Soggy smelly compost
Yellow218
Posts: 1
Newby here- hi all!
I have two compost bins. I'm adding to them both so I get a large amount of partially rotted compost that I can then go on to use in a trench. Hopefully. Both exactly the same. Both turned on a weekly basis with a fork. Both have had the same "ingredients". Up until a couple months ago that is....
i have found that one of them is rotting well and is sweet smelling, and worms seems to enjoy it. The other is a soggy slimy smelly mess. I've made a point to make sure it's turned regularly to keep aerated. Ive read that this can happen with too many greens so ive been adding shredding newspaper and cardboard quite regularly for a couple of months, but it doesn't seem to be doing much at all.
Any ideas, hints or tips please? Thanks in advance.
Posts
Just add more "brown" stuff as you are doing - paper, cardboard, dead stems and shredded twigs and branches as these allow in air which is essential to a healthy compost bin. Too much green, wet waste allows for compaction and then becomes anaerobic and smelly. You need about 1/3rd to 1/4 green with teh rest being brown. Try covering it to keep the rain out for a while so it can heat up as being too wet will also make it smelly and stop it functioning..
I suspect you don't need to turn it weekly. Try fortnightly to give the microbes a chance to work longer..
Lots of helpful info here form the RHS - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=444
Other brown matter as well as cardboard and paper you could add could be eggshell, teabags, hay or wood ashes