[USCC] Oxygen level in compost & Eliot's comments

[Eliot Epstein]

Take a look in my book The Science of Composting pg. 27

Eliot

-----Original Message-----
From: compost-bounces at mailman.cloudnet.com
[mailto:compost-bounces at mailman.cloudnet.com] On Behalf Of John A. Crockett
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 12:44 PM
To: U.S. Composting Council listserve
Subject: [USCC] Oxygen level in compost & Eliot's comments


I understood Eliot to say that he BELIEVES the oxygen level ought be at
least 10% in the compost.  

Does anyone have data to show the relationship between oxygen and/or CO2,
and the population of active bacteria and/or fungi?  

If we're in business for profit, and committed to our neighbors and the
environment, doesn't it make sense to do the research, to make our decisions
based on hard evidence? 

In most businesses, one of the first things a manager does is to look around
and see how many people are working.  With our primary production workers
being microbes, doesn't it make sense to be checking up on the microbes?
Sure, doing the direct estimates requires a 1000X microscope with
Epi-Fluorescence; and making up the phosphate buffers, doing the serial
dilutions and then staining.  And maybe that is a lot less expensive than
not knowing, less expensive than guessing and hoping.

We adjust the RATE of air flow to try to hold the CO2 in the off-gas between
1 - 2%.  Even then, there are times when the temperature pushes up over
160°F, even with the rate of air flow > 24 times the volume of the compost,
in fresh air, every hour.  

Does anyone have hard data showing at what moisture level the microbial
activity starts to decline, based on direct estimating of the population of
active bacteria?  And the same question applies to fungi; do fungi function
as well at 30% moisture as 40 or 50 or 60% moisture content?

Working Together to Create a Sustainable Environment,
John A. Crockett, a.k.a. Dr. Mike Robe
Mother Nature's Farms
(845) 225-7763
http://www.magicsoil.com/
jac at magicsoil.com
  

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