Compost Discussion Thread (Merged Threads)

JoeyEmma

Wee on it!

Seriously, its a good accelerator and its free

Jack's_mummy

In word - wee. And I think male wee is better.

Also it probably won't be doing much at this time of year anyway as it's so cold.

Mojisola

Jack's mummy's got the answer - if it's cold, nothing will happen. If you can insulate the heap, it will help things along a bit but it probably won't really get going til the Spring.

Think of the winter as a gathering phase. The bigger the heap when it does start working, the hotter it will get and the faster it will break down, especially when you add your homemade accelerator!

noonesperfect

Only male wee works

annie123

never needed to wee on mine, wait until its warmer it will soon start to happen.

Do make sure its in as warm a place as poss.
Lots of people hide them away in dark corners of the garden and wonder why it doesn't work. If it gets sun all day it will mature very quickly in weeks in the summer.
Mine is east facing and takes about 8 weeks in the height of summer.

Don't forget to add paper shreddings it will get too wet and go slimy/mushy without enough dry stuff to add air gaps, and get the folk into often.

happy gardening

ariba10

The ammonia in human male Wee is the cheapest and best.

dierama

Last year, I bought some composting worms from ebay for around £4.00 and stuck them in my compost heap - they are astonishing! They reproduce at a stunning rate and produce the most gorgeous, crumbliest compost. It's a one off buy - when you empty the compost bin, just keep a shovelful of worm-rich compost and they will soon reproduce up to optimum levels again.

Lotus-eater

Urine as said, comfrey, nettles, just turning it helps.

Mojisola

Putting worms into your compost is a different thing. The worms will work most of the year - they don't like it too hot or too cold - but they won't kill off seeds. If you use only kitchen waste in your worm bin, you will still get tomato and pepper seedlings growing wherever you spread the compost. If you put garden weeds in it, you could be spreading the weeds round your garden from seeds and root cuttings.

full-time-mum

I managed to get hold of some unrotted horse manure this year. I added it to my usual mix and could actually feel the heat - never noticed that before. So maybe try a local riding stable or pop off to the local cow field with a bucket.