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Composted vs Rotted

 
master gardener
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I have been doing reading about gardening from modern to some pretty dated material.

Something interested I have ran into is the term 'composted' and the term 'rotted', sometimes both in the same book, being used to describe materials to be used as garden amendments.

I wish to pose to you a question, is there a difference? If so, what are they? If not, why the change in language?

Let me know what you think.
 
pollinator
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Decay/rot/death/anaerobic just sound like it is stink, ugly, and horrible.
Compost/decomposition/recycle/aerobic  just sounds like the circle of life and feels more uplifting.

To me they are alomost the same thing, I might used the word rotten, to make more message more emotional and less monotone.
If something is naturally more grizzly I might try to tone it down and call it composting. (I composted one of the goats that died).
 
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That is an interesting question.

I feel that compost and rotten are two separate items.

To me, compost is going to end up being something very close if not the same as soil.  Something wonderful.

Rotten is to me like something unusual and actually something I would not want to use. Like slimy stinky stuff.

The good news is that I can put that rotten sticky slimy stuff into my compost pile and turn that into something wonderful.
 
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I tend to agree with S Bengi and Anne.  Subjectively, “Rot” sounds like anaerobic decay and therefore something bad.  Alternatively, “Rot” might also mean some sort of structural destruction as in a rotted post or a rotted section of a building.  

“Decompose” sounds like aerobic decay and therefore something good and meant to either turn into soil or some type of soil amendment/garden bedding.

My thoughts.

Eric
 
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In the fermented food context, "rotten" is when a food is made gross or dangerous by microbes and "fermented" is when the microbes cause a desirable change. And some foods are called both things by different people!

I don't turn, fluff, baby, take the temperature, or limit what goes into my compost piles. I pile yard and kitchen stuff up in big mounds and then two years later, I peel the crap off the top and there's beautiful humus underneath. Sometimes it stinks and attracts flies. I wouldn't be surprised if someone thought I was doing it wrong and that my piles were rotting. But the humus seems right at the end even if it takes two years instead of eight weeks.
 
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I think historically they may have been closer to the same meaning.

Today, I would say that rotting is the natural process of decomposing which may or may not include stinky and squishy stuff.

I would define composting as purposeful and controlled decomposing with the addition of carbon to control the smell and increase the organic matter in the end result.
 
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Both rotting and composting are processes that plant materials being decomposed by microorganisms and other small critters, so sometimes the two terms are interchangeable based on the context. I agree with Matt as "rotting" having less human intervention, more natural that is, but not necessarily desirable.

For example, in a pile of moldy rotten hay, part of the plant biomass is converted to fungi and the spores. There might be anaerobic goo underneath too. Either way it's not very useful for gardening. If the hay in composted, maybe with manure mixed in, the population of microbes will be quite different; hot or cold, it's mainly an aerobic process since people put effort into managing the pile. And the resulting product is rich, dark and crumbly black gold.

 
Anne Miller
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I took some celery out of the refrigerator.

Some of it was pretty slimy so I cut off the rotten stuff and cooked the rest.

I forgot where I put the rotten stuff and found it today.  One yucky mess of molded stuff.
 
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I think the usage was changed for social reasons. If I'm teaching a class on "Rot it all!" I'll get less people than if I call it "Compost it all!!"
People have icky connotations with rot (probably thinking of the aerobic icky stuff in the fridge or a swamp) but less preconceptions about compost.
Marketing!

:D
 
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I've heard that compost is controlled rotting.  I like to think of it like that.  Makes me feel powerful.  Mwa-ha-ha!
 
pollinator
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Back in the day, they didn't worry about recipes for composting: how many parts greens to how many parts browns, turning and the like; things were just left to rot.  Then, the term "composting" became a new environmental way of dealing with "trash."  Rather than bagging up leaves and table scraps and sticking them out by the curb, they became gold; something to treasure.  A good change!  We have become a very PC society and language matters.  Remember swamps?  Now, they're wetlands and people can appreciate them more because of the change in terminology, I think.
 
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There Is a difference in rotting and composting .I  feed scraps to my chickens and dog the animal wastes are used long with weeds to make beautiful and non stinky compost without turning in a year. It is transformed by worms and made in round wire circles . I posted a utube video in the process .I used to use biodynamic preps to make it but no longer need to .There are no chips in it -just soil like humas .I even sell it for$25/5gallon bucket . It's as simple as it gets  Ibuild the piles in various gardens so It is where I need it . I have 5 gardens (sharonsnaturalgardens )
 
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S Bengi wrote:Decay/rot/death/anaerobic just sound like it is stink, ugly, and horrible.
Compost/decomposition/recycle/aerobic  just sounds like the circle of life and feels more uplifting.

To me they are alomost the same thing, I might used the word rotten, to make more message more emotional and less monotone.
If something is naturally more grizzly I might try to tone it down and call it composting. (I composted one of the goats that died).



I agree.

Anaerobic fertilizer can be used too. It produces nutrients in large quantities and faster (decomposes faster), but cannot be used directly on crops, it needs to be sanitized (by the sun or other methods) or applied with a couple of months in advance.
 
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Christopher Weeks wrote:I don't turn, fluff, baby, take the temperature, or limit what goes into my compost piles. I pile yard and kitchen stuff up in big mounds and then two years later, I peel the crap off the top and there's beautiful humus underneath. Sometimes it stinks and attracts flies. I wouldn't be surprised if someone thought I was doing it wrong and that my piles were rotting. But the humus seems right at the end even if it takes two years instead of eight weeks.



I've got a small pile that I baby and take care of, it's a pile of wood chips that I put the regular household green waste into. That breaks down suprisingly fast because I really am babying it.

But then I have a larger heap that I just do nothing but dump green waste onto. Occasionally I'll throw in some biochar if I remember, maybe a spade full of top soil scattered across. And by "occasionally" I mean maybe once a year. But otherwise I just treat it like a gross trash heap. And as you said, surprise surprise, it takes a little longer but it's great compost in there.
 
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Well, aerobic IS different from anaerobic, to start with.
 
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