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SalviaGod
Bad Person, Good Guy



Registered: 05/07/12
Posts: 747
Last seen: 5 days, 19 hours
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Grass Clippings
#18730856 - 08/20/13 03:54 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Im wondering if anyone has had any experience with using dried grass clippings (from a lawnmower) in any way. As an additive to coir?
Iv read some old posts about it, and it seems that RR has mentioned it a few times before. But all the old posts that i read never posted results, which is usually a bad sign.
Im thinking if its pasteurized properly, it could be a useful and free additive.
Thoughts?
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure



Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 3 days
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Re: Grass Clippings [Re: SalviaGod]
#18731081 - 08/20/13 06:42 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
But all the old posts that i read never posted results, which is usually a bad sign.
There were no digital cameras or internet in the early 70s when I experimented with grass clippings.
Compost them first for best results. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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SalviaGod
Bad Person, Good Guy



Registered: 05/07/12
Posts: 747
Last seen: 5 days, 19 hours
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Is it lame that i feel honored and a bit star struck right now? I did not expect YOU to respond to this
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slh980
Average Idiot


Registered: 10/07/12
Posts: 369
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Grass Clippings [Re: SalviaGod]
#18731409 - 08/20/13 09:13 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
SalviaGod said: Is it lame that i feel honored and a bit star struck right now? I did not expect YOU to respond to this 
no it's not lame, i'm pretty sure most people here are a bit giddy the first time RR responds to their post. I sure was lol
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Nakor420
Fun Guy



Registered: 05/02/13
Posts: 1,616
Loc: The Spirit World
Last seen: 9 years, 11 months
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Re: Grass Clippings [Re: slh980]
#18731482 - 08/20/13 09:38 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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SalviaGod
Bad Person, Good Guy



Registered: 05/07/12
Posts: 747
Last seen: 5 days, 19 hours
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Quote:
RogerRabbit said:
Compost them first for best results. RR
So is there any specific way to compost them or is it not that complicated? And just for the sake of simplicity would just dried and pasteurized grass clipping be beneficial, or do you think its only worth it if they are composted ?
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slh980
Average Idiot


Registered: 10/07/12
Posts: 369
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Grass Clippings [Re: SalviaGod]
#18731835 - 08/20/13 11:35 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
SalviaGod said: So is there any specific way to compost them or is it not that complicated?
How to Compost: 101 (we can get more in depth later, but this is basic)
Composting is relatively easy. Everything breaks down eventually, it just depends on how fast. In our case, we want our compost to break down as quickly as possible, no? So, in order to do that there are a few things to pay attention to. Water, Tempurature, and Air. It should be at field capacity, just like any substrate you would make. If it's too wet, it may not get all the Air it needs. You can tell if your compost needs more air by pretty simple factors. Is it attracting flies? Does it look slimy? Does it smell alright? If you think it may not be getting enough air, Throw dead leaves in it. The dead leaves will create a more fluffy texture allowing more air to flow through the compost. Also, temperature; really easy one here. Just shove your hand deep in that pile, and if its warm/hot, its decomposing correctly. If its the same/cold, those bacteria's you want are missing. Here is a simple tek for composting for you.
Step 1: Get your Nitrogen, i.e grass clipping, manure, weeds, plants, anything coming out of the ground thats "green" and hasn't produced seeds yet is good. Also fruits and vegetables are good, banana peels, apple cores, orange skins, stumps from heads of lettuce, etc.
Step 2: Get your dead shit. This acts as fiber for the compost. Same way that if you don't eat food with high fiber, you can't take a shit too easily. Your compost can't break down as easily if there's no fiber. This includes dead plants, dead leaves, dead sticks, anything on the ground thats dead.
Step 3: Decide where you're going to put the compost. Put it behind a shed, build a box, whatever, do what you gotta do. Place a nice even mixture (50% / 50%) of your Nitrogen and Dead Shit in/where it's going.
Step 4: Mix it up real good. All your green shit with nitrogen will get really clumpy if you let it stay together. Break it up and get a good mixture of dead shit all over so nothing green is clumpy.
Step 5: Now you water it. Spray it down, don't drench it, but enough so it's all wet. If you want you can just do the whole process in layers adding a bit of water to each layer to get a more even fill.
Step 6: Turn it over once every 1-2 weeks. Just mix it up, toss it around, break it up. Eventually, if done correctly, your grass clippings will turn into dirt with the leaves and sticks. Very simple compost.
Now like I said, you can get a lot more in-depth. If you have access to straw and manure, toss that in there and it'll work wonders. Rabbit manure has worked for me, but thats just personal experience, and a really way to discard my rabbits waste.. If you have access to any compost that's finished, grab that and put some in there, kick-start your compost with some active compost bacteria, this can speed up your composting time tremendously.
I think that should be enough to get you started composting.
Edited by slh980 (08/20/13 11:41 AM)
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SalviaGod
Bad Person, Good Guy



Registered: 05/07/12
Posts: 747
Last seen: 5 days, 19 hours
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Re: Grass Clippings [Re: slh980]
#18731891 - 08/20/13 11:47 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks
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