Compost bin, bit of a daft question.

[muddylou]

Hello,
         I have read about composting, putting layers of dry and wet etc,
I've just built a composter out of pallets and was wondering, should things like toilet rolls be split down the side, shredded or chucked in whole when adding to the heap?
It's not an April Fool question, I really am that green (or not so..lol). 

Also, I've read that Cabbage stalks shouldn't be added, does that include leaves or any part of a Brussel or Cabbage.

Thanks.

[muddylou]

[sparklebug]

I would just tear up the loo roll into small bits, i think that the reason cabbage stalks shouldn't be added is because they're quite thick so will take too long to rot down. 


xx

[saddad]

I put in my cabbage/sprout/PSB stalks but hit them with a sledgehammer first to soften them up a bit... any that haven't rotted down just go to the start of the next heap when it is turned/bagged..  :)

[muddylou]

Many thanks to both of you, I understand now why you shouldn't put Cabbage stalks in the compost. I thought it would've produced some Triffid like compost that would have taken over the whole plot.  :)

[elvis2003]

I put in my cabbage/sprout/PSB stalks but hit them with a sledgehammer first to soften them up a bit... any that haven't rotted down just go to the start of the next heap when it is turned/bagged..  :)

great image in my mind now,saddad attacking the pesky stalks with a hiiiiiii ya!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I bury cabbage stems; they take a couple of years to break down. It saves having to smash them up.

[thifasmom]

I put in my cabbage/sprout/PSB stalks but hit them with a sledgehammer first to soften them up a bit... any that haven't rotted down just go to the start of the next heap when it is turned/bagged..  :)

i found it good fun to smash my PBS stalks last year with the sledge hammer but it tried to get its own back by flinging a section smack into my face almost getting an eye :-X. so i had to turn down the enthusiasm :-\

[Twoflower]

I put in my cabbage/sprout/PSB stalks but hit them with a sledgehammer first to soften them up a bit... any that haven't rotted down just go to the start of the next heap when it is turned/bagged..  :)

Definition of a big hammer job ;D ;D ;D

[artichoke]

I put everything on my big messy heap, cabbages, rose prunings, raspberry canes, the lot. Yesterday I scraped aside the hard dry unrotted stuff and pushed it into the hedge behind it, and underneath is the most delicious looking dark black compost (admittedly I have more twiggy bits and pieces to remove from the black stuff). Everything goes in the end....even the stuff pushed into the hedge will eventually rot down.

My compost heap is not a thing of beauty, but every year or so I dig it out and start again, and the results are well worth it. It is supplemented by 2 daleks.

[Robert_Brenchley]

When is a compost heap ever a thing of beauty? I have four daleks, and I'm heading for the point where I won't need any more than that. One day I'll get there!

[Kea]

I put in my cabbage/sprout/PSB stalks but hit them with a sledgehammer first to soften them up a bit... any that haven't rotted down just go to the start of the next heap when it is turned/bagged..  :)

Good Idea. I'm going to do that...and I'm going to pretend it's my ex-husband who has caused me lots of stress with his harassment over the past few days.

[saddad]

May I recommend you use a hatchet then... more satisfying. Apparently cleavering cabbages was used as a sound effect for horror movies...  :-X

[cornykev]

I put toilet and kitchen rolls in whole I  normaly push them down the sides in my daleks to act as air pockets, while thats my way, oh yes and the stalks go in my two year pallet bin.  ;D ;D ;D

[chriscross1966]

Toilet and kitchen roll tubes?..... why not use them for startign off carrots, parsnips, Hamburg Parsley, runner beans.......

BTW, just built my first proper allotment compost heap last night.... raked up all the strimmed off weeds in the middle section and dumped them into a unit made out of four pallets banged together with nails..... I will admit to using a power nailer though.....Will probably need to build another one next week for the far end (and then probably more as I go along), but at least they can't accuse me of not getting the thing into cultivation..... front third is well on its way to being dug over and I've started ot get crops in, middle third is under weed suppressor sheet having been strimmed, rear third has had a dose of glyphosate and a light strimming......

chrisc