Composter...no idea whats going on?

Hi everyone,

We have had our composter around 2 years now, and have always put the correct things in it, although I think I have put too many green things in and not enough brown.

Last year we put loads of grapefruit skins in, which I thought made it too acidic, so put in garden lime to compensate. Needless to say they have now vanished.

Things do seem to disappear, but I wouldn't say that the compost is usable in the garden. Its a big black dalek that we've got, and I know that they can be slow but this is taking ages! lol

I reckon the whole mixture is too wet, as if I take the door off, the very bottom looks almost slimey. I keep putting shredded paper in it, and turning it best I can, but I can't get right down to the bottom anymore. Have also put a full box of garrotta in too. There's plenty of bugs in there, and ants annoyingly! It doesn't ever seem to get hot, never steams.

You reckon it will get there in the end? Thinking not to add anything else bar shredded paper for a while, see if we can dry it out a bit.

Thoughts and experiences?

Thanks :-)

 

The best way i think with these daleks is to lift it off the compost, and mix it by shovelling all the compost, mixing in more browns through out it.

 

Patience. It'll get there in the end. A (free) activator you can use is human urine, although you don't need to wee into the composter direct, a bucket full of it will work just as well!

 

It should not get hot, it isn't hot composting - the bin simply is not big enough. It will take time. I simply fill up a bin over a year using the right mixture. At the end when it is full I fork it all out into an adjoining bin and leave it another year. So i work on a two season cycle and it is lovely rich compost that comes out. It never ceases to amaze me how the material reduces in volume that first season. I fill the bin right up to ythe top, so much that the lid wont close and then it all drops down within days, and that keeps happening. In the second season it is often fungi that are working away breaking down the cellulose and that takes time.
I wonder how long my chicken poo is going to take? i have recently got chickens and i bed them on wood shavings. They produce a lot of waste so I am planning on making some new bigger bins out of pallets.

 

Chicken droppings won't take long, but the wood shavings mixed up with them will. If you can switch to a plant based bedding, it will work much faster. We use Hemcore or Auboise, which is a bit more expensive but as it's made from dried nettles or hemp, it breaks down in record time - and when it spills or gets blown around the garden, doesn't take an age to disappear.

http://www.hemcore.co.uk/bedding.php

Ignore the bit about dampening it down - that's only for horses! It works fine dry on the floor of the house and the nestbox.

 

You need LOADS of 'browns' in the dalek. Every bit of kitchen paper towel, loo roll centers and any corrugated cardboard that arrives. If you really want to get the bin working quickly get some tiger or brandling worms in it. You'll get them from a fishing shop (cheap) or online (more expensive). We introduced worms to our bins about 5 years ago when our son had some 'spares' after a fishing trip. We've now got a massive colony and are giving them to neighbours for their bins as well as adding the odd handful to our main compost heap.
An added advantage of getting worms on the job is that worm produced compost is a bit richer in nutrients than normally rotted compost.

Photo is of the top of our 'heap' where worms introduced from the daleks are getting to work.

 

I recently went to Ryton which is an organic garden, one thing I learnt there was to screw your toilet roll middles into a ball shape rather than rip it up and put in flat, the same with kitchen roll, cereal boxes etc. but don't put in magazines or white paper that you use to print out things from your computer.

I also use the two bin method and have loads of worms which just appeared, so when I start off the next bin I make sure there are some worms in there to start it off.

Hope this makes sense!!

 

i have a friend who runs a cafe, she gives me all her coffee grounds,(used) are they good for the compost. as i was advised to use it.

 

brilliant thanks.

 

but don't forget to rip the tea bag in half, also some tea bags are made of nylon I belive and so don't break down, I have now started to use paper tea bags.

I don't use Garotta either.