Quality Compost Thermometers - REOTEMP

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Backyard Compost Thermometer: amzn.to/11tAetj
Pro Compost Thermometer: amzn.to/1EOaynv
I was so very disappointed in the compost thermometer that I bought at the local hardware store that I searched high and low before deciding on which thermometer I was going to use next.
I settled on REOTEMP thermometers. In the video you can see all the differences. Much thicker probe. Better gauge. All-around better construction.
I have 2 thermometers to show you, the backyard composter thermometer and the heavy duty thermometer. The backyard composter is great for single piles and only runs $25. The heavy duty thermometer can be ordered with probes ranging from 24" to 72" and has a number of attachments available to the serious or commercial compost producer - starting at $99.
One thing that really surprised me - they actually advertise that you can leave the thermometer outside. How great is that!
My experience so far is that these thermometers are heads above the rest and if you are looking to invest in a thermometer, this is company is the one you should buy from.
Background music provided by KZbin / The Creek

[@MIgardener]

AHHH I think I found your problem! The little candy at the end was the sweet solution. you need to STOP using municipal water. Municipal water has chlorine and other harmful chemicals that their sole purpose is to kill bacteria, and that is the only thing heating your compost pile! Hope this reaches you well, Love the show Jared!

[@BigAlSparks]

Was looking for a one-time-purchase thermometer, this looks like it from the video, and finally... i link to a product thats in stock! btw, you want the heat, well you gotta get some bags full of grass clippings and thoroughly mix that pile with the fork at least every other day, thats a big pile and a tractor is handy, but the whole thing needs to be tossed and stirred. Tapper off the clippings when the pile starts to rise, and then you won't go too hot

[@katapo777]

if its not hot enough make the pile bigger

[@priayief]

I saw a couple of your videos, struggling with creating a heated compost pile. I did the same for several years until, finally I managed to get a really hot compost - as hot as 135F! Exciting when that happens. I think I hit upon the magic formula when I got some free bales of rotted hay and built my pile with liberal amounts of the hay (wettng layers of hay and grass clippings). I'm guessing that I haven't been using enough brown materials until now. Patrick (at OYR) is one I've followed for quite some time. Good info there - and based on evidence (so you don't get sucked in by those magic youtube garden fixes). Love your videos! They're honest and can be quite helpful. Thanks.

[@yes350yes]

Reotemp seems to be a good company from everything Ive read and heard. One thing that I wonder about and I know others do too is accuracy. Ive gone thru some bad ones that fogged up bad and finally I lost all trust in. The fogged one was reading 140 in my pile and a newer one was reading 155 so I decided to do a test. I put both CT in my refridgerator which I know stays at 39 F. So I found that the old fogged up one wasnt even close and the new one read at 39 degree. So I threw the old one away. Anyway its one way to test whatever CT you are using for accuracy. BTW the new one I have is from greenco and the old one was from clean air. just sayin.

[@greenwood4020]

An accurate way of checking calibration of thermometer is to use an ice water slurry it will be at 32F or 0.0C. Fill a pint container with Ice and add water to just below the top of ice. Stir and you will have the water/ice temp of 32F or 0.0C (laboratory's use distilled water/ice for extreme accuracy but this is not necessary when your using a thermometer that is as accurate as it can be read, ie read within 1 width if the needle tip ) I think Reotemp have this instruction on their web site or on their packaging

[@GardeningWithPuppies]

Looks like you have everything you need to make good compost. Thanks for sharing the information.

[@JandjacresNet]

Gardening With Puppies, you are welcome!

[@Teratornis]

Great video. For viewers who have no tractor or front loader, or who wish to avoid burning fossil fuels, it's also possible to turn a pile of this size or larger by hand with two tools: the familiar pitchfork, and a long-handle cultivator (similar in shape to a hoe, but with four sharp tines rather than a flat blade). The cultivator is easy for pulling a pile down and toward you, to rip into the center and turn the pile over. Then use the pitchfork to pick up the collapsed edges and throw them to the center. The cultivator is the key - using a pitchfork only to tear into the pile is back-breaking since it relies on the strenuous lifting motion rather than the easy pulling motion. Even a child can pull layers off the top of a compost pile with the cultivator. I've been using the Trupro 4-tined cultivator and it is awesome for manipulating compost.

[@JandjacresNet]

Teratornis, I like that idea. Thanks for sharing!

[@sweetheartsmom]

do you have a water filter on your hose?

[@HighDesertGarden]

It looks like you got all the tools to make good compost now. I've recently purchased a compost thermometer as well. The only thing that still concerns me about your compost pile is that it's almost finished composting. It'll definitely be ready by spring and you'll have good compost. Even if the coffee grounds don't heat it up, they will be good for the garden.

[@JandjacresNet]

High Desert Garden, it was my understanding that you could keep adding and adding and keep it hot. Not so?

[@HighDesertGarden]

I'll start off by saying that I'm not an expert; however, I have been experimenting with composting myself over the past few years. Throughout the growing season, I do add material to my pile. I add weeds a few times throughout the year; grass clippings every week or every other week, depending.. any other clippings or prunings... I've noticed that there is a certain ratio of finished to unfinished compost in which the pile will stop getting 'hot.' My pile will stay 'steady' throughout the growing season, like yours. In general, if more than half my pile is finished compost, it won't get above 100. This may be because I'm lucky if I get a yard of material piled up throughout the year. Sometimes it composts faster than I can pile it up.. I suspect that there would need to be at least 1/3 yard of unfinished material in the pile to really build up heat and stay hot. When I start a new pile in the fall, I can usually get it hot. If you currently had a hot pile, adding more material too it should keep it hot for longer. My problem right now is that we hit -12 degrees and have had sub zero temperatures every night. My compost is 'steady,' like yours. I'm not too concerned about it; but, if we get a couple of nice days, I might go throw some coffee and urin on the pile. Regardless, I'm sure that my compost will be ready by spring. My suggestion is: if you get more yard debris, keep adding it. Even if the pile doesn't heat up, it'll be nice compost for the spring.

[@Teratornis]

J&J Acres- yes, you can add fresh material continuously to the pile. Mixing the fresh material with the old will inoculate the fresh with microbes that are living in the old material. At some point, however, finished compost "fines" will accumulate in excess amounts and block the flow of air and moisture into the pile. To keep the pile loose and aerated, sift the finished fines out with a tray or trammel sifter, and throw the unfinished chunks back in the pile. The fines are then ready to use or set aside in a storage pile for spring planting. The partly decayed chunks act as starter for the fresh material you mix them with.

[@Teratornis]

Because the "fines" have a small particle size, they tend to compress tightly and smother the chunks. Removing the fines periodically lets the remaining chunks form a pile with more voids in it to admit air and moisture. An active pile can form a substantial amount of compost fines in as little as four weeks. The pile will not appear to be finished because the larger unfinished chunks are still readily apparent. But the fines are in there, ready to be used and mostly just getting in the way of the fresher material being able to decay quickly.

[@TraderRoss]

looking at the close in pictures it appears to be mostly broken down already. When I was a kid I use to bag the grass when I mowed, I had the best worm bed & compost. I see you added some vegetable peelings, need a lot more green stuff. The shady concrete patio use to get oak leaves on it & no one cleaned them off, awesome worms & dirt. keep it up farmer J

[@AmerijamAcres]

Looking forward to the results. Hope it's working better

[@LuckyDewGarden]

Cool...I need the dummy gauges on the thingy....thanks for the review

[@wyattoneable]

Nice.

[@benaldi2]

Try increasing your greens to at least one third of the total of the mix ratio. I:m not sure of the exact value but have noticed that my pile of grass clipping gets very hot, but ends up a soggy mess if I don't add dry contents as well.

[@nickslaft4468]

Wow. This helped me ALOT. Finally a right video. Love your passion!

[@shawhit3462]

Okay you cover compost piles to stop the nutrients from leaching out. You need a little more coffee grounds. You might be able to get a restaurant to save them for you. Love the new temp gauges. Thanks for finding them for me! Municipal water tends to have chlorine and other chemicals in it. You might want to set up a rain capture system to water your garden and compost piles with. Chlorine kills bacteria that you need to compost with and garden with.... You can get food grade barrels on craigslist cheap, convert them to rainwater barrels. Get a couple and never run out of rain water.

[@kajahtaa]

I have good results with coffee grounds and dechlorinated water. That reotemp is great. My local earthworms also love coffee when I use it as a mulch.

[@betsytilton8467]

You said that you are using city water, could the chlorine in the water be some of your problem? Wouldn't it kill the bacteria causing the pile to stop cooking?

[@Teratornis]

Not at 4 ppm or less of chlorine. The chlorine in tap water is in tiny concentrations to kill just a few bacteria that you can't even see. A compost pile contains orders of magnitude more bacteria and fungi.

[@stumax1000]

Great video. I have been looking for a compost thermometer and you are saving me some research time.

[@JandjacresNet]

stumax1000, happy to hear it!

[@Teratornis]

I have the same smaller Reotemp model for home composting. It's awesome. My compost pile is showing 140°F-165°F in spots despite the recent cold snap with lows in the teens and hunks of snow and ice on the colder edges of the pile. The active center of the pile melted all the snow that fell on it, and the snow I threw on it from shoveling off my deck. I've collected a large volume (dozens of bags and garbage can loads) of leaves from several of my neighbors, and mixed them with the remaining unfinished chunks from my summer compost batch. I originally bought the thermometer because I had read about the (admittedly low) risk of compost fires from piles that get too hot and go into a "thermal runaway". But it usually takes a really large pile (12 feet high or more) to get that hot, so the risk is small for the typical backyard composter.

[@Rdrake1413]

Have you thought about using your tractor to dig a trench with your FEL. Kind of like a feed bunk. The dirt wall would give you a good backstop.

[@Rdrake1413]

Putting a little bit of fertilizer will also heat up your compost pile

[@yes350yes]

Yes coffee grounds can heat up a pile if you can get enough mixed in. My suggestion is pick some up from starbucks or any coffee company. My pile is this winter had stopped with the real cold weather but once it warmed a little and the recently added grounds sure got it going and quick.

[@AbiSarav]

Thanks for the info about the thermometers. The backyard one is nearly double the price here in Australia because of shipping. However they still look worth it, pretty solid item.

[@stuartsullenbarger2023]

Hey Jared....been following your vids....your compost is really looking great....but I don't make that much at a time...I use the compost barrel method for my small garden 24x24 feet,but you doing great in my opion ....don't forget to save some finished compost to make compost tea.....plants love it....

[@priayief]

Compost tea? Garden myth!

[@EM-kj6kz]

How I could receive the book for free?

[@RobsAquaponics]

Nice review Jared.. They most certainly look a lot better than the cheese thermometer I'm using :-D Cheers mate..

[@JandjacresNet]

Rob Bob, you make cheese in your compost? No, wait, I don't think that's what you were saying... ;-)

[@GierJoost]

Hi JJ, I enjoy your compost endeavors. I just started my own pile. During my efforts I try to use rainwater when wetting it down. I never researched it but I just don't like using tapwater. (Coming from an aquarium hobby) I know our tapwater is very hard, also I am afraid of chlorine (it kills microbes in your aquarium filter). Often I am out of rainwater, then I use tapwater but let it rest for an hour or so. Let it 'breathe' for a while. What is your opinion about tapwater (besides the financial aspect)? Am I overcautious?

[@Teratornis]

As I pointed out in my above comment, if you collect waste tap water from your kitchen sink or bathtub (called "gray water") and let it stand in a bucket, it will stink in a few days from the swarms of bacteria growing in it. They aren't bothered by residual chlorine treatment. A compost pile contains overwhelmingly more microbes than a bucket of gray water. Tap water contains at most 4 parts per million of residual chlorine. To sterilize a compost pile you'd need something like a tanker truck full of pure chorine.

[@JandjacresNet]

Joost G, perhaps, perhaps not. There are certainly a ton of people making compost using municipal water. However, I also prefer the idea of using rainwater. It is something I have taught others to install, yet still haven't done myself!

[@Jeepollllllo]

I know some commercial coffee house will give away their grounds, might be worth checking into. olllllllo