How to Make Aerated Compost with an Electric Leaf Blower | Forced Air Trial 

me too!

Update coming soon.

@@DiegoFooter ?

Found some updates: - July 2020 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nAWc-682_5s.html - Dec 2020 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1_7XQX-_c2g.html - May 2021 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3OCqdFTALDo.html

@@MichaelMantion ?!

@@DiegoFooter ?

I think that mix would work fine.

In this case the goal is the fasted break down of woodchips that is possible without adding anything but woodchips. Outside of the forced air this is how nature would do it - just structured a little differently. So the question is can nature work faster if we provide more optimum conditions.

Right, that's a good point on the AC effect. I will have to see if I can measure pile temperature and see how much it changes during the day.

Yes, that's down the line. I am not adding them as soon as Dr. DJ because I am using 100% wood chips and they take more time to break down, so I am introducing the worms later.

1. No, except the ones naturally there. 2. There is a results video.

@@DiegoFooter What's the results video's title? Not finding it!

In a few months I will dig into the surface and try to compare quality of breakdown. After the initial pile settling, I don't expect much of a drop.

@@DiegoFooter simple enough...

It's an interesting idea.

This Wednesday! 👍

Diego Footer star player!

What works well in wet rice patties isn't as likely to do well with plants that grow better in aerated soils. I trust aerated for the simple fact Paul Gauchi grows awesome plants in wood chips and his property never gets into an anaerobic state.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nAWc-682_5s.html

It’s does help balance the nitrogen to carbon ratio and helps minimize the drain of nitrogen that fresh mulch does to the soil it’s placed on. “Drunken compost” is another version with adding in additional sugars and microbes to help aid in decomposition. As well it’s like adding miracle grow into the mulch at the same time.

I don't think it needs that much water or that much air.

No

The volume of air to compost to moisture to carbon to nitrogen to finish compost is off which is why it didn’t compost in 3-6months. If you where to do a small pile instead of the barrel and used a 1” perforated pipe layered on top of raw dirt, surrounded by a layer of small particle wood chips that are apx the size of the wood shavings used for animal beds well soaked with water or compost tea that’s roughly 1’ wide. Then piled on your mix of well soaked carbon/higher nitrogen/finished compost and covered that with 1” of completely finished compost or soaked fine ground smaller sized wood chips sending 3minutes of air through every 30min. You’d let that sit sending air through for 6 weeks while monitoring the temperatures and adjusting the nitrogen levels based on the temperatures being seen. Then at the end of the 6 weeks you turn the pile while rewetting everything well. Repeat the air flow cycle. By the end of the second 6 week period you should see some really good decomposition. Because your soil is clay and is probably lower in the enzymes, bacteria and fungi I would suggest to use compost tea as the setting agent and or the drunken compost mixture to increase the microbes level within the pile. In short for every 1” of pipe you’d need 1’ of material and have to find a way to regulate down the volume of air being forced into the pile. It looks like your blower is over sized for the size of your barrel and you probably caused wet and dry cycles minimizing the amount of microbes eating the ingredients. I like mixing things up and alternating the compost tea with a molasses sea kelp mixture with a weed tea with a compost worm tea. This really creates a bio diverse environment. I also toss in the mushrooms I find in my yard under the trees in the grassy areas to help link the mew material with the already existing soil life.

With the size of the blower you are using in the video you’d have to add a manifold to cut back on the volume and force of the air going through it or increase the size of the pile and air pipe to a 4” and a 4-5’ wide pile that’s 4’ tall.

You could. Overall I don't think the forced air helps though - at least with wood chips.

Yes

@@DiegoFooter Thanks Diego. I found it.

You don't have to agree with this method, but writing it off as a waste seems a bit extreme. Also, sheet mulching doesn't work if you don't have an area to sheet mulch.

I would highly question the material and the quality of the material that he is getting out at the end. It sounds like he is getting broken down organic matter, not compost. The bacteria can only work so fast no matter how much oxygen you give them and they can't work that fast. Regardless more air wouldn't help on my end because I am breaking down wood chips which require fungi to break them down and they can only work so fast. The goal of composting isn't speed. It is to get a stable soil inoculant that has a high diversity and amount of microorganisms and that just takes time.

@@DiegoFooter Agreed - there is a huge difference in well-rotted compost and what you buy as compost these days which is more like brown sawdust.

No. I just let it drain out. I am trying to enough water to keep it moist, but not so much that it drains out. Given that I don't get a lot of leachate.

That seems like a limiting mindset to me.

@@DiegoFooter - We NEED to know if what you are doing will produce good results. What you are doing is necessary. If you can accomplish in six months what normally takes a year will make tremendous differences in what can be accomplished in the home garden and everywhere. Just "good enough" isn't good enough.

No, but I think it is lower that we would assume. Air is needed, not wind.

Can you link to what he was doing in India?

@@DiegoFooter - It is a youtube video. I have looked for it several times recently. I ran across it while researching bokashi. I'll continue looking.

@@DiegoFooter - This looks familiar: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fg3F6gAi5Qg.html

@@DiegoFooter - This fellow seems to be good. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nKzYBbl4Shc.html

What are you basing that on?

@@DiegoFooter ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AQnp-FUNX4A.html

Keep in mind those are massive piles. Research has shown air can penetrate up to 12 inches into a pile. In these piles very little is more than 12” from air. Even if the blower isn’t in air can passively reach those sections of the pile. I don’t disagree with this concept that you’re posting, but I’m not sure it’s applicable in this case. And thanks for the video it’s cool I’ve never seen that before.