Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought a
compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half full.
but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what can I
do to reduce the rotting odour?

PieOPah wrote:
Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought a
compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half full.
but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

It indicates that your bin is too dry: pee in a bucket, fill it up with
water and apply

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what can I
do to reduce the rotting odour?


Tell us what you are putting in and in what proportions and we may be
able to offer some advice.

I am putting in mainly kitchen waste - like veggie peelings and a little
garden waste. I would say 90% kitchen stuff and 10% garden waste (grass
cuttings, weeds etc)

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
PieOPah wrote:
Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought
a compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half
full. but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

It indicates that your bin is too dry: pee in a bucket, fill it up with
water and apply

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what
can I do to reduce the rotting odour?
Tell us what you are putting in and in what proportions and we may be able
to offer some advice.

PieOPah wrote:
I am putting in mainly kitchen waste - like veggie peelings and a little
garden waste. I would say 90% kitchen stuff and 10% garden waste (grass
cuttings, weeds etc)

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
PieOPah wrote:
Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought
a compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half
full. but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?
It indicates that your bin is too dry: pee in a bucket, fill it up with
water and apply
2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what
can I do to reduce the rotting odour?
Tell us what you are putting in and in what proportions and we may be able
to offer some advice.


Add some shredded newspaper, cardboard or eggboxes sounds like you have
to much green stuff.

Paul

The message
from "PieOPah" contains these words:

Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought a
compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half full.
but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

They don't do any harm, but they indicate it's too dry for proper
decomposition. Water the heap.

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what
can I
do to reduce the rotting odour?

It shouldn't smell at all; possibly the smell indicates there isn't
enough air in the process. This can be a problem with tightly enclosed
plastic dalek composters. Try leaving off the exit cover at the bottom,
and leave the lid open occasionally; stir the top around with a fork.
As you fill it, include some cardboard screwed up into fist sized balls
(this will make air spaces). And don't ever include any meat or animal
fat scraps as they will stink like, er, a decomposing corpse.

Janet

"PieOPah" wrote in message
...
I am putting in mainly kitchen waste - like veggie peelings and a little
garden waste. I would say 90% kitchen stuff and 10% garden waste (grass
cuttings, weeds etc)

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
PieOPah wrote:
Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I
bought
a compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half
full. but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

It indicates that your bin is too dry: pee in a bucket, fill it up with
water and apply

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what
can I do to reduce the rotting odour?
Tell us what you are putting in and in what proportions and we may be
able
to offer some advice.

Try mixing in with a fork some dry carbon matter such as torn up
cardboard/paper, dried leaves, hay or straw or maybe best untreated saw
dust.

The kitchen waste is likely mostly nitrogen as are grass clippings and
weeds.

Using paper or leaves I have seen advised a 4-1 carbon to nitrogen mix
though this may be a little obsessive. With the saw dust a 2-1 nitrogen to
carbon mix I have been advised is good. With the sawdust you need less of it
to balance up the compost heap than you do of straw, hay, leaves etc. Only
use what you can get free however, it is not worth paying for as there are
many good substitutes.

rob

Thank you for all your advice - I think that I will be using this news group
more often - Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!


"PieOPah" wrote in message
...
Hello

I'm new to this newsgroup and I am a novice gardener - I am ok at hard
landscaping but know little about plants.

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to recycle more so I bought a
compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half full.
but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what can
I do to reduce the rotting odour?

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "PieOPah" contains these words:

compost bin from the council. It's doing quite well and nearly half full.
but I have a couple of questions

1 - it appears that ants have made a home in my compost bin. Does this
matter or should I try and get rid of them?

They don't do any harm, but they indicate it's too dry for proper
decomposition. Water the heap.

Although the second point could indicate stagnant water with anaerobic
soggy compost turning to smelly blck slime at the bottom. Many of these
plastic dalek things have nothing like enough ventilation.

2 - It smells and with summer coming I'm sure it will get worse - what
can I
do to reduce the rotting odour?

It shouldn't smell at all; possibly the smell indicates there isn't
enough air in the process. This can be a problem with tightly enclosed
plastic dalek composters. Try leaving off the exit cover at the bottom,
and leave the lid open occasionally; stir the top around with a fork.

I wouldn't say it should never smell. Mine smells of short chain fatty
acids (slightly odd stale smell) for a few days whenever I add a cubic
metre of grass clippings. It has an internal temperature fo 70C mid
season. Best off placed at the far end of the garden rather than
outside the back door.

As you fill it, include some cardboard screwed up into fist sized balls
(this will make air spaces).

I'd favour screwed up newspaper too but something coarse will help
aeration a lot.

And don't ever include any meat or animal
fat scraps as they will stink like, er, a decomposing corpse.

And attract lots of flies too.

One other thing that may help with a small heap is to use a starter
culture like the proprietory Garotta stuff to help get it going in the
right way. With luck you only need to start it once per season.
Unnecessary with a large or established heap.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"PieOPah" wrote in message
...
Thank you for all your advice - I think that I will be using this news
group
more often - Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!

another way, if you have a few mates over on the booze, make them go outside
and **** in the compost.

rob

wrote
Janet Baraclough wrote:

As you fill it, include some cardboard screwed up into fist sized
balls (this will make air spaces).

I'd favour screwed up newspaper too but something coarse will help
aeration a lot.

I usually add cardboard inner rolls and plain(ish) torn packaging, but
is there any harm in putting printed card or coloured cardboard packing
in as well, as long as it isn't coated with anything too glossy? It may
as well go in the heap if it's ok.

And don't ever include any meat or animal
fat scraps as they will stink like, er, a decomposing corpse.

And attract lots of flies too.

One other thing that may help with a small heap is to use a starter
culture like the proprietory Garotta stuff to help get it going in the
right way. With luck you only need to start it once per season.
Unnecessary with a large or established heap.

I did make quite decent compost when I began with a fairly small dalek
type bin, even without any bought activators. A turn out and a good
mixing every now and then seemed to be the key. What's actually in
Garotta btw?

--
Sue

"PieOPah" wrote in message
...
Thank you for all your advice - I think that I will be using this news
group more often - Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!

Oh, go on, take the bull by the hand and do it, I usually wait until
everyone is in bed and go down the garden to do it directly on the heap, no
need for a bucket!(:-)

Alan

PieOPah wrote:
Thank you for all your advice - I think that I will be using this news group
more often - Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!

snip

Don't worry about it - if you were a sailing type you'd be used to
bucket and chuckit. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

... Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!

obviously never been camping

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

"Sue" wrote in message
reenews.net...

wrote
Janet Baraclough wrote:

As you fill it, include some cardboard screwed up into fist sized
balls (this will make air spaces).

I'd favour screwed up newspaper too but something coarse will help
aeration a lot.

I usually add cardboard inner rolls and plain(ish) torn packaging, but
is there any harm in putting printed card or coloured cardboard packing
in as well, as long as it isn't coated with anything too glossy? It may
as well go in the heap if it's ok.

And don't ever include any meat or animal
fat scraps as they will stink like, er, a decomposing corpse.

And attract lots of flies too.

One other thing that may help with a small heap is to use a starter
culture like the proprietory Garotta stuff to help get it going in the
right way. With luck you only need to start it once per season.
Unnecessary with a large or established heap.

I did make quite decent compost when I began with a fairly small dalek
type bin, even without any bought activators. A turn out and a good
mixing every now and then seemed to be the key. What's actually in
Garotta btw?

--
Sue

Garotta contains (amongst other things) ammonium sulphate--i.e. just a
source of nitrogen.

In article ,
"H Ryder" writes:
| ... Not sure about peeing into a bucket though!
|
| obviously never been camping

What on earth do you use a bucket to pee into for? You just nip behind
a bush/peat hag/whatever (if you camp in a mob) or just open your flies /
pull down your knickers and do it where you stand (if on your own). Only
if it is so cold that you dare not pee outside a tent do you need a bucket.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.