In article ,
says...

On Mon, 15 May 2017 02:08:19 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Sun, 14 May 2017 14:02:32 Janet wrote:

Our local council offered three free plastic dalek composters; I have
these scattered around the garden to receive the kind of weeds I don't
compost in the big compost bins.

The daleks take couch grass, docks, seedy weeds etc and because they
are dry, are heavily infested with ant colonies. It's slow work but the
ants eat everything and turn it into a fine friable soil. When a dalek
is finished I just lift off the container and move it to a new location.
The compost stays where it is.

Here's the latest pile left after I lifted off the dalek.
I'm about to plant rhubarb there.

http://jaybeesgarden.org.uk/images/antCompost1.jpg

close up. Apparently ants don't eat plastic binder twine.

http://jaybeesgarden.org.uk/images/antCompost2.jpg

That looks lovely. About how long does it take?

Very.. that one had been on the go for two years. Certainly far slower
than my main compost heaps.


You mention seedy weeds. Weed seeds survive my compost heap,


and when
I spread the compost around as a mulch, I know I'm giving myself work
for the future. Do seeds survive in your daleks or do the ants digest
them in some way so as to prevent their germination?

TBH I don't know the reason I don't get many weeds in dalek compost
areas. This might be because I don't use the finished compost on
seedbeds or in pots etc; it becomes a rich mulch/feed in situ where the
surrounding planting closes in pretty fast, so emerging seedlings
wouldn't stand much chance. Usually (though not in the above case) the
daleks are tucked away among shrubs, hidden from sight but a convenient
dumping spot.

Without ants, they are really bad at decomposing plant material
IMO... probably don't get hot enough. Which is probably why ants do so
well in there.

Janet.