Compost disappeared !

I have two black 'daleks' started the second one some time this year as the other was full to the brim - so put lid on and left it .... I now have only around a quarter of the bin full !!! It is going black and crumbly - but I didn't expect it to go down so much .... the newer bin this year is also full of tiny tiny flies but doesn't smell at all - just a nuisance when I lift the lid to add stuff and they fly all around me ... there are also lots of slugs on the walls of the bin - I just hate slugs yeuk ! ... and also a few wild potatoes growing !! I have pulled them out but wondering if I am doing the right thing with these bins as it seems to be taking years just to get a bucketfull of compost ! .... Val

 

I have the same composters Val and the level in mine dropped considerably quite quickly, just as yours did. If you're getting black and crumbly stuff, it sounds like it'll be just about ready to use...if you can avoid the slugs!

It can take a while, then all of a sudden you have compost. Position is important too as they need sunshine to work quicker. Without sunshine it will just take longer, but it will eventually decompose.

Have you been adding an activator (human urine works well) or turning it at all?

 

The slugs and snails are in teh "done" bin, rather than the "new material" bin?

You shouldn't get those sorts of critters in a new heap, because the temperature should be too high for them to be comfortable. But as the composting process matures the temperature falls and worms and all sorts will move in to finish the job off.

When my bin is full I carry on squeezing stuff in for quite a few weeks, knowing it will all shrink down.

Pee-ing on a heap (honestly!) [whilst new material is being added] will increase the temperature and the speed of composting.

 

The slugs are in the newer bin .... must go ask my husband to do a little 'sprinkiling' for me lol .... other than that I have used a powdered activator ... thanks for replies and help .... Val

 

"The slugs are in the newer bin"

Hmmm .. .doesn't sound like it is getting hot enough to me. What do others think?

 

I only have worms a-plenty in mine.

 

I have never felt them to be very hot even though they are in the sun - well, when we get any I mean !

 

They should get hot from the composting process (rather than the Sun, although that obviously helps for Black Daleks sited in full sun :thumb

 

Val, it took nearly two years for me to get anything out of our dalek. It doesn't get the sun much and judging by the amount that goes into it, the dalek should be overflowing, but it's the reverse.

At least something is happening to it, look at it that way. Even if you aren't getting much compost right now.

 

Dalek composters dont get that hot, well not hot enough to kill weed seeds etc. They might start cooking if you put in lawn mowings but it does not last long and does not get to a very high temperature. To hot compost you need a much bigger heap, on a commercial scale where they are regularly turned and you would need a very large tractor to do the turning.
In dalek composters you are cold composting which takes much longer, probably about a year. You can help things along a bit by getting air into the heap. I sometimes poke a cane into the heap. After a while it can be useful to throw it all out with a fork and then fork it back in again. As it rots down it becomes more compact and some areas can lack Oxygen which the bacteria need. If you fancy doing it it is good exercise. I do it in the autumn and throw it out of the heap that has been collecting all summer into an empty one parked next to it.
The slugs are perfectly normal in the heap. They are eating decaying matter and helping it break down. It is one place where slugs are useful in the garden. The tiny flies are vinegar flies I think and that is perfectly normal. They are attracted by the decaying fruit, not the kitchen waste. If they are a nuisance just cover such material with lawn mowings or shedded paper.
You should be putting equal amounts of soft material such as kitchen waste and lawn mowings and brown waste such as prunings ( shredded) shredded paper, torn up cardboard. Kitchen waste is OK as long as it does not include cooked food.
The trouble is with composting is you dont get much out of it for the huge amount you put in. I suppose that is why garden compost is so rich in nutrients. Bear this in mind if you buy farmyard manure. Try and get well rotted manure that has composted. Fresh manure will cook away for weeks in the heap but at the end of it you wont have much of a heap left. Lovely stuff but not much. Better for it to be cooked before you buy it.

 

Thanks all of you for your help and advice .... Val

 

Only thing I would add is yes, it's slow, and yes it takes a while to make any quantity, but on the upside, it's good stuff! I find a top-dressing really gets pulled down quickly into the soil by the worms and the weather, and makes for good plants and better soil structure. I'm sold on making as much as I can!

 

Small compost bins can't get too hot. Its all about microbial activity. If the 'body heat' of the microbes can easily escape, such as when there isn't that much mass to insulate it all, then the heap won't get that warm.

Its like this. If you put 2 people in a two man tent, it will get pretty cold in there during the night because the body heat can easily escape. If you put a crowd of 200 people in a tent, it will stay warm because more heat is being generated than can escape. If you put 200 people in 100 two man tents, they'll all be cold because the surface area for the heat to escape from is much larger for the same number of people. Microbes are thos people, and the compost heap is their tent.