Compost bin

aujopimur

I made a compost bin out of a wheelie bin with a hatch at the bottom, it's full and doesn't appear to be breaking down, I've added my wee on regular basis.
Should I drill some holes in it, if so, how big and how many?.

magicbastarder

two things - it's a bit cold now for a compost bin to work; and secondly, did you cut the bottom out? you want worms, woodlice, etc. in there and they usually get in to a dalek style bin because the bottom is open to the soil.

aujopimur

magicbastarder wrote: »

two things - it's a bit cold now for a compost bin to work; and secondly, did you cut the bottom out? you want worms, woodlice, etc. in there and they usually get in to a dalek style bin because the bottom is open to the soil.

The bottom is still intact, I'll cut out a few large holes.

Harry Palmr

A good composter needs air and as mentioned a link to the ground, as stuff falls out of the bottom the worms make their way up and help the process. Remember to manage the contents by turning it over with a fork (or your hand in a long glove!)

baaba maal

I'd suggest tipping it over to cut the base off- that way you will be mixing up the compost as you add it back in. The material won't break down over the winter anyway but should be ok for next year.

okedoke

my daleks are still working away at the moment, with the warm weather

Gangu

okedoke wrote: »

my daleks are still working away at the moment, with the warm weather

Mine too

paddylonglegs

I have zero bare earth access in my garden to allow worms in. What are my options for composting? My garden is v small

looksee

Add worms yourself. In a very small garden with only raised beds there is a limit to the amount of compost you can use.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

paddylonglegs wrote: »

I have zero bare earth access in my garden to allow worms in. What are my options for composting? My garden is v small

There's little point in a compost bin in a garden so small that there isn't enough bare soil for a compost bin.

iainBB

Micheal Scrawny Airline wrote: »

There's little point in a compost bin in a garden so small that there isn't enough bare soil for a compost bin.

You can compost in the winter but you need to add more green material to generate it's own heat rather than use outside heat. Add grass clipping and green garden waste plus kitchen scraps to get more nitrogen in there.

bigbrotherfan

My garden isn't huge but I've got 3 proper compost bins. They weren't expensive at all and work really well. As other posters have said, you need air and bare soil underneath.Don't think the wheelie bin would be great from the point of view of harvesting your compost as the best compost is always on the bottom.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

iainBB wrote: »

You can compost in the winter but you need to add more green material to generate it's own heat rather than use outside heat. Add grass clipping and green garden waste plus kitchen scraps to get more nitrogen in there.

?? I didn't say otherwise.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bigbrotherfan wrote: »

My garden isn't huge but I've got 3 proper compost bins. They weren't expensive at all and work really well. As other posters have said, you need air and bare soil underneath.Don't think the wheelie bin would be great from the point of view of harvesting your compost as the best compost is always on the bottom.

I totally agree. Proper dalek style ones are not expensive. Converting a wheelie bin is too much bother and far from an efficient job

Calahonda52

aujopimur wrote: »

I made a compost bin out of a wheelie bin with a hatch at the bottom, it's full and doesn't appear to be breaking down, I've added my wee on regular basis.
Should I drill some holes in it, if so, how big and how many?.

This baby is going to be pretty toxic when it opened up as I suspect the decay has been anaerobic and hence perhaps putrid.

In passing, The compost set up I have are two by 1 metre cubed double skinned timber boxes side by side with removable fronts and a top loading lid.
Crucially, they do not sit on the soil but are resting on a galvanised mesh floor which is about two inches up off the ground, vented to front.
The mesh is in fact 9" wide electrical cable trays cut to length to suit

There is no shortage of worms, woodlice slugs, snails spiders etc.


The three fixed sides were pressure treated with preservative and then lined with heavy gauge polythene to keep the preservative way from the compost.
The fronts, which are 9 by 1 boards, are not pressure treated and are replaced every so often: they slide in stainless steel guides.
The fronts are stopped from spreading by a 4 by two fixed across the two boxes with coach screws: its removed when being emptied as I can stand into it!

The compost is perfect, not too wet, not too dry and never toxic or putrid.

Each side takes about a year to fill and then a year to decay...
HTH

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Calahonda52 wrote: »

This baby is going to be pretty toxic when it opened up as I suspect the decay has been anaerobic and hence perhaps putrid.

In passing, The compost set up I have are two by 1 metre cubed double skinned timber boxes side by side with removable fronts and a top loading lid.
Crucially, they do not sit on the soil but are resting on a galvanised mesh floor which is about two inches up off the ground, vented to front.
The mesh is in fact 9" wide electrical cable trays cut to length to suit

There is no shortage of worms, woodlice slugs, snails spiders etc.


The three fixed sides were pressure treated with preservative and then lined with heavy gauge polythene to keep the preservative way from the compost.
The fronts, which are 9 by 1 boards, are not pressure treated and are replaced every so often: they slide in stainless steel guides.
The fronts are stopped from spreading by a 4 by two fixed across the two boxes with coach screws: its removed when being emptied as I can stand into it!

The compost is perfect, not too wet, not too dry and never toxic or putrid.

Each side takes about a year to fill and then a year to decay...
HTH

That seems slow for 2 cubic metres.

The dalek style will yield at least 3 lots per year.

aujopimur

bigbrotherfan wrote: »

My garden isn't huge but I've got 3 proper compost bins. They weren't expensive at all and work really well. As other posters have said, you need air and bare soil underneath.Don't think the wheelie bin would be great from the point of view of harvesting your compost as the best compost is always on the bottom.

I've cut an access hatch.

paddylonglegs

Micheal Scrawny Airline wrote: »

There's little point in a compost bin in a garden so small that there isn't enough bare soil for a compost bin.

There is if you want to dispose of kitchen veg peelings, raw egg shell etc

magicbastarder

such a small garden would not produce much by way of other garden waste to assist with the process. how long would it take for composting to begin properly if the above was all you were putting in the bin?

Calahonda52

magicbastarder wrote: »

such a small garden would not produce much by way of other garden waste to assist with the process. how long would it take for composting to begin properly if the above was all you were putting in the bin?

If its too wet, then it wont every start properly.

You could dry drying it a bit with chopped up newspaper, not too much

In passing raw egg shells, being calcium, don't compost....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Calahonda52 wrote: »

If its too wet, then it wont every start properly.

You could dry drying it a bit with chopped up newspaper, not too much

In passing raw egg shells, being calcium, don't compost....

Agree on the egg shells. They add trace elements only. Two or three egg shells finely ground to a bin full is sufficient.

bigbrotherfan

When I started composting, I always included eggshells but they always came out, in the compost, exactly as they had gone in. They don't compost, even when you break up the shell, as small as you can.