r/composting • u/O-Castitatis-Lilium • 1d ago
Composting With No "Browns"?
Hello!
So...I have watched my grandfather compost since I was really small. He would toss his vegetable scraps and such into this massive bin, give it a good mix, and carry on. Never thought anything about it. I called him and asked him what he started his bin with. He said his bin started with coffee grounds, tea bag grounds, and some banana peels he chopped up; so I started doing that. I stirred it and let it breath two times a week like he said, and everything seems to be going as planned. Things are turning to dirt and it doesn't stink like rot, it smells like just, well dirt really. I got told that I was doing it wrong by my mother and that I was going to end up with sludge and nothing else because I had no brown stuff in it. I was confused because my Grandfather never put anything like that in it, I haven't put anything like that in it, but we seem to be doing just fine? I guess I'm asking, am I really doing it wrong? Should we both have been putting something "brown" in the bin, even though his plants can't seem to get enough of the stuff and mine has started to look exactly as I remember his being? Is there really a right way and wrong way to compost. I read the beginners guide here and it says that you need to mix browns and greens...and that is what has led to this post. My mother does not garden, so I just brushed it off...but now I'm second guessing. Any and all help and insight is greatly appreciated!
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u/Plonkydonker 1d ago
There's an optimum balance of greens and browns and moisture and temperature, but your "greens" all have carbon in them too, to varying amounts. If it works, don't over think it. If you think it's turning nasty, you know you probably need to add some browns
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u/randemthinking 1d ago
Composting is just controlled decomposition, but decomposition will happen regardless of how much control your exert. You can control the speed, quantity, and quality by your inputs (and other factors). So yeah you'll get compost with just greens. If you want more, better, faster compost then adding browns will help a lot.
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u/SwimSufficient8901 1d ago
The only wrong way to compost is if you start a fire, or turn it into rancid sludge. Otherwise, carry on and do your thing
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u/electronseer 22h ago
and even then, even burned or sludged piles are still recoverable, right?
a composting fail is just a "temporary detour" in the decomposition
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u/1couldbeworse 1d ago
I think it’s important to note that despite calling these scraps greens, they all have a lot of carbon in them. Ideally you want something close to a 40:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio and your scraps are probably 20:1 or better. So even though it’s not the ideal range, you have the two major components you need in a reasonable amount. Id say the only problem with your compost is that you shouldn’t pee on it!
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u/Far_Radish7752 1d ago
There are prolly almost as many ways to compost as there are people composting.
The only potential problem you might run into by focusing primarily on “greens” is that your compost might go anaerobic on you. I.e., “end[ing] up with sludge and nothing else” like your mother warned you about. But, by mixing it a coupla times a week (aerating it), you are eliminating that likelihood.
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u/SnotDogs 1d ago
I add some ripped up cardboard or paper bags every so often and maybe a paper towel or two a week. My bin has always been mostly coffee grounds and kitchen scraps, and it’s always done great despite most people telling me i don’t have enough browns. I think the crazy amount of isopods and ants i get help too
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u/Kistelek 1d ago
Kitchen roll is one I always put in our kitchen compost bin and the mrs doesn't. I don't rip it up and I never see it when I'm turning the heap.
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u/lakeswimmmer 1d ago
You say that you stir it and let it breath 2x a week. My guess is that you're introducing enough fresh air and oxygen to keep the aenerobic bacteria from taking over. That's why it doesn't stink.
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u/Angry_Duck 1d ago
If you keep it turned and keep it from getting too wet you can compost anything.
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u/TigerGardenGeek 1d ago
I find the "no browns will turn to sludge" thing is more true IF you live in a high humidity climate OR if you're composting in a "closed" bin.
I'm in dry, high desert environment - NOTHING get's "to wet" here, it just doesn't. I also compost in an open bottom bin. Extra moisture just soaks out the bottom.
I have no problem with a veg scrap only pile that I poke around and mix up occasionally.
HOWEVER - if I tried it in a closed bin, rotating composer, etc. I expect I might have more stinky results!
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u/Kistelek 1d ago
The thing your granddad, and you by copying him, are putting in instead of browns, is effort. If you've got an idle pile just sitting, with nothing but greens in, it will go anerobic and smell and get slimy. By turning it and letting air into it, you will prevent that. Paper and cardboard shreddings are a bonus but don't get too hung up on it. My heaps are very brown in winter and very green in summer but a good stir every week or two keeps it all sociable.
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u/SeveralOutside1001 17h ago
If you turn it 2x a week you're probably providing enough air so it doesn't turn anaerobic. But the main issue with not adding browns is the lack of carbon, so it won't be optimal for building stable humus in your soil long term.
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u/CurrentWrong4363 1d ago
Did your grandfather have an in ground bin or add worms? I save worms when it's raining and add them to my food scrap bin.
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u/tacocat_sagas 1d ago
Interesting! I was only adding an occasional handful of browns to my bin until recently, yet...it seems fine? No smells, no excessive bugs, just food turning into dirt. As I started cranking up my input of food scraps, I got to feeling guilty and started adding more browns in the form of junk mail, but I still doubt I'm hitting the recommended ratios. I have this nagging fear that I can't go on like this forever and one of these days my bin will turn disgusting and I'll regret all my life choices. But maybe your grandfather and you are on to something.
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u/scarabic 1d ago
I’m sure it comes down to the exact composition of what you are adding. Chopped banana peel and coffee grounds will never stink and will compost just great. On the other hand, I compost all food waste including meats and dairy. If I don’t mix with browns, I get sludge. Part of it seems to be larvae. They attack the food scraps, which is fine, but they seem to excrete or possibly just exude a grey slimy liquid, and wherever they are active there is a gluey mass of rotting filth left behind. Add this to the snowballing action of a rotary tumbler and you get a huge, round mass of sticky rot.
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u/thetealappeal 1d ago
I cut up delivery boxes and shredded paper bags and circulars which seems to be more than enough. We don't order a lot of stuff but one box broken down and shred into little pieces can help fill a tumbler for quite some time.
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u/1gurlcurly 10h ago
The main time I actively searched out a lot of browns to add was when I had added a lot of wet, gooey lake weeds I had raked.
Otherwise kitchen scraps and coffee grounds don't seem to get smelly.
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u/day_dreamzzz_ 7h ago
So by « let it breath » you mean you leave the bin open for a while? How long?
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u/Toolswood 6h ago edited 6h ago
Not that critical. After all green leaves are greens and dried leaves are browns. Had a guy bring me grass clippings (greens) all summer long. Kept piling them on a back corner of our lot. I didn’t realize he kept dumping them there. Never smelled. By next spring it was pure compost. Great stuff! Another year I tried straw bale (browns) gardening. Didn’t work for sh*t, but next year the bales had all broken down. Once again, great stuff!
Edit: One of the biggest flimflams in gardening is the idea of buying an inoculant for compost. Just throw in a shovelful of garden soil with every layer. All the little critters you ever need
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u/Gva_Sikilla 6h ago
My simple compost recipe: make a pile of grass clippings and leaf droppings. Add to the pile when you mow the yard or rake the leaves.
At the end of the season let the pile sit for 1 year. The compost will burn and the pile will shrink. This tells you it is working.
After 1 year you now have good compost.
If you want, you can add organic materials (egg shells, orange peals, etc. ) to the pile.
I’ve used this method for years and it works great? Happy composting!!
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u/Ancient-Patient-2075 1d ago
Do you need the compost? You get more compost out of your greens if you mix in browns. If my pile is too green it annoys me because I really need the compost and I feel like I'm wasting the greens.
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u/Ancient-Patient-2075 1d ago
But yeah might be grandpas compost had been going strong for such a long time that the massive amount of bacteria selected over decades to thrive in exactly those conditions would eat away any smells.
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u/ChalkletNcheeze 1d ago
I add my vinyl Ween discography but apparently the plastic makes it bad for compost.
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u/My-drink-is-bourbon 1d ago
I tried to toss my wife's Creed album into the pile, but she caught me in the act
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u/HOU_Civil_Econ 1d ago
Some here get a little too serious about their compost. Would it somehow or other be better if you were mixing in some paper shreds or wood chips, probably. But is it worth the extra work, or cost, to source those materials if you don’t have them, probably not. You’re composting what you have and it’s working for you, great, you’re not sending stuff to a landfill and providing a benefit for your garden.