Finally fixed a 6 week old compost problem in my backyard bin

Tbh I thought my compost bin was just slow because of the cold weather. But after 6 weeks of barely any breakdown I started digging around and found the issue. My brown to green ratio was way off because I was dumping too much grass clippings and not enough shredded cardboard. I spent a whole Saturday afternoon mixing in dry leaves and torn up paper from my recycling bin. It took maybe 4 hours total to get it right but now the pile is actually heating up. Has anyone else dealt with a lopsided compost bin that just sat there not doing anything?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbarac951mo ago

Did you check if the cardboard you added was actually breaking down or just sitting there dry? That balance can take a few weeks to really kick in.

the_karen1mo ago

Did you actually see steam coming off it after the mix? Just wondering if it's hot enough to kill off any weed seeds from those grass clippings.

the_jessica22d ago

@the_karen my buddy Steve had the exact same thing with his pile, just sat there cold for weeks until he dumped in a bunch of torn up newspaper. He said the heat hit after about three days and the whole thing started cooking.