The fungus will be bothered in some way. It’s the reason why forest ecosystems are healthier than a typical garden. When mycorrhiazae sits undisturbed it creates a healthier soil food web.
Not like it can’t recolonize, but like I said the goal is to do it cheap and easy.
An air compressor is a machine… I’m not trying to argue, just trying to be helpful, I’m sure whatever you do will be fine. But if you do this please take some data points, seems like you could be onto something, need those control groups of you want it to be science.
I guess an air compressor is a machine but your just splitting hairs. It’s a machine that if properly set up, can operate for 50 years without issue.
My main’t point was that the application of compressed air to a compost pile could speed decomposition. That’s what I aim to test, I’d like the conversation to stay here.
That’s fair, I don’t think an air compressor can run for 50 years, maybe a really nice one, but I look forward to seeing how this project goes. Hopefully we here in 50 years and you prove me wrong.
Get your hands on an older model high capacity single stage Quincy or Kellogg compressor. You would be amazed how long these compressors can stay in good shape. They were built in a time when planned obsolescence wasn’t so pervasive to every industry.
50 years is a realistic figure.
Doesn’t sound cheap at all, I thought we were trying to come up with a repeatable technique for forced air composting aka, The Franklin technique…
Cheap for me lol like I said I already have a compressor. Never said anything about repeatable, I was asking for tips on my specific situation.
So you want to use a really high end air compressor to maybe speed up decomposition in a small compost pile? I can’t imagine the electricity draw for that kind of equipment is small but it turns out there is tons of information out there about “forced air composting”
All this tech is built for large scale and isn’t cheap, but it shows that this is viable.
This article has a bunch of links to the science of it all.
Sounds like you already have the plan in place and all you need to do is perform the work. You could simply use some pex tubing and drill some holes in it and slide in place without much disturbing. Please document the build here so the next guy can use as a template. You are definitely on to something that will create a better way. As more people are learning about living soil’s and composting I think that it will be greatly appreciated. I actually did sort of a similar thing a few years back with my outdoor garden. I took 2 liter bottles and drilled two holes in the lids and then filled them with clay balls and put a quarter inch holes in each hole with hot glue and then dropped them down inside of my augured out holes for my outdoor girl. I then had one on a constant air pump and the other on a drip irrigation system. It resulted in 12 plants for over 40 pounds. This year I am trying out something a little different with air compressor hoses coiled in my augered out holes so that I can run warm water through during the cold months we are about to have to keep the roots and ground warm. Who knows if this will work? But just like your experiment that is how great discoveries are made. Good luck:)
Nice pull!!! Could you sketch a diagram of your setup?
Very brief sketch of the system with a picture to show one of the holes in the ground. If you want a better explanation let me know and I can work it up later.
Awesome, thanks
I filled a 4" pipe with pea gravel and jb welded the ends together.
I’m gonna pump 2 psi into my pile and will post updates.
Just fyi, there is a greenhouse design called active solar that is somewhat similar. The floor is gravel with buried pipe. During the day when it is hot, fans force air downward to heat the gravel, then the fans reverse at night to pull warm air out of the gravel to heat the greenhouse.
My lady had the good idea for me to make some cuts into the logs to help fungi get in deeper, faster.
Speaking of fungi colonizing cuts, I remember hearing of some Merry Pranksters bar oil that had some good spores in it.
Why not use abs glue?
I had jb weld in my garage lol.
This thing worked like shit anyways. It didn’t distribute the air pressure evenly like I assumed it would.
So i’m making a new one out of 1" pipe and I’ll be drilling smaller holes, and less of them this time.
I’m having trouble trying to figure out some math tho.
The 1/4" quick connect fitting can flow a max of 13 cfm thru it. I can’t figure how I would calculate the cfm rating of the vent holes so that I can actually let 13 cfm out.
Could someone share with me the formula for finding cfm from a given diameter hole?
I’m cutting wood this weekend.
That’s really cool…
Does anyone know what happens to waste cooking oil when you compost it? Does it just break down or is it incorporated into to the structure of the humic substances?
