Compost Questions

hello all, have had a "dalek" type compost bin for 15 years. it has consumed easily twenty times its volume in that time, perhaps more.

I posted on here some years ago about finding worms on top , trapped as it were by the lid. I was unable to tell if they were escaping or wanting in.

lately its not doing much composting, mostly household veg left overs and quite a lot of dry leaves in autumn,

so with the lockdown ,I have time to spare,

getting compost out id difficult as it is fairly solid, above the hatch. got a wheelbarrow full out though, punched a bar through from the top , to reach the now one foot high space on the bottom.

I pushed in loads of dead twigs in the door so the remaining composting stuff, about 15 inches deep could not collapse .

stirred up the top stuff well and put in some cut grass.

My question is , not having spotted more than a few worms, while mixing it up, I wonder where I will get more from.

having read through several threads here ,it is suggested that they will get attracted in(I presume if my reinvigoration of the contents attracts them)
if ever there were holes in the bottom they are long inaccessible as the bin has more or less sunk into the ground.

crawling in the open door gets them into my now twig filled bottom portion. I don't imagine the lower layers of finished compost would attract them. this leaves it that if they are to crawl up the outside ,at night I think, they need to be attracted out of the ground by the nice composting smells. its a long hike .

also on threads here its suggested that when there is good supply of food, they breed quicker

so, any tips to get it composting at a good rate

am I mad? yes ,a bit

Regards

magicbastarder wrote: »

how damp is it?

the top half of my compost bin, the half I assume is working, or which I want to get working better is quite moist

Thank you for your replies

in the autumn I stuffed the top one foot with dry leaves

since then only household scraps

am doing a good bit of mixing now

but the question is ,where will more worms come from

regards

Earth worms live in the soil so should come up from there. Sounds like you might have made a dry layer in the composter that they were not able to travel through very easily.

rugbyman wrote: »

Right Folks, am not getting worms afaik. my dalek is 80% full, the bottom eight inches have been extracted , from there up is a mixture of veg peelings ,cut grass and dry leaves . it is fairly moist, has hundreds of tiny flies, and quite a few slater/woodlice in the depths. hardly a worm.

I googled this and it recommends against importing in garden worms as they will die in there. there are references to buying the right type of worm(perhaps " wrigglies"), but I doubt they can be bought hereabouts

Mc craignil suggests they cannot get in ,or cannot be bothered getting in from the bottom, either impenetrable of tasteless.

someone suggested peeing into it, is this a good idea?

Thanks in advance

I've seen it mentioned on FB groups.

Adding urea is always a good thing. Got some spread on my field last year. Just ask a farmer if it's a good idea .

Edit, won't do any harm, but don't be seen

I'v never had that many worms in the dalek composter I have at home for a few years, even though it's on the lawn.

I wouldn't worry about it if there is a good mix in there, iv every other type of woodlice, flies, slugs and general creepy crawlies all working away in there happily.

It's quite amazing to see some days.

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