that differentiates the two organic components, but rather the composition. The green are rich with the nitrogen and the proteins while the brown is rich in carbon and carbohydrates contents.

Green allows the growth of the micro organism in the compost pile as they are rich with the nitrogen and protein. They are also been used in the compost pile for the heat generation. The brown components in the compost pile contain the energy needed by the soil organisms.

Brown also acts as the air filtrate due to the high amount of the carbon and also absorbs the bed smells that come from the compost pile. The brown also ensures that the nitrogen does not escape from the compost pile and also make sure that the humus is forming faster in the pile.

Do not decide the materials by the color. You can differentiate the materials by applying the simple test. All the materials that belong to green will be drown in the water after few days while the brown will float over the surface.

For instance, the leaves that come in the green, red and brown colors all belongs to the brown as they have high carbon contents. Similarly the Oak trees’ leaves do not fall under the brown category as they have high level of nitrogen and belong to the green family.

Green family also includes the grass clippings, wastes from the kitchen and the animal wastes. Grass clippings can only be used in the compost pile if you have not used any pesticides or the fertilizers. Green family also has members like vegetable and fruit wastes, eggshells, as well as coffee grounds, filters, and teabags.

While the Brown family contains papers, wood chippings, sawdust, bark mulches and other wood products. Sugar products are also the part of the brown family.

Sugar products can be comprised of molasses, syrups, sugar and carbonated drinks. Sugar products are very useful in activating and enhancing the microbes’ activities in the compost pile.

Hay, straw, pine needles and cornstalks also belongs to the brown category. The use of ore pine needles will boost up the process and are more advantageous for the brown family.

Compost pile can be successful only if you have used the correct ratio of brown and green. It is normally suggested that 3:1 is the best appropriate ratio, which means that three parts of brown and a part of green, which also means that carbon must be added in the three parts while one part of nitrogen will be enough for the successful creation of the compost pile.

 

Espoma CS3 Compost Starter