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| Hi! I purchased a couple of the compost tumblers. I was turning them daily until I had to go out of town for a month. Is the compost ruined or can it be saved?
Thank you! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by mustard_seeds 4 -Onalaska Wisconsi (My Page) on Sun, Jun 26, 11 at 17:19
| compost does not spoil unless it gets anearobic from too much water/greens without enough air - and even then you can add browns and air and it works out... If your stuff is dry and unfinished, you can add some water and keep on composting it. |
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| Great! Thank you! It's not dry. It still oozes some liquid out of the tumblers. If I start turning them now, how long until it's done? |
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| Anytime compost oozes some liquid that is an indication the material is too wet. What you need to do is add some dry material to help absorb that excess moisture. You may want to spend some time at the web site linked below. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial
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| The main thing I love about composting is that it just happens no matter what I do. I can help it along by turning the pile, but if I don't I know come a few months from now the end result will be the same. Kinda hard to screw it up. |
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| You all are amazing! Thank you! And thank you for the link "kimmsr!!" |
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- Posted by ladybug_la 9 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 27, 11 at 17:34
| I got a compost tumbler, thinking it would be easy to turn... NOT.. At least not for me... In any case, I keep adding all the veggie and fruit peelings & coffee grinds. I added some cardboard yesterday... I see lots of tiny white worms... Do, I need to add some earthworms to this? Do I need to add any soil? Is my composter doing ok? |
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| Tiny white "worms" are the larva of an insect and they need a fairly moist environment to live and grow. The presence of these tiny white "worms" indicates your compost material is too wet and you need to add some dry material to sop up that excess moisture. |
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- Posted by ladybug_la 9 (My Page) on Tue, Jun 28, 11 at 9:57
| Thanks kimmsr. I added a lot of cardboard over the weekend. |
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| Hi All! this is my first attempt at composting and I'm using two square 45 gallon trash cans with flip lids. I drilled lots of tiny holes in the sides, about one per 2 square inches and NONE in the top/ lid. to stir it i screwed the lids down securely so that every other day or so, i just flip em over onto their sides and roll em around. it seems to be working ok, it's not hot so much as warm, but i think that may be form the sun. My question is: should i drill some holes in the lids to let rain water in? it's leaking some moisture from the bottom, so i added newspaper. |
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| bdg 136, if you already have liquid draining from those trash cans why would you want to add more water? When liquid drains from any compost that means the material is too wet. |
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| I see lots of tiny white worms... Do, I need to add some earthworms to this? Baby earthworms are more translucent (than white) and thin. Fly larva (maggots) are white and fat. You may want to use Google images to find out exactly what you are breeding there. I don't like compost tumblers. To me they are a waste of money and a lot of work and when it goes bad, it goes baaad. I have a theory that like the fruitcake, there is only one compost tumbler ;) |
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| While compost that is too wet may well go in to anaerobic digestion and have that awful, putrid odor and become a good growing medium for maggots, even then it does not "go bad". By adding dry material to that compost you can bring it back to aerobic digestion and end up producing that pleasant good rich earth smelling compost we all want. |
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- Posted by oklahomarose USDA 6b (My Page) on Thu, Jul 7, 11 at 20:21
| Gumby: If you don't like tumblers, what system do you prefer? I'd love to know because I'm about to embark....this is the coolest forum ever. |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Thu, Jul 7, 11 at 21:55
| Hi oklahomarose, The least expensive/most effective compost pile is simply a pile on the ground. The second best alternative is a Hardware Cloth /Rabbit Cage wire, formed into a circle (ask the store to cut you a 12' piece), that makes a nice size circle,when you are ready to turn it , undo your fastening system,move it over a couple of feet,and fill it back up. I started with 55 gallon drums and then went to the hardware cloth system, now I am at concrete blocks. This is an awesome forum.
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| Hi, Jon. Love your garden & compost operation. |
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- Posted by Coconut_Head none (My Page) on Wed, Jul 20, 11 at 12:58
| Mine is similar to Johns, only done with wood pallets and a little plastic chicken fencing. You may be able to find wood pallets pretty cheap or free if you know where to look. Just get some deck screws to cut down on the rust and fasten them into bins. I have a 2 bin system now, but mill likley add a third as I would like to have two to go back and forth turning an active pile, and another to start a new pile while the nearly done one is finishing off. The pallets are also good because it lets air into the bottom of the pile. This is my first time doing it though so I don't have any finished compost to brag about. I have "refilled" my bin about 3 times since spring and it keeps cooking down so I think I'm doing it right. BTW John, you are an inspiration brother. Look foward to copying some of your efforts. Imitation is the highest form of flattery you know. ;) |
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