Stuff not for the compost bin

[ScallyWag II]

Drown it Srlsy

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I stuff the lot into mine, who cares if it takes ages to break down.
I must remember to have a piss in it.

 

[gentlegreen]

Drown it Srlsy

A lot of rhizomes will resprout even when dried quite a lot.

Chucking 'em in a bucket of water would kill them eventually.
They'll need a small amount of gas interchange to cling to life.

*Cue for me to look up "hibernating" in the context of rhizomes and tubers ...

 

[psycherelic]

Bob Flowerdew claims to have once composted a whole deer carcass, bones and all. Mind you, he is a weirdo.

This sort of thing is what makes gardener's question time the best program on the radio

 

[Jazzz]

The Official Line seems to be...

No excrement - human or animal. Again, for the same reason as above: home composting doesn't guarantee that the compost can get hot enough to destroy all the bugs that might be in the shit. Catshit can carry toxoplasmosis, as quite a few cats are infected, and dogshit is often worm-infested (I suspect that's less of a problem, as they won't live so long outside a body). Human shit is, of course, the worst of all. Some councils won't even countenance composting toilets, although the setups generally used to compost human crap, with controlled circulation and temperature regulation, are rather more comprehensive and functional than yer average garden compost heap.

ahem!

Humanure

all you need do is mix it with some sawdust

 

[Guineveretoo]

I can no longer put anything in the compost bin because it is being guarded by two spiders that even my daughter agrees are big. My daughter will put the stuff in for me, but she is doesn't visit often enough, so it goes mouldy whilst awaiting composting.

Also, I have never stirred it! I am not good at this gardening lark

 

[WouldBe]

A lot of rhizomes will resprout even when dried quite a lot.

Chucking 'em in a bucket of water would kill them eventually.
They'll need a small amount of gas interchange to cling to life.

*Cue for me to look up "hibernating" in the context of rhizomes and tubers ...

A bucket.

The amount I've got at the bottom of my garden you'd need a skip but then I couldn't afford to fill it with water as I'm on a meter.

Would napalm work?

 

[gentlegreen]

Fire is always an option for at least returning minerals to the soil.

 

[WouldBe]

Fire is always an option for at least returning minerals to the soil.

I've got very clayey soil so if not carefull I could end up with a very large brick.

 

[Jazzz]

Also, I have never stirred it! I am not good at this gardening lark

I'm not sure you really need to. Nature knows what to do, it might just take a bit longer and the sides might escape

 

[selamlar]

I'm not sure you really need to. Nature knows what to do, it might just take a bit longer and the sides might escape

If you are composting to turn garden/whatever waste into a useable product, or just to remove it in a less environmentally harmful way, you def. need to stir that heap. Otherwise, you end up with layers and it takes a stupid amount of time for them to break down. Like 20 years.

 

[roney]

I stuff the lot into mine, who cares if it takes ages to break down.
I must remember to have a piss in it.

Ilike this idea! i had a piss in mine today..now tell me..what does it do to help me compost?
thanks

 

[zenie]

*Waits for 'hoard to answer pissing in the bin question*

Also, you can get (omnivorous) animal composting bins, you just sink them in the ground and it all gets eaten by bugs iirc.

 

[berniedicters]

*Waits for 'hoard to answer pissing in the bin question*

Also, you can get (omnivorous) animal composting bins, you just sink them in the ground and it all gets eaten by bugs iirc.

Pissing in the bin = lots of nitrogen-bearing compounds. I can only assume that the bacteria that are doing the main work of composting like nitrogen.

 

[zenie]

Pissing in the bin = lots of nitrogen-bearing compounds. I can only assume that the bacteria that are doing the main work of composting like nitrogen.

I know that, the hoard's told me before!

 

[Jazzz]

If you are composting to turn garden/whatever waste into a useable product, or just to remove it in a less environmentally harmful way, you def. need to stir that heap. Otherwise, you end up with layers and it takes a stupid amount of time for them to break down. Like 20 years.

Well this hasn't been my experience so far. For a few months over the winter my heap seemed to be going pretty slowly, I stopped checking and then come springtime it suddenly seemed to be worm-infested black gold

 

[ill-informed]

I'm sure turning helps but it's definately not essential. You can always help it by giving the top layer a little fork over once in a while if you think its not mixed properly.

btw i just put some fresh chicken poo in mine, i'm assuming that's ok.

 

[fen_boy]

My compost bin is full of woodlice, is this a problem?

 

[gentlegreen]

Just means the top layers are a bit dry.

The woodlice will do their thing and move on - eventually.

If it's getting full and you're serious about making compost it would be a cue to add some fresh material and mix it up.

(I hate doing that in case I squidge some woodlice )

 

[gentlegreen]

btw i just put some fresh chicken poo in mine, i'm assuming that's ok.

In moderation - well mixed in.

I believe the idea is to contribute a little nitrogen and end up gaining more.
Excess nitrogen will just turn into ammonia and be lost.

I think Lawrence Hills spoke of a 24:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio.

http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html

 

[berniedicters]

My compost bin is full of woodlice, is this a problem?

Not really. Woodlice have their part to play in the grand scheme of things - their task is chomping up bits of dry hard-to-compost wood and turning it into woodlouse poo and dead woodlice, both of which compost much more easily.

As someone else has pointed out, it probably means your heap's on the drier end of the scale, but woodlice like damp, so if it's damp enough for them, it's probably damp enough.