Viewing post #834286 by davidsevit

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Apr 20, 2015 9:49 PM CST
Name: david sevitt
jerusalem israel
RickCorey said:

If the compost is soggy, slimy and stinky, especially at the bottom of the heap, it probably did spend time aerobic, and those anaerobic microbes only ferment, they don't oxidize. Unfortunately, fermentation products aren't very good for plants' root hairs: alcohols and organic acids, maybe even some aldehydes.

If rain has not washed these fermentation products out of your heap and diluted them in the surrounding soil, they can be somewhat toxic until diluted, aerated and oxidized the rest of the way to carbon dioxide.

Practically, dyzzypyxxy is right. If the pile was anaerobic (waterlogged) , you need to spread it around or turn it over so the wettest, least aerated parts can drain out and get some oxygen to the microbes. Then just let them digest the fermentation products AEROBICALLY for a week, which will "sweeten" the pile and make it non-toxic even to small root hairs.


thank you very much that was helpful

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