Have you tried to post this comment in the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum?

Agree this is a topic for the other forum.

But very simply, sugar feeds bacteria The bacteria thrive and multiply. Then when the sugar is gone, they die. Period. You don't need sugar to foster bacterial growth. The kind of bacteria that specifically degrade plant organics. Yeast? As in, bread yeast? Maybe you want to get a good "rise" in your compost? Soil fungi are very different things. Ammonia volatilizes readily. You pour it on, and it's gone in a few hours.

To accelerate compost degradation, add chemical nitrate. Lawn fertilizer works well. Urea if you can get it. Cheaper than sugar, yeast, and liquid ammonia.

Sorry first experience with this forum

"Sorry first experience with this forum"

No problem, it's a huge site! Glad to see you join in!

Actually, absorption of ammonia is well understood in modern agriculture. When urea is applied as a fertilizer (and it is a major general ag fertilizer), it is usually dug in. Why? Because urea when moistened produces ammonia, and if it's just laying on the surface, that ammonia escapes to the atmosphere. If the urea is underground when the ammonia is released, that ammonia is absorbed by the soil in a process called nitrification. Those nitrates are plant-usable. That's precisely how urea fertilizes, and how nitrogen coming from compost pile degradation is retained by the mix. So with all due respect to ancient Russian amateur scientists, there is no secrecy in this. It's part of Horticulture 101 in ag schools.

This is also a good reason to dig compost into a bed, instead of just using it as mulch on top.

What is the the real problem? Are you needing compost asap for some
planting? Or just want to put the pedal to the metal for other
reasons?

As mentioned by Dan and rgreen a rapidly available
nitrate or nitrite source typical of inorganic fertilizers or animal
waste (one of dchall's points) greases the nitrogen breakdown cycle.

I
personally would not waste my money in any of these and just watch the
moisture and ratios on my first pile. Then after that, make additional piles by
splitting the in-progress pile and you have the best natural accelerator
of all: compost itself.

That said, if I wanted to accelerate it,
I would get one of the 3 oz Walmart gelatin desserts (jello type) long
since expired in my pantry that need to be thrown away, dissolve and
partially cool it, my free-to-me present available nitrogen source.

The NPK of Wally-World's gelatin dessert is about 1.4-0.01-0.004, so one package is enough and I'd get more sugar than needed.

Then I wouldn't forget to regularly aerate by turning the pile!!!

Cheers

PC

I just learned (from a related forum), and I feel compelled to point out here, that "animal waste" in general is not a compost accelerator. The animal waste that does the trick is animal waste that comes out WET. That's animal waste that has lots of urine (and urea) in it. Dry poop does not. There was a discussion about llama poop (which is dry), as is rabbit poop and others. Those are low in nitrogen, and can even be thrown directly on plants, which you'd never do with cow or chicken manure. But they don't do much for a compost pile.

Expired gelatin is a nice trick! It's about proteins. Proteins have nitrogen, and gelatin is high protein. In fact, any legumes (got a load of expired refried beans?) will do the trick as well. I'd stay away from meat, as that will attract carnivorous pests.

If you added plenty of "greens" or high nitrogen plant material, which it sounds like you already did, then your compost should start heating up in a day or so. Fresh grass clippings, fresh prunings/twigs with green leaves, weeds that were pulled up, alfalfa pellets, bloodmeal, cottonseed meal, used coffee grounds... The list goes on of good sources of "greens".

I personally don't use manures in my compost. Not because I am opposed to it but because I haven't got a way to transport it. Yet, miraculously, my compost heats up and I manage to somehow get high quality compost regularly (some sarcasm intended).

Rodney

P.S. For what it's worth, used coffee grounds, if you have a decent enough amount (see if your local coffee shop will save them for you), can heat up and maintain heat in a compost pile better than manures.

"P.S. For what it's worth, used coffee grounds, if you have a decent
enough amount (see if your local coffee shop will save them for you),
can heat up and maintain heat in a compost pile better than manures." and they are greens! Go figure. Whomever came up with this browns/greens metaphorical crap should have been shot

The best accelerator that I've found is a shovel. Stir it up to really get it going. If you live near the beach, go get some washed up kelp.

To get hot compost the pile has to reach a certain size, about 1 cubit yard. If the pile is smaller, it will compost slower. No need to add sugar, yeast, or ammonia. Let nature do its thing.