lining a home-made compost bin

[queen of the cobs]

Dear All,

I have 2 'daleks' in my garden and a dalek and a pallet compost bin on the plot. This year, I have made a second pallet bin, and have been advised to line the sides of this one with carpet to try and keep the temperature up. What are your thoughts? I didn't line the previous one, but it took a while to get going - I had to wait till the heap was a reasonable size and it would be good to shortcut that.

[Norm]

If you ask 10 different gardeners how to make the best compost bin, you'll get 10 different answres. Solid sides, slatted sides, daleks, plastic, metal, all are great, but the best advice anyone can give as far as I can see is to build a bin to a size which will be full in a year, then leave it over winter to do it's own thing.The most important thing you need to make compost is patience.

[lottie dolly]

this year i am going to try a close boarded pallet bin,lined with thick black plastic,that we rescued,my uncle has for years got one made of plywood,lined with plastic,he mixes leaves in with the other composting materials,and turns it as he builds up the layers,hard work but lovely compost,

[Storm]

i've found decomposition of waste in the dalek in my garden to be rather slow compared to other heaps on the allotment. the dalek doesn't get the heat up like the bigger pallet bins.

we line ours with corugated card board which can then be composted itself at the end of winter when the compost is removed. (some carpets contain plastic and other nasties)

the only thing i'd say about the bins with "closed" sides, and teh dalek too, is that sometimes the mixture got a bit dry cos no rain could ever get in - a couple of watering cans of warm dish water (and urine!!) soon kicked them off again.


so long as the mixture doesn't dry out and gets a "critical" warmth at its core, it always seems to work ok regardless of the architecture of the bin itself.

[queen of the cobs]

so long as the mixture doesn't dry out and gets a "critical" warmth at its core, it always seems to work ok regardless of the architecture of the bin itself.

I'd certainly agree with you there. It's just building up to that critical temperature, isn't it, which requires a critical mass.

[fiveravens]

I staple strong black plastic all over the insides of mine (not the bottom, of course).

[Digger-07]

Just turned my black bins ready to spread the compost and found one of them bone dry and almost as I had filled it. Must get the old pee bottle out again.