Compost Discussion Thread (Merged Threads)

liverpooleo

Ditto to Starjumper's predicament (though ours is on soil), but I gave up on my composter because it was smelly and had lots of flies. Now thinking of moving it to another place, sunnier, but on slate, and trying again. Any tips?
Leo
lol gb57, I was gonna say it would save having to nag them about putting the seat back down. Hubby won't play ball, though

Lotus-eater

If its wet and smelly, it just is too wet, I get this if I have put in too much kitchen waste on its own, or too much grass mowings.
starjumper, I wouldn't have put it on plastic, thats just asking for trouble, not sure if its caused the problem, but it won't help.

alanobrien

Slugs and snails are ok in the compost bin.
In fact i am happy to see them there and not in the vegtable beds !

maxc

AngieFitz wrote: »

Hiya

If you want quick composting try Bokashi Bins.

i have two bakashi bins which having used for a couple of years and doing all the right things ie plenty of bacashi bran allowing at least two weeks before adding to compost or digging directly to garden soil (cost arm and a leg) finished up with rats in the compost bin and digging holes in garden, wherever i had dug it into soil Bakashi no thanks
Max...............

valk_scot

Pee is good, any variety. I get my sons to pee in there when they're out playing. Seaweed (gathered from above the tide line) is great as an accelerant, as long as you rinse the salt off first. Leave it out on the patio in the rain and the salt will kill a few weeds for you to boot. And if you can get it, a few shovels full of horse manure.

Wet compost just means you've either not covered it or the balance of green to coarse waste is wrong. If you have a paper shredder try shredding some newspaper or any non glossy paper through to mix in...just avoid glossy coloured papers. Kitchen towels, loo roll inners, brown cardboard well toen up, a few leaves (not many)...anything like that. Straw and wood shavings rabbit and other herbivore cages is fine too, as is that from chicken hutches. Just don't use cat litter or anything that's been in touch with carnivore droppings.

The trick with compost is to apply things in decent quantities, so save up the paper till you're putting in a bucket of veg peelings or such. Once a bin is full, empty, mix well and return to the bin. A big piece of tarp is good for this mixing. The bigger the bin the better it will heat up.

One final tip...if you have a plastic Dalek type bin get two. The Council will usually provide these cheaply. They recommend puttinmg them on the bare earth but I find a 4` x 4` piece of old tarp under the base, pierced with holes for the worms and drainage, to help a lot with emptying and mixing.

noonesperfect

I hardly dare ask this question, but is it too gross to put used tissues in the compost bin (particularly if one has a cold)? Or would it affect the eco-system going on in there?

Yategirl

I would say put them on - it all rots down... you dont know what is there once it is rotted!

I wear gloves when I turn the heap so I don't "touch" anything "not nice" (have plastic dalek so I take the dalek off, put it in new position or move the heap and then refill the dalek as I get best results that way) bythe time the heap is ready to use, it is fine and I don't need gloves!

paddy's_mum

That's not gross - it's what people have been doing, in one way or another, for hundreds of years. How do you think sewage got dealt with before flush toilets were invented? How will people deal with waste if society breaks down and there are no facilities anymore?

If you want to take it one step further, you might want to google for Joseph Jenkins and the Humanure movement.

maria340

Tissues are fine. We put every thing on ours including toilet roll tubes, cardboard boxes, ALL left over food, all garden waste, chicken bones, although our heap is about 10 years old and very efficient.

Lotus-eater

I don't put used tissues in the compost bin, as I understand they can contain pathogens and unless your heap heats up to the required temperature for the required time (and most garden heaps don't) then they won't be killed.