is composting very smelly?

[amzie]

i have a tiny terraced garden and want to build a smallish wooden compost bin behind my buddlea bush (directly on top of a soil bed). it would be against a fence, but the fence would be protected by some sort of heavy plastic covering. i'd have a wooden lid, but it wouldn't be air tight.

i don't want my neighbours to get a whiff of rotting kitchen waste, but i've never composted before so i'm not sure if that will even be much of an issue? they have 2 plastic greenhouses on their side of the fence, which should help a bit, but the spot would only be 2 meters from my window and 3 from theirs

i've seen a plastic composter in wilko for £20 but im very limited for space and budget

[Capsid]

It can smell initially but with a lid it's not too much of a problem IMO.

[oldie]

As long as you get a reasonable mix of greens and browns it does not usually produce any noticeable smell.

[Alison]

If it smells bad then you're doing something wrong, the only noticeably smell should be that nice earthy smell

[taff]

as long as you're not anaerobically composting, it shouldn't smell i.e. chucking your stuff into a closed bin with no air flow, like a plastic bin, not like a dalek.
I've found the only time it smells is if I've left the waste bin in the house too long before emptying on the heap.

[alex-adam]

If you like rhubarb, and you have room, put a rhubarb plant next to the compost bin - it will just romp away !!

(I put one next to a comp. bin for my neighbour last autumn, well, i've never seen such a huge crop in the first season !!)

[Two_Sheds]

I use the plastic daleks at mine and at school. If the compost was smelly, the children would SOON let me know about it ~ we whip the lid off all the time to check on the wormies

[Potstubsdustbins]

Amzie, welcome to the vine, Nottm City Council had some compost bins going cheap they might be worth a call to see if they have any left.

Colin

[jadeshing]

If you're on a budget you can make your own bin out of some wooden pallets like so:



The only reason it would smell is if you have put too much nitrogen rich waste in it like too much grass clipping or too many coffee grounds .. every time you add a new layer of green, put a layer of browns on top ( dry leaves , brown paper bags etc )

Don't put meat or bones inside either.