Cold Composting vs Hot Comosting

Cold Composts vs Hot Composts

We made up the term "cold composting" but that's what happens if the temperature in the composting pile doesn't reach 165F. Why are temperatures above 160F desired?

Hot composting produces heat. On a cold day this heat may appear as steam coming from the composting pile like a warm indoor swimming pool when the outside door is open. Yes, compost temps can reach 165F or more but it only takes a little bit of heat and water to make this "steam" come from a compost pile. Think of your warm breath on a cold winter day.

Nearly all the bad pathogens are killed if temperatures are high enough for a long enough time. Thats part of the composting process to make them safe to handle. Temperatures above 160F for 30 minutes or longer kill all the pathogens living in manures added to compost. Including human manure.

How are composts biologically active?

By turning the piles or mixing them. This mixing spreads the beneficial microbes throughout the compost. Only the center of a compost pile gets hot. The outer edges are cool. The outer edges are where the good pathogens hang out. By turning the compost pile or mixing it, the previously hot compost that is now sterile gets reinfected with good pathogens where they repopulate it very quickly if their environment is warm and moist.

A good compost will be "biologically active". A good compost will be dark brown, crumbly and rich when you touch or smell it. Sometimes you can smell nitrogen rich ammonia coming from a rich compost. The smell of ammonia means the compost is so rich that it can't hold anymore nitrogen and so it "leaks" out of the compost into the air as ammonia. 

Viragrow Compost Does Not Contain SLUDGE

Sludge is nasty. There is a world of difference between sludge and composted biosolids. Viragrow compost DOES contain composted biosolids.  Not our "Organic" compost, its Vegan, but the 166 or Viragrow compost does. But the composing process makes the municipal solid waste very clean. Let me explain.

Municipal Waste = Liquid Waste + Solid Waste

Sludge comes from any municipality. Technically what comes from a municipality is called municipal waste. It is about 99% water. This municipal waste is first removed of of any metal, plastic and glass. What remains separated into liquid waste and solid waste. Hence the term, municipal solid waste.

From Science Direct at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110062118301375

Liquid Waste

The liquid waste is either evaporated or leached in large open areas or cleaned up and returned to the original water source. In the case of Las Vegas, it is either returned to the Colorado River or (if its clean enough) it can be pumped into water wells where it mixes with underground well water in the aquifer. Yes, mixed with our potential drinking water. That's how clean it is.

Solid Waste

The solid waste can then be buried in landfills or turned into something useful like fertilizer or compost. Think of Milorganite. Turning it into something useful is a form of recycling. Burying it in a landfill gets rid of it and it is not recycled. Out of sight, out of mind.

Municipal Composting Facilities

If politicians pass laws that these landfills cannot contain recyclable solid waste (or the public is enlightened) then some or possibly all of the landfills will be closed to municipal solid waste. What to do with this waste? Recycle it.

Inland Empire composting facility in Southern California that turns waste into valuable compost like 166 Compost and Viragrow Compost.

In this composting facility the compost produces enough heat to sterilize the compost and remove all pathogenic fungi and bacteria. 

Advantages When Adding Potassium to the Compost

What needs to be added to a Viragrow soil mix right at the start?

None to improve plant nutrition....at the beginning. Maybe six months to a year later.

Look at all those nutrients washed away from this compost pile! You can use this plant nutrient packed water as a fertilizer and plant protector called compost tea.

The compost is rich in nutrients. Compost also lowers the alkalinity or soil pH into a better range for plants. As long as you add decomposing or decomposted amendments to the soil about once a year the soil pH will be good for plants. The alkalinity of the soil will begin to creep up after the compost begins to disappear in the second and third year. I'm talking about Viragrow compost.

One major element that could be bumped up a little in our compost is potassium. For you organic gardeners Greensand is usually recommended. Everyone knows bananas and banana peels are rich in potassium but did you know that wood ashes, avocado skins, fish emulsion, lots of fruit skins added to your compost or mixed up in your blender and poured on your compost or the soil near your plants will also work. Just chop this stuff up in very small pieces so they rot easier and release the potassium faster. They rot faster in warmer temperatures.

But did you know that some seaweed extracts are naturally high in potassium? Check the label. If the seaweed extraction is done using potassium hydroxide as part of its extraction the extract may be very high in potassium. But the label will tell you.

How to Eliminate Pests While They Sleep

December and January are the best times to go on the offensive and reduce pest problems for 2015. Most people wait until there is a problem. Get ahead of the curve and start now with a safe, organic spray that is easy to use and totally safe for you, your pets and the environment.

This will be the most important spray you can apply for the coming season and we will tell you what to use and how to do it. Horticultural oil sprays are the most overlooked sprays by homeowners but not by commercial producers. They know its value and schedule it to be done right after pruning.

Viragrow has insecticidal oils in small quantities and 2 1/2 gallon quantities
$95 
Makes 150 to 250 gallons of finished spray

Ultrafine oil is a highly refined insecticidal oil used primarily for controlling overwintering insects and mites. Oil applications “blanket” insect pests and smother them as well as disrupt important membranes. Ultrafine oils are useful on a wide range of insect pests, particularly scale insects, whiteflies and spider mites. Ultrafine Oil is a primary component of any organic spray program for insect control during the fall, winter and spring months.

Apply Ultrafine Oil 2 to 3 times during late fall, winter and early spring when daytime temperatures are above 50° but less than 90°F. Spray pressure should be high enough to deliver tiny droplets to plants. Be sure to spray all limbs, branch collars, bud unions and any cracks and crevices where insects may overwinter. 

Horticultural oils are highly refined oils that are fluid enough to be applied with any type of sprayer; canister, backpack or hose end applicator. Usual rates for mixing are around 2 to 3 oz of oil for each gallon of mixed spray.

Mix the horticultural oil with water in the amounts specified on the label. Spray deciduous (no leaves) trees and shrubs with this water and oil mixture covering the trunks and major limbs. Concentrate your efforts close to the ground where they like to be protected from mulches and leaf debris.

Viragrow Delivers!

Apply Viragrow's Horticultural Oil 2-3 Times This Winter

Applying horticultural oil to your fruit trees and woody landscape plants is very important this winter if you want to reduce pests for next year. Make one application in December and then another in January. You can use a hose end applicator or pump sprayer for taller trees. Pick an unusually warm day without any wind to make an application.

Don't forget to give the bottom of the trunk where it enters the ground an extra squirt because those places and any weeds are where pests like to hide in the winter. Control the weeds, too!

This is a "summer" oil so it can be applied when leaves are out and up to temperatures about 85F.

Pests do not migrate. They survive on your landscape plants and fruit trees until next year when they lay more eggs and start the process all over again. This is your chance to suffocate them!

Insects controlled include:
Aphids, mites, whiteflies, leafhoppers, peach twig borer (wormy peaches), coddling moth (wormy apples), scale insects and many others!

Application:

• Pick a warm day with no wind.
• Use 3 to 4 oz of oil mixed together with 96 to 97 oz of water and mix thoroughly. Spray the trunks and large limbs of fruit trees and ornamental trees and shrubs from the base to as high as possible.
• To be effective the oil spray must come in contact with the overwintering pest.

Ultra Pure Dormant Oil, 2 1/2 gal.
$95
Makes 150 to 250 gallons of finished spray after mixing

 Contact us for smaller amounts than 2 1/2 gallon quantities.

Some outside reading about oils:
Washington State University
Colorado State University

Viragrow Delivers!

Do You Want to Plant in Winter?

You can plant any cold hardy tree, shrub or fruit tree during the winter (except palms) but don't forget the mulch! Surface mulches provide a blanket of temperature control and preserve soil moisture so that planting during this time will be successful. It is inexpensive insurance.

Surface mulch as a blanket on the soil surface, decomposing and improving the soil

Soil temperatures need to be at least 45° F for roots to grow and establish plants. Seldom do our soils get below this temperature after the first few inches below the surface.

Make sure you add an equal amount of Viragrow compost, Viragrow planting soil mix or bagged EZ Green compost to your backfill surrounding the roots of these trees and shrubs. Unlike some others, all of our soil mixes are full of nutrients so you don't need to add any extra fertilizer to the soil at the time of planting.

Viragrow compost

EZ Green composted chicken manure

Make sure the planting hole is deep enough to accommodate the roots of the plant. You do not need to dig deeper than this unless the soil is so hard it can not drain water freely. Dig the hole at least three times the diameter of the root system and mix our soil amendments with all of the soil before you put it back in the hole. It is always wise to have the hose running into the planting hole when you are putting back the soil around the plant roots. This helps to eliminate air pockets and helps the plant stand upright.

Nearly all plants will perform much better with 3 to 4 inches of organic surface mulch applied after planting. Use our Redwood mulch or Gorilla Hair for that exquisite finished look.

Viragrow Delivers!

Soil Mix to Use When Planting Mesquite

Q. I’m digging out an area to plant a Chilean Mesquite and the dirt is really terrible.  I’m going to dig about 6’ diameter, nice and wide, and to the depth of the rootball, like you said. I want to replace all the dirt in the hole with quality soil. Is there a mix from Viragrow that you can recommend for a Mesquite?

A. Let me add more information. I think you are ready for it.

1. Make sure the hole you dug will drain water. If you fill the hole with water it should drain in 24 hours. If you are only putting water in the bottom of the hole because you want to hurry, then put about two inches of water in the bottom of the hole TWICE.  

The first time watering, water will move to the dry surrounding soil fast so it will move quickly to fill these dry spaces. Let it. Then refill it and mark the level with a stick or nail. Something easy to see and find. That water level should move down, probably slowly but it should move. The water level should drop one or two inches in a few hours or faster. If it does, then drainage is not a problem.

You should not have to dig a hole deeper than the roots of the plants you are digging. UNLESS water does not drain from the hole. If you MUST dig the hole deeper, make sure to compact the soil below the tree before planting. You can compact the soil with water draining or mechanically at about 90% compaction or firm enough so that your footprints are not more than 1/2 inch deep when you walk across it.

            

2. It is best to use the same soil taken from the hole rather than buy new soil. But this soil should have rocks removed larger than a golf ball. Then mix compost with this soil. Use an equal volume of compost (its going to be "fluffly") with an equal volume of soil (it will be more compact). This will result in an organic content of your new soil of about 25 to 30% which will drop to about 15% in year 2 and about 7% in year 3 or 4. 

Trees and shrubs do best with organics in the soil of about 5%. The roots will establish in this soil quickly if the plant is staked to keep the roots from moving.

If you want to use a soil from Viragrow in the planting hole instead, then use their Garden Soil Mix straight and fill the hole with it. As you are filling the hole with this mix, collapse the edges of the hole into this mix so the surrounding soil is well mixed with the imported soil from Viragrow. This will avoid a boundary layer of two different soils (your soil vs garden soil) but this boundary should, instead, slowly mix with each other as you go from inside the hole to outside the hole. This mixing helps remove a strong boundary layer.

           
3. Viragrow recycled municipal waste carries a very high nutrient content in a slow release form in their 166 and Premium composts. The tree will not need additional fertilizer for maybe three years. With a mesquite tree you will control its growth with your frequency of applying water. Not the volume of applied water. 

When first establishing the tree, water it like any other tree. Water frequently so water gets 24 inches deep and then hold off with the next watering AT LEAST one day until you see new growth and then start watering less often. You want it to grow faster, give it water more often. You want it to grow slower, water less often. But always give it the same amount of water each time.

December Classes at Viragrow for Landscapers

December classes for Landscapers by Bob Morris at Viragrow:

• How to Prune Landscape Trees
• How and When to Fertilize Landscape Trees
• How to Prune Fruit Trees
• Control 2020 Landscape Pests With Winter Sprays!

All students receive certificates from Viragrow after successful completion of the class. Use them to build your customer base and secure work.

Be a Viragrow commercial customer and attend free!

Let us know you are coming at Info@Viragrow.com or ask us questions.