Compost heaps inside

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Compost heaps inside

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Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 05 11:54 pm Post subject: Compost heaps inside
Is there any reason you cant put a compost bin in a greenhouse? other than having to water it I wonder if there would be any other problems, For benifits surley it must be a good way of heating a greenhouse?

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 05 12:36 am Post subject:
Smell, insects, humidity, methane? space? Just how big a greenhouse have you got? Why not just hang up some black polythene (at the back of the greenhouse) to catch some extra solar heat!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 05 8:16 am Post subject:
I think it would depend on what you put on it. Animal waste (like my chicken bedding) gives off amonia and that seems to harm some plants. The other reason is do you have enough room? No matter what size you always tend to need more room. Even Kew and Wisley seem to be after more.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 05 11:47 am Post subject:
You could put a worm bin in it, though. They are not supposed to smell if you kep them well limed, (although they can attract fruit flies) they are fairly compact, and the worms would be much happier and more effcient if they were kept warm (You could kick them out in the summer too!) It wouldn't take care of your whole composting system, but it might be a good compromise.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 05 9:54 am Post subject:

One possible negative is that you would get the run-off oozing from the bottom and into your greenhouse soil. I imagine that this is pretty high in nitrogen, which is not really what you want for growing tomatoes and the like - too much nitrogen = lots of green growth = not many tomatoes.

Also, most of the heat comes at the start of the breakdown process, rather than steadily over the entire cycle. To get a steady heat output, you would have to do a lot of experimenting with the contents of your compost bin, and would probably be emptying and refilling it all the time.

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 05 12:15 pm Post subject:
The CAT used to have (have?) a compost heap in the poly tunnel, but don't know what they put on it, also, it was a very big tunnel, and had a pond in it, perhaps the frogs ate the fruit flies etc. There were warm beds above the heap. The Jean Pain method may be a better indirect way: https://www.daenvis.org/technology/Jeanpan.htm https://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/methane_pain.html

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