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Hi everyone!

I'm experimenting with making my own growing medium from dried mango leaves because I want to reduce or eventually eliminate my dependence on peat moss.

I placed around 150 liters of mango leaves in a fabric container and covered the top with a plastic bag. Within just five days, I noticed greenish-blue growth appearing on the leaves, including their undersides. The temperature inside the pile previously reached around 40°C.

I have a few questions for people with experience in leaf mold, composting, or potting mix production:

1. Can fully decomposed mango leaves (leaf mold) be used as a substitute for peat moss in container growing media? Could they work as the main ingredient, or would they need to be mixed with materials such as perlite, coco coir, or compost?

2. What could the greenish-blue growth on the leaves be? Could it be Trichoderma or another naturally occurring fungus? I haven't added any Trichoderma to this batch.

3. How can I achieve the fastest possible decomposition without ruining the final growing medium? Would shredding the leaves, adding nitrogen, introducing mature compost, or using microbial inoculants help? Which methods have actually worked for you?

My goal is not simply to make compost for garden beds. I want to produce a stable, lightweight growing medium suitable for pots and potentially develop it into a peat-free product.

I'd especially appreciate practical experiences, experimental results, or scientific studies comparing leaf mold with peat moss in container growing.

Thank you!

I’m curious if people try to avoid using plastic for compost bins? I see plenty in photos here, but is that the majority? I’m sure they last longer but is that not just demanding microplastics in your compost? feels like it’s partially defeating the purpose.

I want to be able to move my bin with ease if needed. Figured it’s also easy to tilt if I need to dump it or turn it.
I have never composted before but has been gardening for about a year now, figured it’s time I try composting. Any tips & tricks is appreciated.

How are you turning your piles that are ... big? It seems nearly impossible - although this is coming from someone that doesn't have a ton of space in the first place.

Are you really pitchforking through it every other week or so?

I have been composting all my yard trimmings, coffee grounds, and shredded cardboard into this 5’ x 30’ bed for a few months now. After 5 years of neglect, it was just loose dry sand/dirt. I have been amending the soil with organic matters, flipping every 2 weeks, and refilling from the back to front as it break down. Only 10’ left, after this is all planted I will need a proper compost bin! Exciting!

We moved house December 1 last year to a semi-wooded 2 acre property. Loads of dogwoods, cedars and some big oaks.

I built my 3 bin system in April and started it off with hedge trimmings and wood-chipped tree limbs. Since then it gets a few gallons of kitchen waste per week and lots of tree trimmings. Some grass, some leaves.

My plan was to let a bin fill, turning as I go, then do a thorough turning as I shovel the contents into the next bin and let is cook as I start back filling the first bin, moving everything down the line as it breaks down.

Good plan? Would you turn it all over now or let it sit a while first?

Hi, I’ve always been relatively strict with my compost. Full brown cardboard only. I’ve got quite a few of these boxes. Good to compost or not being it’s white? Not shinny or any form of plastic coating that I can tell of. Thanks

When you turn that pile around, do you ever think about the little guys living inside it? Neither did I...
Who would've thought running a compost pile would have moral consequences?

All jokes aside, one day I decided to cut a little window into my wooden compost bin, just to peek at the tiny helpers living inside. I was greeted by an army of little isopods and instantly fell in love with them.
I thought this was a brilliant idea, and some of you guys and gals seemed to agree (see previous post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/composting/comments/1x7nkn8/im_having_a_blast_exploring_my_compost_pile_wait/ ). But oh boy, WAS I NOT READY for the big bugs living in it...

I wasn't sure whether to share this here (and sorry if it... bugs you), but as a fellow compost enthusiast, I thought you guys might enjoy it.... at least the catering services haha.

This is a very small amount of Play-Doh like half their sample sizes. Can I throw it in a compost bin

The burned bones and shells break down very fast

Ground connected compost bin, stirring it once a week using a screw turner (pic below).

When I get to the finished compost at the bottom to spread on my plants, there are still worms in there and I have to try individually remove them and put them back in the bin (don't want to waste the worms).

Questions:
1. Do I need to bother removing the words from the finished compost?
2. Is this a sign that the compost is not ready?
3. Is there a better method?
4. Am I turning the compost too much?

Cardboard got jammed in the paper shredder and the ensuing battle left me wondering if it’s all worth it lol

We recently moved and now have our horses in the backyard so this batch is predominantly horse manure, and shredded cardboard boxes

I dug into the top six inches or so of my compost bin to bury some kitchen scraps and found eight of these. Does anyone know what they are? They are about two inches long.

What's up, everyone! I just wanted to share some pictures of the compost pile I'm making. I don't truly know what I'm doing, but I find it enjoyable being outside so I thought I'd share some pictures.

I've got a backyard that had a ton of leaves, plant debris, pine needles, green stuff... You know, just brush and bushes and shit that had been sitting for a long time. I basically just raked it all up, hit with the mower, stacked it, wet it, mixed it, stacked it, wet it... And that's pretty much it. Yes I peed in it. Probably won't keep doing it tho

Also found a chunky lil worm! I made him the supervisor until he's replaced

Experimenting with a simple, zero-cost way to pre-compost seaweed into feedstock for my worm breeding farm.

Using an old steel drum, paper bags and existing compost. The goal is to increase worm numbers and castings production using freely available organic waste.

Anyone tried composting seaweed before feeding it to worms?

I had slabs delivered in these. I think I could use them as bins for leaf mould. What’s the best way to line them? The plastic seems like a bad idea.

I dont know if i should compost this white layer
Its my first time composting

Back story:
I added too much back kow to my pots and now they smell really bad after going into anaerobic composting due to them being soaked. I pulled the soil out and been mixing it every day. It used to smell like sewage now it smells less like sewage but still horrible. My plan is to add carbon and browns and see if that fixes it.

Hello, can I make my own growing medium using decomposed leaves and other organic materials without using agricultural soil? What materials would you recommend for the best results?

I posted about a month ago asking for advice on my pile that cooled down and you all said to give it more time and today, I harvested my first homemade compost! It’s so fluffy and smells like the forest 🥹 thank you to this community! (2nd photo about a month ago)

Been adding to our new pile at our newly constructed home. I’ve followed this sub for months while our land and house were being finished.

I have 10 acres of forest, filled with browns. I need to find a good way to source greens? The lawn you see here was only planted to prevent erosion and appease the county man. It is being replaced by a no mow low grow clover and thyme ground cover as we speak.

I ‘watered’ it for the first time today with about 5 gallons of water, as the D.C. area has been dry the last week.

What’s in my pile so far:
- crushed egg shells
- ground coffee
- egg carton material
- paper towels
- leaf debris/dying plants
- piss (3-4 times daily)
- apple cores
- banana peels
- a clean chunk of cardboard