Huge Compost pile Questions

Yep, you got that right. Nitrogen makes it hot!

When I have unfinished compost (edges) I rake back the mulch and just lay it on top of the bed and leave it. Though if there is a lot (of unfinished) I top spray it with fish fertilizer early in the spring. It is gone very quickly. Though you have gone to all of the work to get a compost pile going I would use it to make great compost and Inject the pile with fish fertilizer with a root irrigator hooked to your hose and fertilizer dispenser. If the dog run is not concrete at its base that should cook in the months of March and April making great compost for early May.

Check out the thread on effectivemicroorganisms. You could spray with an EM solution.

There are a lot of advantages to doing this.

katiebear

Fish fertilizer is good stuff I just bought some more, but have never used it on the compost pile.

bwilliams,
i also made what I thought was a huge pile until I saw yours!! I now have PILE ENVY!!
I am in Mich. My pile is frozen on top but still warm in the middle (4'x8'x8') I have two going.
I too use coffee grounds they do add an acidic base. I also feel (from composting for neigh on 20+ years!) you can put the semi composted leaves straight in the soil..BUT not in soil you plan on planting or sowing in.
In established plants you can work leaves in the soil. But remember anything that is left WHOLE will MAT together and stay wet and possibly mold or rot a plant root. So your having shredded most of this material (it did not look like they were shredded in the one picture) you could add that with NO harm.
I my self used wood chips because they were free, to build a 120 ' long berm along one side of my house. it took a full 3 years to decompose to the point of planting in it but the soil is INCREDIBLE in the areas where I have given up on delivered TOP SOILS and MIXED Peat/Sand soils!! Nothing in my yard has the fertility that a composted soil from leaves or wood chips has!! You have a veritable GOLD MINE of soil going there!! One more suggestion is to mix in a few yards of your top soil. It adds necessary soil bacterias to break the mix down faster. I add egg shells, coffee grounds, fish parts, and left over vegetables, soil, grass clippings (nitrogen) and leaves (carbon). I have great success as will YOU!!
In fact you could give all of us your address if you don't have a place for all you are makingLOL! LOL!!
Your tropical plants are stunning!!! Beautiful plants!! I'm not so sure you NEED any help looks like YOU know what you are doing!! You do it well!
But i would suggest you turn your wood chip pile. It will also heat up much faster!!! If that is the point.
And I never seem to need trace minerals IF the material is broken down. If you plant in partially decomposed material you WILL have to add some nutrients/ nitrogen to the soil as the PROCESS it self uses available nitrogen in the of "COOKING" the material.
Julie another compost crazy gardener!!!

Fish fertilizer is good because it is delivered deep to the pile and is high in Nitrogen. I can't keep the cats, and dogs out of it though. That is why I don't use it in the garden directly. But the compost is perfect to heat up the pile. The root irrigator gets it down where my dogs can't get to it.

LOL! I know I've watered some plants with the liquid fish and I've noticed more neighborhood cats around.