[USCC] Compost starter?

[LARRY SIKORA]

Kevin:
  I am not a proponent of compost starters. I emphasize good management
of the process to obtain the best compost product in the least amount
of time. But if you chose to use a nitrogen fertilizer as a 'starter',
urea is the wrong fertilizer. Urease, the enzyme that breaks down urea
into ammonia rapidly is ubiquitous and highly reactive. Most of the
nitrogen ends up in the atmosphere. For this reason, farmers who use
urea knife into the soil so that the ammonia that is formed is trapped
on the soil's cation exchange complex. I would use ammonium nitrate and
nitrogen source instead of urea.

With regards,

Larry

Lawrence J. Sikora, PhD
Compost Utilization & Systems
PO Box 6076
China Village, ME 04926
ljsikora at fairpoint.net
207-968-2268
207-692-7229 (cell)
> Does anyone know what would make a good compost starter?  I process pine
> bark for horticulture and we want to speed up the aging/composting
> process a bit.  We have used urea before but it works too quickly and
> not uniformly.  There are some I have seen that seem to have unnecessary
> filler that won't have the effect I need.  I would be adding this in
> solution as the pine is processed.
>
>   Thanks
>   Kevin
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Lawrence J. Sikora, PhD
Compost Utilization & Systems
PO Box 6076
China Village, ME 04926
ljsikora at fairpoint.net
207-968-2268
207-692-7229 (cell)