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That gardening forum in Portland banned me for saying their compost ratio advice was wrong
I used to swear by the "perfect 30:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio" they pushed, but after my own pile hit 160 degrees and turned to ash last summer, I switched to just eyeballing it with whatever leaves and grass clippings I have, has anyone else run into a community that couldn't handle real-world results over their rules?
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nathan54512d ago
Portland gardening forums are some of the most gatekeepy places I've ever seen. I told them my tomatoes did fine with a 20:1 mix and they acted like I kicked their dog. Rules are nice but not when your pile is literally smoking.
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skylercooper12d ago
That whole "your pile is literally smoking" thing is exactly why those hard and fast ratios are dumb. I once had a pile catch fire because I followed some online guide's perfect brown to green ratio but it was way too dry. You gotta adjust for your actual conditions, not some textbook number. Those people would probably lose their minds if they saw me throwing in coffee grounds whenever instead of measuring them out.
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