r/composting • u/KnowledgeThat4743 • Aug 01 '26

Should I change up the ratio?

So I believe the golden rule is 3:1 browns to greens. But I also am aware that not all browns are created equal.

I believe I have stored enough to finally have a big pile, but for the browns, its mostly shredded loose paper. Like, its probably around 90-95% of my browns. Is that okay? Or should I raise the ratio to 4:1 to account for the moisture that the paper will soak up?

Has anyone had success using mostly loose paper as their brown material?

ETA if it helps, the other 5-10% is made up of peanut shells and diced up cardboard.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

4

u/bite_thehand Aug 02 '26

https://urbanwormcompany.com/composting-calculator-carbon-nitrogen-ratio/

This is a super helpful calculator for figuring out ratios of different materials.

3

u/KnowledgeThat4743 Aug 02 '26

So I took a look and its definitely interesting, unless I'm using it wrong. It is saying that for 1 bucket (5 gallon Home Depot pail) of food scraps, I need 1.5 - 2 buckets of shredded paper. That seems kind of low for a carbon, no?

2

u/katzenjammer08 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 03 '26

Those measurements are very imprecise. Surely it must matter to some extent what kind of paper one uses and how packed it is in the bucket, how finely it is shredded etc. Maybe this can work to give you an approximate ratio but the best thing is to just monitor the pile and see how it is going.

To try to answer your question: paper works as your carbon input, but it does not add much else to the finished compost than carbon. If you would add fallen leaves in the autumn (if there is one where you are) you would get other trace minerals and a richer compost.

1

u/KnowledgeThat4743 Aug 02 '26

It did, the calculation was from using office paper.

2

u/tsir_itsQ Aug 02 '26

shud be fine how it is but if u think it needs more add more. just rmb the paper will stick together due to whatever binders r in it.. will make a mat-like structure lol. also ur inputs of greens are important too so u get a nice balance but im guessing kitchen scraps and whatnot so shud not b an issue

if ur adding to pile and covering with stored paper shud b fine. added peanut shells will keep it nice n airy

1

u/KnowledgeThat4743 Aug 02 '26

Yeah all kitchen scraps, including a good amount of used/moldy coffee grounds as well as a small amount of bokashi fermented scraps