Earthmaker + Compost Advice

[Cavalier]

I want to get a compost bin, and because I don't have any ground to put it on (inherited a hard landscaped 'garden') I was thinking about an Earthmaker bin. Has anyone used one? Had good results?

Also looking for a bit of compost advice. Because I plant mainly in pots and growbags, can I add the compost from old growbags and pots in to the compost bin, presumably well mixed with other green and brown waste?

[toffeeman]

I was wondering about this myself. I have 2 bins and last year I added the previous year's growbags from the greenhouse along with the usual stuff to one of them. Compost looks great but I suppose I'll discover any problems by the end of this year

[Sue]

Cavalier
This looks very expensive! Also could see, on my patch at least that at some times of the year would have an overflow of material as I waited for it to do its thing.
I'm sure you can stand an ordinary compost bin on concrete although you might get some ooze, need someone with experience to tell you.
And yes, old compost gets added in with everything else.

If you don't have much to compost how about a worm bin?

Sue

[Cavalier]

Thanks for the reply Sue. I don't think I'd be too popular if we started getting ooze in the corner of the patio. I did think about a worm bin, but call me a bit of a jessy I'm a bit squeamish about worms and other slimy wiggly animals!

I'll have another trawl around the web to see if I can find someone who's actually used one of these ) Otherwise it's back to the drawing board.

[rob the roller]

I would try to keep tomato/potato related compost separate. It is not advisable to grow these crops in the same ground twice. Composting at high heat should eliminate any nasties, but might be better to keep tomato compost in a separate bin for a year or so to give it a chance to recover.

[taff]

If you have a hard landscape area, why not build some raised beds, but quite high ones, remove the slabs or whatever it is from the bottom, and chuck your old compost int here. Top up with your new compost, or throw everything on top to compost down, then use that next year to grow plants?
Course, ignore me if you can't do that

[Dynamo]

The Bokashi buckets seem to be the in thing at the moment and they are quite neat. There's a few discussions on them here.

See also :- Bokashi Buckets & Bokashi Bran : Original Organics Ltd.

[COMPOST CORNER]

If you are worried about ooze, then most compost bins will ooze on concrete/patos. mine do, but still produce great compost. If less worried about ooze, get a dalek style bin. Most councils do them free/cheap nowadays.

[Capsid]

I had a dalek bin on block paving. It made great compost and I was surprised that it attracted huge numbers of brandling worms.

[NOG]

Some of the 330lt bins have plastic bases to be used on patios.