Pro tip: check your compost thermometer before trusting it

My pile sat at 90F for 3 weeks and I thought something was wrong, then I replaced the $12 probe and it jumped to 145F, anyone else had a bad thermometer ruin their whole batch?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenniferw8221d ago

I used to be one of those people who figured a thermometer is a thermometer and they're all basically the same. I had a cheap one from a hardware store and my pile never got above 110F even when I turned it and added greens. I was so frustrated thinking our climate just wasn't right for hot composting. Then I saw a post like this somewhere and bought a proper compost thermometer online and sure enough it shot up to 140F. It makes me wonder how many times I gave up on a pile that was actually doing fine just because I trusted a bad reading.

jessica_ross3821d ago

...and you know what's funny, I had the exact opposite problem with a soil thermometer for my garden beds. I bought this expensive digital one that was supposed to be super accurate and it read 10 degrees cold for two seasons. By the time I figured it out I had planted all my tomatoes a week early because I thought the soil was warmer than it really was. Lost half of them to a late frost and now I just use the old-fashioned dial thermometers and check them against each other.