If you are planning on creating a compost heap this fall, our Dr. Connie’s Compost Plus product can accelerate the decomposition of garden matter, leaves, grass clippings and kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost. Let’s take a look at the benefits of composting as well as how to use our compost accelerator.

Why Compost?

There are many reasons to consider composting. First and foremost, compost can be used as mulch and added to your vegetable garden, flower beds, houseplant pots, around trees and you can even brew a “compost tea” and use it to water your garden soil and plants.

Compost improves the health of your soil and improves water retention, so you can reduce your water use simply by adding compost. Compost balances the pH of your soil and increases the nutrient levels of soil, adding crucial nutrients such as potassium and nitrogen.

Additionally, when you compost, all of the leaves, grass and kitchen scraps don’t end up in the landfill. It’s true that these items eventually will decompose at the landfill, but it takes far longer for organic materials to decompose in a landfill. In order for organic matter to decompose, you have to create an aerobic environment, but landfills are anaerobic, which means that there is not enough oxygen to stimulate the decomposition process.

Great Items For Your Compost Pile

This is just a shortlist of the many items that you can add to your compost pile.

  • Vegetable Scraps (Some recommend not adding onions or cutting them into small pieces.)
  • Fruit Scraps (Limit citrus peels and ensure that these are cut into small pieces)
  • Coffee Grounds (Don’t add the filter, as these often contain chemicals)
  • Loose Tea (Skip the tea bags, as these also often contain dyes and chemicals.)
  • Eggshells
  • Leaves
  • Grass Clippings & Yard Trimmings
  • Houseplants
  • Hay/Straw
  • Wood Chips/Sawdust
  • Shredded Newspaper & Cardboard

 

The Composting Debate

The list of items you can add to a compost pile is lengthy, but there are a few items that you should avoid and a few where you need to take some extra care, including:

1. Meat, Fish & Poultry Scraps

Some caution against adding meat and poultry scraps to your compost pile, and this is mainly because these items can create foul odors and attract pests such as rats and raccoons. Additionally, raw meat scraps could contain E. coli or other bacteria.

When it comes to fish, this is a bit more complicated. Fish can be added to a compost pile and enrich the compost significantly. However, we do recommend that the fish be cut into small parts and mixed well into the center of your compost pile as this can deter pests from digging into your pile looking for the scraps.

Fish scraps also can smell, so perhaps limit the number of fish you add and don’t add fish to piles close enough to your home or backyard area where the scent could waft over.  Likewise, it is often recommended that you avoid adding dairy products, butter and oils to compost piles, as well. These also can become rancid and smell, and they also attract

2. Black Walnut Scraps

While black walnuts are lovely trees, their branches, bark and nuts should not be added to your compost heap. Black walnut trees excrete juglone, which is an allelopathic toxin that will poison many other plants. However, the fallen leaves of the black walnut can be used as compost because the toxin in the leaves will decompose quickly in your compost pile, especially with a compost accelerator.

3. Pressure-Treated Wood Scraps

Above, we listed wood chips and sawdust as items you can toss into your compost pile. While this is true, you should not add any wood or sawdust to your compost heap that includes pressure-treated woods. These wood products contain chemicals that won’t break down in compost and can be harmful if added to your yard or garden.

4. Pesticide-Treated Plants

If you are into organic gardening and organic yard care, your plants are likely safe for your compost pile. If you use chemical pesticides or herbicides, it can be wise to not add any pesticide-treated plants or grass clippings to a compost pile, especially if they will be used to grow food.

While there are some pesticides and herbicides that do break down in compost, others do not. If you use pesticides or fertilizers with clopyralid, aminopyralid or bifenthrin, any plant matter treated with these chemicals should not be added to a compost pile. If you use any chemical products on your plants and lawn, just be sure to research whether or not these chemicals break down in compost and whether or not they can harm certain plants.

5. Animal Waste

If you live on a farm or you have dogs or cats (or all of these wonderful creatures), their waste can be placed in some compost heaps. However, it is important to ensure that any compost pile with animal feces be used for non-consumable vegetation.

So, while animal waste can help fertilize your flowers and trees, don’t use it in your vegetable garden. Animal waste, especially dog and cat waste can contain parasites and bacteria such as E. coli so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

Compost Plus: Create Better Compost – Faster!

Our compost accelerator, Compost Plus, (also sometimes called a compost activator or compost starter) is an all-natural product that contains no chemicals.  Compost Plus is 100x more concentrated than the leading brand of compost accelerator and can be used in compost piles or compost bins.

The active ingredients in Compost Plus include all-natural, non-GMO active bacteria. These beneficial bacteria speed up the composting process, and they also reduce odors from kitchen waste.

To use Compost Plus, just sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the product per cubic yard of organic waste. Add enough water to the pile or bin to dissolve the Compost Plus and add moisture, but do not soak the pile.

Once you’ve added the Compost Plus, turn the pile once each week to ensure that oxygen gets into the compost. Sprinkle in more Compost Plus as you add layers, and add a bit of warm water if needed, but, again, do not soak the compost heap or pile.

Order Compost Plus Today!

In addition to our compost accelerator, we have a full line of Dr. Connie’s all-natural lawn and garden products. You can browse our entire line of Dr. Connie’s Natural Solutions at https://healthyponds.com/product-category/dr-connies/. If you have any questions about any of our products, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.

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Why Choose to Autoship?
  • Automatically re-order your favorite products on your schedule.
  • Easily change the products or shipping date for your upcoming Scheduled Orders.
  • Pause or cancel any time.