why doesn't my compost get hot?

Question

My compost includes all the recommended green and brown house and yard scraps, yet it never heats up like the articles describe. I'm in the arid west, but try to keep it damp.

Thanks for tips--some good ideas to check out. My compost has a great deal of fine wood chips from the pet store, and _ALL_ household waste. It is in a pallet enclosure, about 3.5-ft cubed. I check with 2-ft compost thermometer. Because of contents I was told to avoid turning, just keep layering household waste, leaves, grass, soil, coffee grounds (from SB). We are on isolated 80 acres out west.

Answer 1

Well, I thought I was going to have to say, "Add water every week," but that doesn't seem to be it. Do you turn the stuff a couple times a month? Lean a bit more toward the green and house scraps--egg shells, peels and rinds, coffee grounds and the filter paper, old fruit and vegetables, shed some newspapers or junk mail and add them.

Answer 2

You want at least 1/3 of green clippins, and 2/3 of brown and leaf litter, etc. Keep it damp and turn it over daily with a pitch fork. Any fruit and vegetable peelngs, shredded paper, cardboard, etc can be added. Following the keeping it damp and turned daily will bring up the heat you've been expecting.

Answer 3

size does matter when it comes to heating up the compost pile... i have read a 3-5 x 3-5 pile works the best at heating up... it has to be damp... and it helps to have a little more nitrogen than carbon... the more bacteria the better....

Answer 4

Keep it damp, aerate it by turning. To add nitrogen you can sprinkle a bit of nitrogen rich lawn fertilizer on each layer. These steps have worked for me.

Answer 5

Perhaps your compost pile isn't dense enough. Are you checking the core temperature or simply the outer temp?