HOT STUFF!

Anton Rosenfeld from Garden Organic explains how hot composting works and shares his top tips for getting the best out of the process

- Anton Rosenfeld

Hot composting is a rapid composting process that breaks down your materials much more quickly than the more traditional cool compost process. This means compost can be ready in as little as a month – but is it worth the effort?

IS HOT COMPOSTING FOR ME?

The main attraction of hot composting is that you produce something very quickly. Some believe it also creates a better product. Because it reaches a higher temperature, hot composting kills off weed seeds, perennial weed roots and plant diseases. It also produces a larger volume of material than a cool compost pile, which breaks down over a longer period.

Hot composting is only suitable for those that like to pay attention to detail. This is because you need to get the right mix and spend time chopping up material and turning it.

The slower, cool composting method is more suitable for busy people that like to bung a load of material on a heap and forget about it for a while! However, for a cool composting heap, you need to be more careful to exclude weed seeds, perennial weed roots and diseased material.

HOT COMPOSTING IN A HOME-MADE BIN 

1. The right mix: The ideal mix is one part high-nitrogen green materials, such as veg peelings and garden waste, and one part high-carbon brown materials such as wood chips or cardboard. You can also add more brown materials, up to a ratio of one part green to two parts brown, but experiment to find what works best for you.