Topic: composting help needed pls

[tas]

hi every one
as i have posted before i got my allotment on 2nd may.
and i am new to growing and looking after it all so hear i am asking for help again!!! ???

i have 2 compost bins:
                                1> is a wooden and i have put grass, cardboard,old plants.houseold green rubbish etc

                               2> is a black plastic bin with samethings in it


they are nearly both full!!!

i don't have any more grass and old plants!!

i can take cardboard and houseold greenrubish to put in
pls explain to me should i stop topping them up when they are nearly full.
and can i top them up when the mixer goes down. or i cover it up and leave it alone for long time !!

will the top layer not be composted and the bottom will be done.....am so confused to what to do to it next!!!


 

[antipodes]

OK, I can only say how I do compost. I put in everything I can: all my organic household waste goes in, all the grass etc from the plot and any weeds I rot down in black plastic bags before adding them. So there is quite a mixture. Normally they will actually settile down and the contents will gradually reduce. So even if they seem chockablock, they will reduce over a couple of weeks. Now the worms and beasties ar at the bottom. Personally I do not stir my compost but some people do. I do not find that this helps.

The thing is, you have only been composting from beginning of May - the compost has not had time to form yet. You need to give it about 3 or 4 months for the first lot. But then you will have a layer at the bottom that you can rake out and put on your plants. This is why I like the black composter that usually have openings at the bottom to scrape out the bottom layer - that is what will be ready first.
It sounds like you have just filled them too quickly!  The worms do need some time to eat it all! I would suggest putting a sheet of cardboard over the top, squish it down a little and leave it for a while. This will aid in quick rotting.

Check regularly to see if you can start harvesting the ready compost. It's normal that when starting out you have loads of stuff to put in it! But now you will have less, so let them rest a bit.

[picman]

I question putting cardboard in the compost....  ::)

[jesssands]

2 people told me recently that i shouldn't put potato peelings in the composter.
i always have, but am I wrong to be doing this?

[gwynnethmary]

I put  cardboard tubes and broken up egg boxes in.  I think it helps it not to go too soggy, and lets air through the heap as well.  I wouldn't put glossy cardboard in though.

[tas]

hi

i would like to say thank you to antipodes

as he or she has given me some very usefull advice!!

i understand allot batter on what the proses is,

if anyone else wants to cheer there experience i would be very happy.

[Steve.]

Compost needs air and moisture, and rotation helps speed things up. Empty your heaps, mix 'em up, refill them and water.

What you have now done is incorporated some air and moisture, and mixed up and redistributed the organisms that turn waste into compost, and you have now speeded up the process too.

To speed things further you can add some manure or Comfrey at the mix stage. You can turn it every two weeks to speed things up too. And further more, peeing on your heap will also speed things up.

Steve...:)

[Edit], just checked your profile and it appears your of the fairer sex. The advice of peeing on your compost heap applies to the male of the species only, [Edit]

[tas]

this is the answer to steve's last post :o

[Robert_Brenchley]

If female, you can still wee in a bucket or take a bottle of the essence in your bag!

[cestrian]

Chopped up nettles are good to add to your compost to give it a boost to get things going.

[pumkinlover]

If female, you can still wee in a bucket or take a bottle of the essence in your bag!

I've read the male wee advice a lot on here and was starting to wonder if there was a reason other than the practical one why only  male wee is recomended?

[Borlotti]

My compost never seems to compost, but have loads of nettles on the allotment, forgot my gloves today or would have made some nettle feed, but will try that on my piles of weeds, might even wee in a bucket if I feel brave, as fed up with it not composting down, and it has been in a bin and wooden thingy for about two years (must be doing something wrong).

[green lily]

How strange. I make plenty . Is it open to the rain etc? It needs moisture and air and i often add extra nitrogen in the winter of if there isn't enough green stuff. People use grass clippings as activator- i haven't got a lawn but get some from the bowls club next door. Just mix everything up well. Remove woody stuff and burn it or send it to the tip.
I also avoid perennial weeds and seeding plants as they are a store for next years weeds. My pallet bins are pretty well insulated which helps a bit but even open piles should go well in the 'summer' :). I used to turn fortnightly but can't now so it gets left until I have a kind helper to do it for me. Then we turf everything out into a new bin and start again. I usually have 2-3 bins on the go and that only a kitchen garden. I find ants are the best chewers and make wonderful compost out of the last bins...... ;D

[Digeroo]

I am a failed compost maker even though I have had great advice.  I just dig a large hole and bury it.  Things such as brassica and sweetcorn stalks go under the sweetcorn bed.  A year later it has all disappeared.   The courgettes get anything sticky and smelly.

[tas]

hi to u all

well it looks like my post got u all thinking..

as someone has said ants are good

i have so many they are red ants and they are in the compost...
so i think it will make compost

i also think i should leave it for a few months and see how it goes.
 i have added water cardboard's egg shells all recommended things that i read up on the internet..

[gwynnethmary]

I bake my egg shells- they break down faster.

[antipodes]

Dunno about ants, can't say I noticed!
You can too bury your scraps - I often do this under the bean beds, It breaks down by the season's end.

As i say, some people mix, some dont, as I use it gradually I prefer not to mix as I want to scrape out the bottom layer regularly!
Make sure it is not to hot or too cold, if it seems too dry chuck a bucket of water on, if too humid, add some shredded newspaper (or egg cartons  :) )
At first the worms do need to be drawn to it, populate the compost and reproduce. Dig out a little from the bottom - it should have several worms in it, they are red usually. If there are worms, then it has started itself off fine. COmpost can also contain snails, slugs, wood eating beetles, ants and other maggoty creatures erk erk erk. But they all help break it down.
When I say cardboard, I usually put on cardboard (big heavy cardboard) that has been smothering weeds on the plot - once I remove it it is usually soggy and partly decomposed. I put it in the compost, a few months later it has completely gone.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've read the male wee advice a lot on here and was starting to wonder if there was a reason other than the practical one why only  male wee is recomended?

Some say the oestrogen in the female version does something bad - I forget what - but I've never seen any evidence to back that up. I think it's really down to convenience.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I am a failed compost maker even though I have had great advice.  I just dig a large hole and bury it.  Things such as brassica and sweetcorn stalks go under the sweetcorn bed.  A year later it has all disappeared.   The courgettes get anything sticky and smelly.

Put it in a dalek and leave it for a year. If it's hesitant, add wee. It works.

[laurieuk]

When these replies are read it must make gardening seem very complicated. In sixty years as a pro gardener I have turned compost once and never again. My compost heap has always been four stakes and some wire netting. I must admit that as there  was a green plastic compost bin on the site when I took it over I am now using that but only because it was there. I compost everything apart from the roots of any brassicas. I just put whatever I have in layers as best I can and leave it alone, after a time I get nice compost that I can put back on the soil, but as is always said we all do it in different ways.