Posted: 8/16/2011 8:53:07 PM EDT
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This last Sunday I pruned a couple of oleander bushes. They were pretty big and I ended up with two green bins full material after I chipped the branches. Well tonight, a little over 48 hours later, I went to throw some kitchen scraps in the green bin and it seemed kind of warm. I put may hand ijust under the top layer and it was uncomfortably hot. Naturally I wondered how hot it was so I got a thermometer and down about 4" it is 136F!
I've read somewhere that compost is supposed to generate heat so here is the question: Is this bin of oleander chips composting (being digested by bugs or whatever) and getting this hot after only two days or is something else making the chips hot? |
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The natural bacteria on the leaves and branches are making the heat. You didnt dry them then stow them in a dry place. All bacteria needs is warm, damp, dark to thrive. That bucket will rot in a month for sure. Its the same thing when you make hay for horses, or cows. You cut it, let it dry in the sun for 2 days then bale it up before it rains and put it away in a dry barn. |
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Quoted:
The natural bacteria on the leaves and branches are making the heat. You didnt dry them then stow them in a dry place. All bacteria needs is warm, damp, dark to thrive. That bucket will rot in a month for sure. Its the same thing when you make hay for horses, or cows. You cut it, let it dry in the sun for 2 days then bale it up before it rains and put it away in a dry barn. Looking at your screen name, you must be a diesel enthusiast? |
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If it's wet, warm, and aerated, it can happen in 2-3 weeks. If not, it's a lot slower, or may never happen.
I build my compost pile up over the summer, and from it being dry, nothing happens AT ALL, and it just piles up taller. Through late fall, winter, and early spring, the decomposition happens, and everything "cooks down". |
One of the effects of decomposition is heat generation (exothermic reactions.) Hence the high heat in explosions - detonation is nothing more than rapid decomposition in the timeframe of milliseconds. 
In this case bacteria breaks down the material in a much, much slower fashion. 
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| I guess I was asking if there is some other way for a pile of chipped up branches to get hot. I mean it seems like two days is kind of brief for bacterias, or funguses, to be creating that much heat. Is there some other way for the stuff to get hot, that isn't biological? I guess the woody equivalent of rust? Can chopped up stems spontaneously react with air or do I just have to conclude that some kind of ferocious wood eating organism populated the green bin in only two days, and managed to heat up hundreds of pounds of woody debris to 135F? |
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Quoted:
The natural bacteria on the leaves and branches are making the heat. You didnt dry them then stow them in a dry place. All bacteria needs is warm, damp, dark to thrive. That bucket will rot in a month for sure. Its the same thing when you make hay for horses, or cows. You cut it, let it dry in the sun for 2 days then bale it up before it rains and put it away in a dry barn. I didn't dry them obviously. I have no interest in storing them longer than the day after tomorrow when the truck comes to take it away. I am having a hard time believing that bacteria's can be up and running and creating that much heat in only two days time. |
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Quoted:
The natural bacteria on the leaves and branches are making the heat. You didnt dry them then stow them in a dry place. All bacteria needs is warm, damp, dark to thrive. That bucket will rot in a month for sure. Its the same thing when you make hay for horses, or cows. You cut it, let it dry in the sun for 2 days then bale it up before it rains and put it away in a dry barn. True. Compost piles are usually kept out in the open, and turned over periodically so they don't rot. People usually build a cage structure to kep the pile somewhat contained so it doesn't just blow all over they place with the wind. This lets air transfer and the pile doesn't rot. |