Homemade compost is so exciting! (MERGED)

Lotus-eater

Lift up bin, that little door looks nice, but is as much real use as a chocolate teapot.

Mortal

I agree with Lotus
We open out an old compost bag, and just lift it up. Sort it all out, and put the stuff that's not ready back in

MunnyBoiler

I have 2 daleks: I have a large garden so I put as much green waste as I can into them plus I'm very obsessed with composting as much household waste (tea bags, fruit peelings, cardboard, egg shells etc) I also have chickens so I compost their used bedding, which is newspaper and straw.

I also find the little door that the daleks have useless when it comes to emptying them. Therefore I tend to dig out what I can from the top first and then lift the whole thing up and shovel the lovely home-made compost to its new home on my veg patches.

VoucherMan

I got a compost bin from a friend a couple of years ago (he had three as the council had been giving them out free) and wanting to make the most of it I'm hoping for some advice from the more experienced gardener

I'm trying to make the most of my small yard with a selection of pots, 10" to 30" on the sunny side, compost dalek on the shaded side.
The compost bin doesn't get any sun so probably doesn't warm up that much.I've started adding Garotta to speed it up (discovered since that a quick bathroom stop on a Friday night works as well)

I had been hoping to become self sufficient with compost but keep getting more plants to fill holes in the pots, more pots because I've got too many plants etc.

The main 'ingredients' of the compost are uncooked fruit & veg waste & teabags, weeds(don't know which are good or bad to compost so they all go in),dead plants & cut back growth, and old compost from pots when I'm replanting.

The first compost I used this year had dozens of weeds growing in it, obviously something that had survived in the bin. Also grew some seeds indoors with it. Once I'd got rid of the weeds (& slugs & woodlice) it was fine.
For the next lot I used a garden sieve to filter the compost and stored it in undercover in buckets. All the unwanted occupants seem to have left in search of more desirable homes. So far the compost, which is lovely and fine, seems to be weed free.

Shredded paper is suggested for composts. Is it likely to be beneficial given what goes in at the moment? If so how much? I don't really have much 'brown' waste otherwise

Is my current system of sieving the compost and putting un-sieved bits back in the bin likely to give seed and weed free compost? If not any suggestions on how I can achieve this? A friend suggested using a Jeyes fluid solution to sterilise the compost but, hazardous chemicals aside, sterilising seems to do more harm than good from reading around.

peter_the_piper

Don't forget that the "compost" that comes out will not be suitable for using, on its own, in pots, for this you need a multipurpose or john innes mix. There is insufficient feed and it lacks a balance of essential trace elements. Great for digging in a garden or as a mulch.

Lotus-eater

As I understand it, compost that you make in the garden was originally known as "compost" and is compost, the stuff you buy in bags isn't proper compost and shouldn't really be called it. (Apart from council waste that has been composted and stuff like that)

I have found btw that growing full sized plants in compost from the garden is fine and they can grow well, I grew potatoes straight in it this year and chillies and sweet peppers. The main problem is weed seeds as most peoples heaps don't get hot enough to kill them. I had this problem when I was using it to fill up trees pots, so I used a thick layer of JI No3 on top to keep the weeds down. The trees love it btw.
ps, I do have alot of compost

btw, I'm amazed with the amount of people we are getting on the board who apparently very badly want a free, cheapy, compost caddy, but never post anything.

Jack's_mummy

Today I have been reminded how magical the whole compost making thing is.

I couldn't get anymore material in my compost bin so as it's a nice day I prepared to see what was at the bottom. Oh wow it's even better than last years:j. Half of my dalek was full of beautifully rotted crumbly compost. It's now dug out and in various buckets and bags waiting for me to be able to move again and spread/dig it into my borders for a lovely autumn treat for them.

I love composting:rotfl: