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Composting - where am I going wrong pls?
Tootles
Posts: 1,469
hello again! Am on to the compost bin now. Having heard so often that any decent gardener should have a compost bin I invesed in one two years ago. Having had no compost from it in all that time, I decided to dig it all out. Really disappointed to see dry old twigs and lots of things (like half a stem of broccol) not rotting down at all. There are patches of damp stuff, but these are right next to areas of bone dry twigs. I've been putting a combination of grass, garden trimmings, none cooked kitchen waste, cardboard and ash on it, as well as some Wilko's Compost Maker granules. What am I doing wrong? Should I start again or dump it all back in? Do I need to water it? Thanks ever so much!
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That looks very dry i would water it, and also i tend to shred a lot of my waste I find it rots down a lot quicker that way. An old piece of carpet across the top keeps in the heat and so speeds up the process.
Agree with Colin above
.... and aerate it - poke a garden fork into it once a week and jiggle it around to stir it up.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Give it a good soak in water or spray hosepipe on as you throw it all back in the bin.
Normally you need amix of green and brown stuff, and it need to be kept at least damp. Dry stuff will not rot down very well. I normally pile it all in, then a month later turn it, thus mixing in more air, but if it is dry I wet it as well.
Shredding is good, but you can spread it out on the lawn and use a rotary mower on it to chop it smaller if you dont have a shredder.
Put it in a sunny position and take the lid off.
Right, I've watered it, jiggled it, mixed it up and tucked it in! Thanks for the advice peeps. Hoping for some of the lovely sweet smelling crumbly stuff that Monty raves about!
P.s. I tell you what I didn't spot in there, a single worm.
Is the compost bin on bare earth or on concrete or similar? I would do best on bare earth. I think I'd get a bag of horse manure - you can buy them for £1 bagged up on the side of the road if you take a drive out into the countryside - put that in the bottom of the bin - then build your heap on top of it. You'll get some worms doing it like that.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's on earth Dove. Great idea on the manure. Will defo get some.
I'd line the sides with membrane you'd use under a gravel path, or old sacking, even cut up one of those builders " dumpy bags" I think there's too much air getting in.So long as it's not polythene and excess water can get out. I'd also add more grass clippings. If you don't produce enough, ask your neighbours for theirs. I'm sure they'd be glad to offload them if they're not proper gardeners.
Is the ash purely from wood? Are you putting in lots of outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage from the kitchen?
All the advice above is very good, I see you have a lid; that should keep the heat in. The horse manure could be the best direction for you and if you don't want a shredder, just chop up the twiggy bits with secateurs as you put them in the bin. Sprout stalks are pretty hefty things to compost, I'm afraid I cheat and take them to the green waste at the dump
