How to Moisten Compost

Water your compost pile as you build it to keep it uniformly moist.

In order to degrade, compost must remain uniformly moist. Yet getting a compost pile damp can be a difficult task. While the compost on the exterior of a 3- to 5-foot-square pile can be saturated on the outside, it may not penetrate to the center of a compost pile. A compost pile must be moistened as it is constructed and turned to keep it uniformly as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

Things You'll Need

• Dead leaves
• Straw
• Wood chips
• Grass clippings
• Kitchen scraps
• Pitchfork
• Garden hose

Instructions

1. Sort your compost into organic green materials and organic brown materials before constructing your pile. Examples of green materials include nitrogen-filled materials such as grass clippings and vegetable scraps. Brown materials include carbon-filled items such as dead leaves, straw and wood chips.

2. Alternate layers of compost between brown and green compost items. Each layer of compost should be approximately 4 inches thick.

3. Water each compost layer with the spray from a garden hose until it is as damp as a squeezed sponge. This will keep the compost pile uniformly moist throughout.

4. Build the pile again in layers as you turn the compost. Water the compost layers again as needed.

References

• Texas A&M University Extension: Don't Bag It - Leaf Management Plan
• NC State Univeristy Extension: Composting for Home Gardens
• NC State Univeristy Extension: Composting: A Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes

Resources

• University of Missouri Extension: Making and Using Compost