HEATING UP COMPOST PILE

[DeSotoGrown]

Ok, my next question. HEATING THE COMPOST PILE? how do I do this…and how do I keep it hot? I have read that you use dry molasses. How much dry molasses should I use and should I layer the molasses between leaves -or- just dump how much dry molasses in my compost pile? :?

[CaptainCompostAL]

Compost piles will heat up if you keep the nitrogen-carbon ratio so that you have a good supply of rich high nitrogen and high protein materials mixed in your compost pile. (NOTE: Assuming you got more than 1 cubic yard of compost stuff to start with!)

You must have at least 2-3 times more carbon matrerials than nitrogen materials in the pile also. The carbon will give you odor control, and also you can't produce humates in the soil without carbon materials.

You must keep the pile constantly aerated and moisturized. You don't have to turn a compost pile, but you can aerate it by poking it with a broom or stick, or using stationary aeration pipes or vents in the pile.

Make sure to manage the compost pile so that it does not have any funky smells, and keep the carbon materials on top of the pile for odor control.

I heat up my large compost stockpiles by using high nitrogen/protein, dry molasses, compost/manure teas as nitrogen/microbial activators. This way I add water, microbes, sugars, and nitrogen to my compost piles every time I use it. The microbes grow like crazy, and the pile gets hot very quickly.

Happy Gardening!

[Soilguy]

DeSotoGrown,
Will try to answer your questions, but will have to present generalities, since you did not present any specific information to base answers on:

Your first question was: How do I 'heat' a compost pile...
You don't. Microbes (bacteria/fungi) do. Most brown and green initial raw materials should contain enough fungi to start a pile heating - how much was there, depends on how long it takes to heat up (with adequate air and moisture a 'given').
A first-time pile build should heat up on it's own, but every new-build should also have some good dirt added, or fresh compost, or fresh 'tea', just to make sure.
So the answer is, you create the proper environment (air, water and food) in which the fungi/bacteria (microbes) can profilerate in a new pile.
Dry molasses in a new build is not necessary - unless already proven that you're having trouble getting a new pile to heat up with the materials you are using. In that case, be very specific about details when asking for possible fixes - so suggestions can coincide with your materials and procedures.
Thermophyllic (heat-producing) fungi proliferate (reproduce quickly) feeding (mostly) on the sugars and carbohydrates available in new-build (raw) compost material such as grass clippings/hay and manures. Both have some carbon and some nitrogen. So this is not really a C:N ratio issue, and certainly not a protein issue. And you can't tell how much carbon and nitrogen is actually in your raw materials anyway, and chances are you don't have the means to measure ratios in volume or weight either, so don't be too concerned about ratios in the beginning. Just use organic materials at hand; read/research Mr. Garrett's and Mr. Beck's writings; ask questions and learn from making/turning piles. And have your results tested by a soil lab if you want to know about nutrient levels. Contact your local County Extension Agent and ask for a Mastter Gardener contact who is experienced with and active in composting. Don't know two people who do it the same way. And opinions range from basis in experienced/documented research - to wild & whacky. Try 'em all if it pleases you. Composting is supposed to be fun, too.

Purchase a 20" compost thermometer so you can measure pile heat. If you can't measure it, you can't adjust it with any accuracy. And not just temperature, but also time it takes to heat, is as important as the procedure and materials you used to build the pile.

At some point, pile temperature will decrease due to either running low of sugars/carbs in the raw material, or they run out of moisture (dry piles don't decompose) or oxygen (die from CO2 poisoning that builds up in the pile -because that's what they 'exhale', and it can't get exchanged for oxygen unless you turn the pile. Some folks stick holes in a pile or use pipe contraptions, but I can tell you from my 50+ years experience, that none of those methods perform adequate gas exchange unless the pile is 'too loose' or dry to begin with. Air will only penetrate a few inches into a properly-moistened biomass-high pile, and I still have the test equipment that proved it sufficiently to me. Point being, that if you want a pile to re-heat quickly, don't let the thermophyllic population decrease too much before the pile gets turned (turn it when it cools to between 105F and 110F). Turning will cool the material, but fungi populations will still be sufficient to rebound quickly.

Now about reheating a 1st-turn pile: If using the FH finish-to-harvest) method (instead of the CA (continuous-add) method, no new material is added for thermophyllic fungi food - so that's where dry molasses comes into play.
Dry molasses is used because it is a sugar and carbohydrate.
Normally, the agricultural dry molasses you can purchase from your local feed store is a pellet (compressed grain flour) sprayed with a coating of molasses. Perfect food for heat-producing bacteria and fungus. Alternatives are dark brown sugar, but using that may attract fire ants - which do not like molasses, especially dark sulfured molasses. Mostly I use dry dog or cat food, because I have a ready supply of both, and although I use dry molasses ocassionally, dry pet food works almost as well (although it does contain some salt - which I mediate with a bit of gypsum (which I keep in stock for making planting soils with clay).

Unless you use a solid bin, a 1st turn reheat is a very good thing to achieve - but if not using a solid bin, remember to "scalp" the pile, so all exterior material of the previous pile goes into the middle of the new pile, with the center of the old (heated part) pile on the edges. Still sugars and carbs in the exterior layers that did not get heated initially.
Best to turn the pile through a 2x4 framed section of chain-link fence to maximize gas exchange. Add about 1/2 to 1/3 cup of dry molasses to each 6"-8" layer of turned material, then water-in each layer. In a bin, with FH, remember to keep pile height up by adding 2x4/plywood spacers to narrow the bin (since the pile shrank from decomposition).

With the CA method, new material is added to keep the pile at proper biomass height (should be about 1/4 of initial pile material to bring it back up - which should be sufficient for a substantial (although not as high temp or as long), so some additional sugars or carbohydrates might need to be added. If a 1st turn CA pile is not meeting temperature re-heat expectations after the turn is completed, my suggestion is a quart jar of black sulphured molasses well-stirred into a 5 gallon bucket of water with a drill/paint stirrer, then poured on top of a 'crowned' pile (don't allow run-off) that has a bunch of holes poked into the top to half-way down in the pile. Monitor temperature daily and keep notes.