2/19/2018 Proper Compost Mixes: What Is Brown Material For Compost And What Is Green Material For Compost

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Composting is a great way to add nutrients and organic material

to your garden while reducing the amount of garbage we send to
the land lls. But many people who are new to composting NEWEST
wonder what is meant by creating a balanced browns and greens ARTICLES
mix for compost? What is brown material for compost? What is
Sweet Potato Foot Rot:
green material for compost? And why is getting the right mix of What Is Foot Rot Of
these important? Sweet Potato Plants

Wh i B M i lf C
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2/19/2018 Proper Compost Mixes: What Is Brown Material For Compost And What Is Green Material For Compost

What is Brown Material for Compost? Pepper

Herbicide
Brown materials for composting consists of dry or woody plant Damage:
Can
material. Often, these materials are brown, which is why we call Peppers
them brown material. Brown materials include: Be
Damaged By Herbicides

Dry Leaves Golden

Korean
Fir Care –
Wood chips Learn
About
Golden
Straw Korean Fir Trees In
Gardens
Sawdust

Corn stalks

Newspaper Coppertina Ninebark

Care: Tips For Growing
Brown materials help to add bulk and help allow air to better get Coppertina Ninebark
Shrubs
into the compost. Brown materials are also the source of carbon
Coral
in your compost pile.

What is Green Material for Compost?

Honeysuckle Info: How
Green materials for To Grow Coral
Honeysuckle In The
composting consists mostly Garden
of wet or recently growing
materials. Green materials are
oftentimes green in color, but not always. Some examples of LEARN MORE
green materials include: ABOUT…

Bean
Food scraps Blossom
Problems:
Grass clippings Reason
For Bean
Blossoms
Co ee grounds Falling Off Without
Making Pods
Manure The
Ultimate
Recently pulled weeds Guide To
Growing
Tomatoes:
Green materials will supply most of the nutrients that will make A List Of
Tomato Growing Tips
your compost good for your garden. Green materials are high in
nitrogen.

Why You Need a Good Browns and

Greens Mix for Compost Succession Planting
Vegetables: How To Use
Succession Planting In
Having a proper mix of green and brown materials will ensure The Garden
that your compost pile works properly. Without a good mix of
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2/19/2018 Proper Compost Mixes: What Is Brown Material For Compost And What Is Green Material For Compost
that your compost pile works properly. Without a good mix of
Yucca Plants In C
brown and green materials, your compost pile may not heat up, Weather –
Helping
may take longer to break down into useable compost and may
Yuccas
even start to smell bad. With Frost
Damage
and Hard Freeze Damage
A good mix of browns and greens in your compost pile is about
4:1 browns (carbon) to greens (nitrogen). That being said, you may
need to adjust your pile somewhat depending on what you put in
it. Some green materials are higher in nitrogen than others while
some brown materials are higher carbon than others.

If you nd that your compost pile is not heating up, than you may
need to add more green material to the compost. If you nd that
your compost pile is starting to smell, you may need to add more
browns.

More Information about Compost Ingredients

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This article was last updated on 12/24/15

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