compsting

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compsting

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crackapple

Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 204
Location: teeside

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 7:15 am Post subject: compsting
I have just aquired a tumbling composter, the kind that is on a frame that needs turning, how often do i need to turn it and can i use rose cutting and laurel leaves? any advice is welcome.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 9:55 am Post subject:

Turn it as often as you remember to do it and whenever you put a lot of new stuff in. At least once a week is good.

I wouldn't put in rose cuttings - they too long to break down. They will eventually, but you will have to sieve them out and send them round a few times or risk stabbing yourself on the thorns. Ditto with laurel leaves - unless you can shred them really finely they will just take too long to break down. Since the space in the tumbler is limited, it is best to put in materials that break down quickly.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 10:00 am Post subject:
Aren't they supposed to be good for dealing with grass clippings?

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 10:20 am Post subject:
Yes, they are good at stopping the grass turning into silage. And turning the tumbler is a lot easier on the back than mixing grass clippings into hen bedding to acheive a similar effect (she says rather ruefully).

crackapple

Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 204
Location: teeside

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 11:25 am Post subject:
how full should i fill it. one of the reasons i got it was because i situated my last compost bin in the shade (i can hear your groans from here!) and the grass clippings have turned silagey if thats a word. i am hoping to transfer this to the tumbler, would this be ok?

dougal

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

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 11:48 am Post subject:

crackapple wrote:

how full should i fill it. one of the reasons i got it was because i situated my last compost bin in the shade (i can hear your groans from here!) and the grass clippings have turned silagey if thats a word. i am hoping to transfer this to the tumbler, would this be ok?

I've never had much luck with a tumbler. It never got warm and dried out quickly.

That said, moving/turning over a heap thats not doing well would be an excellent thing to do. And mixing a variety of stuff into the tumbler would be helpful.
Obviously, there's no point in stuffing it so that no mixing occurs as you tumble it, (but it will rot down, so seem to get emptier). I wouldn't go much more than about 2/3 full to start with, but once I thought it was going, I'd be tempted to top it up just once more to the 2/3 level.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 05 11:56 am Post subject:

It is a while since I had a tumbler, but I did find it worked very well for me when I had a tiny garden.
Since it doesn't have the volume of a normal compost heap, I found that you had to add a lot more "greens" into the mix, rather than the normally recommended 2/3 browns to 1/3 greens. If you don't, it doesn't heat up well enough.
You also need to feed it regularly - I would fill it to about 2/3, and then give it a good tumble. After a week, the volume would have dropped to about 1/3. Fill this up to 2/3 again (perhaps using more browns this time), tumble and wait. Repeat until the volume stops dropping significantly. Then allow it to cook, tumbling once a week or so, until the compost is done (you may need an injection of greens if it seems to have stalled).

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