A shortage of one of these requirements will limit growth and often results in incomplete conditioning. A good indication that the compost is ready to pasteurized, is the subsiding of microbial activity, which is indicated by a decrease in compost temperature at the same air temperature. After pasteurization slowly lower compost through the temperature ranges of the microorganisms. A general rule is to lower compost temperature no more than 4-5 o F. per day. Provided that enough food, water and oxygen the microbes will continue to grow.
Different microbes use different compounds and grow at different temperatures.
Therefore it is important to make sure all areas of the beds and room gradually drop through all temperatures ranges. Thermophillic fungi grow at lower temperatures and are important because they are able to grow into denser areas of compost. Composting is considered compete when no trace of ammonia odor can be detected and the compost has a uniform flecking of white colonies of actinomycetes, called fire-fang. Compost should have less than 0.1 ppm of ammonia and the N content on a dry wt.