Don't let those compost heaps dry out.

I just checked out my compost heap and couldn't believe how dry it was.I watered and turned it, very important to keep it working.
So check them out.....

 

In addition to not rotting, ants and woodlice will start nesting in there if it's nice & dry.

 

I pee on mine each evening when I close the greenhouse. Seems to be about the right amount of moisture (and Nitrogen!)

 

Funnily enough, whilst watering my garden a couple of days ago I too had to water the compost heap - I'm sure my non-gardening neighbour thought I was slightly mad (no change there then!).

 

That made me LOL )
I saw that on Gardeners World last year. Toby had a 2lt bottle of fresh pee, poured it straight on.

 

Are woodlice not good for compost? I've never had any compost from my bin - just doesn't seem to rot down and it's alive with woodlice. Next time my chap comes I'm going to get him to help me remove the crate and give it all a good turnover. So now that will include some water - thanks, roders!

 

I usually find mice nesting in mine every time I turn it. Probably explains why next door's cat spends hours sitting on the fence staring at the compost heap!

Shouldn't think woodlice are a problem, as their name suggests they help to break down woody material which would otherwise take longer to decay.

 

From Garden Pest Wood Lice Tips - Organic Gardening and Farming Pest Control

"There are many species of Wood Lice.
Some are specialized compost bugs that only eat fungus and cause no problems for the organic grower, being an integral part of your composting system.

Others will also attack soft plant tissue, such as gnawing through the stems of young seedlings, which is the chief way they antagonize organic gardeners.

You can tell them apart by checking their ability to roll into a ball – compost Wood Lice can’t whereas the seedling attacking types can. Their mouthparts can only cope with soft plant tissue such as fungus or young growth."

Do they roll up?

I just don't like chucking the contents of a compost heap over my soil when it's full of thousands of woodlice. Makes checking rather difficult.

 

I would think that suggests that it is both too dry, and that the composting process is not proceeding properly - it ought to generate too much heat for the mice to be comfortable, even in a domestic (rather than the larger, hotter, commercial) heap

 

hmmm... Bumble-bees are nesting at the bottom of mine, unsure if I should water it, don't want to disturb them, and I don't want stung either.. :D
Saying that, I have a tub of water, filled with nasty weeds, that has been brewing for a few weeks, might just pour the lot in...

 

Started digging one of mine out yesterday, been coveredwith carpet & moist as a bucket of jellyfish in a fountain

Planted one of Steves Giant Pumpkins in another thats been covered in plastic, I hope a tonne of compost is enough for it.

 

My compost bins are still VERY moist. Verging on wet.
I've put alot of dry materials in it today. So hopefully it will start to dry up a bit.

 

Does the wee that occurs after the remnence of afew drinks make any differance?

 

You can get it in Homebase, only £4.99 a bottle.

I'd rather use the more direct application method but all my compost is in dalek bins and i can't climb up that far.