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The Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio

Put your math skills to work and figure out if your compost has a balanced carbon to nitrogen ratio.

In This Article
>  The carbon/nitrogen ratio
>  Do the math

   
Related Articles
>  Compost Lingo
>  Build a Compost Pile
Products
>  Rodale Book of Composting
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>  Over the Fence
The carbon/nitrogen ratio

If you are a compost nerd, you might already know that the ideal ratio of carbon to nitrogen in a compost pile is about 30:1. A pile with that balance of materials will rot steadily, and it will yield nutrient-rich compost.

But how do you know what your pile's ratio is? "The most important factor in estimating the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is how much water is present," explains Eric Evans, Ph.D., laboratory director of Woods End Research Laboratory in Mt. Vernon, Maine. "Dry materials are generally in the range of 40 to 50 percent carbon, and sloppy, wet materials are generally 10 to 20 percent carbon." Here are the specifics on many common materials. After you've scanned through these, you'll see how to calculate your pile's exact Carbon/Nitrogen ratio.

Carbon and Nitrogen Content
of Common Compost Ingredients*
Material% Carbon %Nitrogen
Alfalfa pellets40.52.7
Blood meal4313
Cottonseed meal426
Soybean meal426
Legume hay, dry402.0-2.5
Nonlegume hay, dry401.0-1.5
Fresh manure, cow12-200.6-1.0
Fresh manure, horse20-350.5-1.0
Fresh manure, laying chickens10.5-201.5-3.0
Fresh manure, broiler chickens20-32.51.3-2.0
Wheat or oat straw, dry480.5
Grass clippings, fresh10-151-2
Fallen leaves20-350.4-1.0
Newspaper or cardboard, dry400.1
Wood chips or sawdust25-500.1
Coffee grounds251.0
Vegetable wastes, fresh, leafy101.0
Vegetable wastes, starchy151.0
Kitchen scraps10-201-2
Fruit wastes80.5
Seaweed, fresh101.0
Weeds, fresh10-201-4
* average; based on fresh weight
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