Idiot's Guide To Composting Please!

Eenymeeny

Hi, I've searched the forums and am getting more confused as I go on, or am I making it too difficult? I wonder if you kind people would give me some straightforward advice to low-budget composting.
Firstly, I'm wondering if I can use one of those builders bags made of polyprop with stakes in each corner to keep it upright. (Thinking that I can flatten or cut out the front?)
Secondly, I see advice to use things like egg boxes, toilet roll inners etc. Do you break them up or leave them intact to improve airflow? also cereal boxes etc. Do you break them up and will things like frozen food container boxes (glossy) still compost?
I'm thinking of putting leaves etc on top or should these be 'broken down' in black bags first?
Sorry for all of the questions but as you can see I really need some help!:)

londonsurrey

Builder's bags are surprisingly self sufficient. You don't have to add anything to prop them up. As you fill it up, it will simply hold its "square" shape. Think about how they hold all that gravel/sand without flopping over.

What I would recommend is getting a second builder's bag. Use it as a "lid" for the first bag. This will help keep out flies, help the compost retain moisture, encourage worms to work on and near the surface of the compost.

The more you break up stuff, the better. So don't go overboard, but break it up as much as your enthusiasm and spare time will allow. I have one friend who cuts loo rolls into 3 parts.

Glossy stuff will compost, but I don't like the idea of all those odd inks and heaven knows what being added to my wholesome (to my mind ) compost.


The "diet" for a compost heap, like the diet for a human, is better the more varied it is. So leaves are great (not evergreen like box and conifers), and the more you mix up the stuff, the better, as opposed to carefully separating things.

If you have enough brown leaves to fill a whole builder's bag, you could consider keeping it that way for a "fast" compost that you can harvest in about a year or two.

But if it's normal leaves that you have in the course of gardening, just chuck them in, spreading them over the bag, as opposed to clumping them in a bundle. The objective is to maximise the mixing of the different materials.

wallbash

Good advice.
Monty said again it was the frequent turning ( air ) that speeded things up
I am a bit more selective. Very little cardboard ( goes in the green wheelie).
But I am willing to wait . Do I really need my compost in weeks?
Its more like twice a year.

Eenymeeny

Thanks very much for your help. A second bag is a good idea. I've heard of using a piece of carpet as a 'lid' so am I supposed to be keeping the rain off then? I've got some left over vinyl flooring which would probably do a better job... or is that another daft question?:o

wallbash

You have not mentioned how big your garden is ? Mine is a reasonable size , veg plot is small and there is a lawn . But I only have a limited amount of green rubbish.

Sambucus_Nigra

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Hi, I've searched the forums and am getting more confused as I go on, or am I making it too difficult? I wonder if you kind people would give me some straightforward advice to low-budget composting.
Firstly, I'm wondering if I can use one of those builders bags made of polyprop with stakes in each corner to keep it upright. (Thinking that I can flatten or cut out the front?)
Secondly, I see advice to use things like egg boxes, toilet roll inners etc. Do you break them up or leave them intact to improve airflow? also cereal boxes etc. Do you break them up and will things like frozen food container boxes (glossy) still compost?
I'm thinking of putting leaves etc on top or should these be 'broken down' in black bags first?
Sorry for all of the questions but as you can see I really need some help!:)

One of my favourite topics.

To get good compost, you need a mix 50/50 of greens and browns. Greens - veg waste, grass mowings etc. Browns, cardboard and loo roll innerds etc. The key to composting is that the smaller you make the initial pieces the quicker you will get compost. I do put glossy cardboard in - usually use it to wrap peelings to keep that 50/50 ratio going.

I'd not put leaves in there, I'd put those in a leaf mould area/bag/separate builders bag. You can put them all into bin bags, punch holes in them and leave them for a couple of years to rot down and give you good leaf mould. This is used directly as seed compost [mix with sand] or a mulch. They take a while to rot which is why I don't put them in the actual compost bin.

londonsurrey

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Thanks very much for your help. A second bag is a good idea. I've heard of using a piece of carpet as a 'lid' so am I supposed to be keeping the rain off then? I've got some left over vinyl flooring which would probably do a better job... or is that another daft question?:o

The carpet and vinyl ought to work perfectly well. The only reason why I use a bag as a "lid" is because of me - I know that I don't like touching damp carpet, and it would put me off using the compost bin as much (I have Aspergers Syndrome, and with it comes heightened sensory issues). The bag "lid" stays nice, clean, light and relatively dry to the touch, even when it's been pouring down with rain.

I'm also inherently lazy, and am a firm proponent of good design, which would include ease of use as a feature, so the lid is easy and pleasant to lift, to me it makes it a good lid!

Eenymeeny

Thanks for all of your replies.
I'd say that it's a reasonable size if I include front and back. I suppose that the bulk would be lawn cuttings and weeding, dead heading etc. Just took over the garden in a 'jungle' state last year which made me think of composting, as my green bin has been full of brambles and hedge trimmings etc all year! It's in a reasonable state now but I'll soon have a garden full of leaves from a huge beech tree again. Maybe I'm 'barking up the wrong tree' (sorry!:o:)) if I need to treat these differently?....

wallbash

So you will be in the same position as lots of us , lots of grass and some weeds .
Brambles and other brown stuff is great ( but hopefully it will go )then you won't have any.
Flowerdew and Monty have huge gardens , masses of different stuff , makes life easy . We don't have that option , hence my posting , I get great compost but it takes a long time.
My one advantage , we have a rabbit , straw ( poo stained ) bedding is bulky and breaks down well.My problem , too many lawn clippings , easy to turn into a slimy mess.

savemoney

I just emptied my dalek composter at weekend well part of it. I open the hatch at the bottom and get around 6 medium sided rubble bags before the top collapses in to the bottom which tend to be the stuff that hasn't decayed enough. I then place the bags in a old garage to root down further over Winter. I can buy that time have enough plants to put in in Autumn to get anther 4-5 bags in the Spring March/April.

I also use rooting powder in mine as the composter doesnt get much sun its east facing and is sheltered a but with a wall behind it and to the north of it. I have the dalek on flagstones

I tend to break difficult things down like thick stems and odd twig but tend to avoid larger objects that hard to rot. I also mix in old compost I rarely throw any plants always unless its hard to rot or get a surplus of old plants which I ten give to council of fortnightly collection accept Winter

I sometimes add water usually rain collected or add cardboard/newspaper occasionally. I also plod the dalek with a think stick to allow air, I find it too messy emptying it and putting it back in

Eenymeeny

This just what I was looking for thanks, the things that 'they' expect you to know...
I have lots of worms in my garden so I've added some of those. (Used the 'bag option' yesterday as I couldn't wait to get started:o) I've read that slugs can also play their part, should I add some of those as I find them too? (The builders bag had contained hedge clippings that I've been feeding into the green bin on a fortnightly basis. I've taken the woody bits out to go but realised that a lot of the leaves were already decomposing so I've started my heap off with them, some grass cuttings from last week and some assorted egg boxes, newspaper etc Does that sound ok?