Home made compost Help please!

ShineM

Hi I have a compost dalek and over the last three years have been using all my kitchen scraps etc in there. I do try to mix in some garden waste as well (but have to say not very often as I don't want to fill it up with garden stuff). The compost I take out of the bottom opening when it's got that far down is a little wet, as opposed to nice and crumbly but if I leave it to dry out a while it's ok.My question is that so many things start to grow from it.
Last year I used it on my greenhouse beds and I had seeds sprouting everywhere - cucumber, melon, tomato and goodness knows what else!
What am I doing wrong please, or is this normal?

wallbash

Last year I used it on my greenhouse beds and I had seeds sprouting everywhere - cucumber, melon, tomato and goodness knows what else!

Your compost is not getting hot enough.
Your mix is wrong. Did you add grass clippings ? That normally is a great way to heat a pile up.

hen it's got that far down is a little wet,

Add more 'dry' waste.

Mojisola

ShineM wrote: »

Hi I have a compost dalek and over the last three years have been using all my kitchen scraps etc in there. I do try to mix in some garden waste as well (but have to say not very often as I don't want to fill it up with garden stuff).

My question is that so many things start to grow from it.

You're producing 'worm compost' rather than 'garden compost'.

As wallbash says, if you want to kill the seeds, you need to put the right things in so that it heats up.

Kitchen waste is also full of moisture - you can use torn-up newspaper to reduce that.

ShineM

I get a bit nervous about adding our grass cuttings as I thought it would go even more soggy. I do add cardboard broke into pieces and brown paper. I guess the balance is definitely not right because also I have slugs having a field day in there and those grey beetles (forget the name)!
Shall I empty it all out and start again. Our green waste recycle bin gets a lot but I also have a composter behind the shed made of old pallets, I just chuck any garden stuff on there, turn it now and again and that's fine

wallbash

I just chuck any garden stuff on there, turn it now and again and that's fine

So dump the dalek, Stick to the compost heap. Throw as much as you like on it ( pull it apart, run mower over the waste and throw it back)

But making good compost fast is an art, Bob Flowerdew and Monty Don make it look easy. But us mortals can get the same result......just takes longer.

pendragon_arther

Layer with veg waste and paper or cardboard. I shred anything with my name and address on for security and use this.

You want to build up an eco-system. To minimise the flies occaisionally leave the lid ajar to attract beetles like ladybirds to eat them.

ShineM

Thank you to everyone who has replied. We're going to rebuild the heaps. Combining the pallet compost heap contents and the 'dalek' veg matter, hopefully that should balance everything again. Makes sense when you think about it (with your help of course) ☺️

Mojisola

Does this info help?
http://www.homecomposting.org.uk/home-composting-mainmenu-26/13-information/advice/30-how-to-make-compost1

ShineM

Ah thank you for the time taken to find further info. Had a little peek will read further after work. Cheers(looks great):T

s_glover

I can only really reiterate what others have said. Make sure you get a good balance of green and brown, wet and dry. We put all our kitchen waste in and garden waste (as long as it's not too woody) plus quite a bit of cardboard. We use toilet roll / kitchen roll middles plus and brown cardboard we get hold of. If you don't have enough, maybe ask family or friends to save you any they have.


We also add compost accelerator, just a sprinkle every now and then and a little water if it appears too dry. After about a year we get well rotten compost which is a good consistency. occasionally we find a couple of bits which haven't completely rotted down but it's rare. I'm amazed at how it all rots down so well, even pineapple cores etc.


One other point we are lucky to have 2 darleks as we have the space behind our shed. This means we can being using and adding to one whilst the other is rotting down nicely.

Mojisola

ShineM wrote: »

Hi I have a compost dalek and over the last three years have been using all my kitchen scraps etc in there. I do try to mix in some garden waste as well (but have to say not very often as I don't want to fill it up with garden stuff).

ShineM wrote: »

Our green waste recycle bin gets a lot but I also have a composter behind the shed made of old pallets, I just chuck any garden stuff on there, turn it now and again and that's fine

Why don't you want to put garden stuff in the dalek when that's what's needed to make good compost?

If you have more than one compost bin, it's best to fill one up and leave it to work and then use the other. The faster the bin is filled, the hotter it will get and the quicker the compost will break down.

Once the first bin of compost is ready, you can use it or bag it up for later use and the bin is ready to start using again while bin 2 is breaking down.