Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: mormor on October 20, 2017, 16:29:21
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Does anyone have a good idea about how to mix/turn over/ aerate compost in a plastic Dalek type comport bin?
I would like to improve my compost skills but according to the compost recipe compost should be mixed!
All suggestions welcome!
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Get two and dig one out into the other! But then you fill two up and need a third.
You can get devices to aerate compost - https://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-99137.html
However I rarely bother - as long as you have a decent mix of materials in your bin it will work, maybe a bit slower but you'll still get compost.
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You dont need to buy a second, just lift it up and reset to the left (or right if cack-handed) Refill, from the top of the heap , becomes the bottom. You may find adding water, or extra green/browns, or lime enables it to re-heat.
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I do not bother. I take the finished stuff from the bottom and simply add more to the top. Or just start another one. Once a year I empty whatever there is left into a bean trench or courgette pile. They do not seem to mind what they get. Though I never put perennial weeds in, the stingers go into the water butt.
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I agree with Digeroo I have been a pro gardener since I was 17 and now 86 and have turned compost once, I found it b...... hard work and have not bothered since. I just take out from the bottom. When I was working full time I used a surround of wire netting now I only have an allotment and use a Dalek type container.
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you could put some cardboard egg boxes in the mix their shape holds air then release it as they rot down i have around a dozen plastic compost bins and never turn them all seems to work well
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Thank you for all your suggestions. I think I’ll go for the put the top at the bottom method. And I really like the idea of egg boxes. I’ll give it a go. I have lots of red compost worms so I must be doing something right!
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Those red brandlings are worthy of preservation. If you put a suitable layer of wet hay or similar,into which they can migrate, they can be transferred to another bin. Never spread compost containing them, if they are still present, the compost is not 'done' and needs longer(and/ or turning!). They serve no purpose in your beds; they do not 'grow -up' to be earthworms! The more you have in the compost bin, the quicker its done.