On 09/04/2019 14:41, David wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:17:42 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing
in shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be
patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are
active again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

They'll be importing the greenfly next week to collect the honeydew....

Idly wondering if a heating element in the Dalek would raise the
temperature enough over, say, a 24 hour period to kick start activity.

Perhaps a pond or aquarium heater?

I assume that it would need a long enough input of heat to give bacteria
or whatever to multiply enough to keep the temperature up.


Cheers



Dave R

One day in a sunny position would do similar. I note that my brown/black
Daleks heat up more than the green coloured versions.

Often the trick is bulk. I have dustbin that I use to store torn up
cardboard, shredded paper, green kitchen waste and used paper kitchen
roll. Leaving cardboard out in the rain before tearing it up and
removing plastic tape makes the task easier and also means that the card
tends to remain damp before composting.
When I cut my grass I find that most empty dalek, mix the grass
clippings with the content of the paper/card bin and than add any
un-rotted top contents from other daleks. This means there is often a
substantial amount of new material which rots down relatively quickly in
the hotter months of the year.



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