rotating composter

[retropants]

Has anyone used one of these before? I'm thinking of replacing my darlek, which takes years to compost anything. I only have the space for one darlek and I think the rotating ones use similar space. thanks

[oldherbaceous]

Never had one, Retropants but, I have heard that they are a job to turn when there is a lot of stuff in them…..i’m on about the tumbler ones, so I take it they are the same thing.
Is the compost in your darlek bin, too dry, Retropants?

[retropants]

Hi OH, yes, the tumbling ones. It's OK damp-wise, but it has always just taken forever to break down properly. I mix veg waste, some garden clippings, paper, shredded cardboard and coffee grounds. We used to put eggshells in there, which are pretty much still intact, but not anymore, I bake and grind them to a powder and add them directly when planting. Our old allotment compost heaps were fabulous, but the scale was much larger!

[oldherbaceous]

I have two of the Darlek composters and find them really good but, my compost gets full of Bradling worms, so I suppose they do a lot of the breaking down for me!

[Westi]

On a similar subject retropants, has anyone tried one of those Bokashi counter top bins? I have bought one , well technically 2 as they rotate, after chatting to a lady down my lane who was digging in the contents of hers around her beautiful dahlia's & she really sold it to me. It takes food scraps (meat, cheese, bread) etc & you sprinkle this 'bran' with micro-organisms on top of each top up. When full you squeeze it down with a 2nd lid as well & leave it for 12 days & the food breaks down into dryish bran mix to dig in that no longer looks like food or smells like food. The bins have a tap as well so the liquid can be drained off & diluted for watering.

It was a bit compulsive, but her crops were amazing & it was about £50, which is a lot but I felt worth it after having compost bags burst on the way to the council little bin outside on the drive & maggots in the bin - totally gross! Also a positive it is not from China, but Luxembourg! I have never had anything from there before, slightly slower delivery due to customs checks but not excessive & certainly better quality.

[retropants]

That’s sounds interesting Westi! I’ll investigate, thankyou.

[robo]

I have a tumbling composter and find it a waste of time it can be hard to turn when full it can be hard to open the lid having to use a hammer at times to tap it to break the seal

[retropants]

thanks Robo, that's useful!

[Geoff]

There are few old threads that mention rotating and Bokashi composting, here's one of them viewtopic.php?t=4799&hilit=bokashi

[Westi]

Thank you Geoff, that is quite reassuring.

I have filled one bin already so it is outside fermenting currently which takes about 12 days they reckon, but you have to squeeze the inner lid down every couple of days which removes the liquid which you run off via the tap & water it down for use as a foliar feed & this in turns dries out the scraps left to dig in as a soil improver. I have done just one squeeze & got a wee teaspoon or so from the tap. There is a slight smell but it doesn't smell like rotten food just kinda acidic & it doesn't attract flies like the food caddy the council provides.