Composting - Do you cut up material?

[pigletwillie]

I just put paper and card in as is, tough prunings and semi woody stuff I chop into small segments. Any stuff that hasnt rotted down completely when I turn my bin goes back in for some more cooking time.

[NoTWHaTiTWaSNT]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I was hoping for a magic bullet answer but looks like a few late ones cutting it all up then

[NoTWHaTiTWaSNT]

The other thing is when you want to turn it long pieces are a pain.

I concur Bill, nothing like picking a slimy stick off the fork ... and of course it's stuck on tight

Household activating fluid gets added as and when...............

What is "Household activating fluid"?

[Bigmallly]

Urine.................

[JustPotteringAbout]

Hi Guys,
Do you cut up your compost material like branches, roots, twigs etc and if so what lengths do you cut it to? Or do you put it all in "As is"

I usually cut it all up but have had a load of green waste delivered and I need to clear space and don't have time to cut up as I usually would.

So basically how do you do yours?

TIA

Could you drop some of the waste directly on to the soil as a green manure mulch?
I've nearly had my pulps off chopping up large quantities of woody shrub waste, so I leave a lot of it for the elements to deal with first then chop and add what I can, when I can. . As well as the risk of hastily chopping fingers when bulk chopping with secateurs, one can develop an upper limb disorder (RSI), so pace out the work.
A stick pile is good for all sorts of wildlife.
Bigger sticks and some smaller brush I put on the pile for the hedgehogs or use to support / shape shrubs. Some thick stems eg kale I use for stakes.
Twigs and grass cutting I wrap some with cardboard and stuff it in holes in the wall (old brick compost heap) for arthropods (free labour to sort out my garden for me).
I scrunch some of the smaller dry material straight direct onto the soil O horizon to help stop wind erosion and rain compaction and .
I save some of the less substantial woody material such as sunflower stems and add in a bit at a time to help aerate the compost. Scrunched up.


Banana skins I dry out or rot down separately for use as potassium feed.

PS Wasn't sure where to post this

A Compost / Soil forum would be handy.

[taff]

I leave large twig pruings to dry out and then burn the following year [especially bladdy buddleia - arrgghhh], the ash goes onto the beds.
The rest gets propped up or dumped smwhere inconspicuous for wildlife habitat.

[Bill HH]

Never ever try to compost palm leaves or branches, I did 4 years ago and I have been chucking them back into next years bins ever since! I gave up this year and burnt em.

[johnjohn]

A Compost / Soil forum would be handy.

There is one here:
Digging Around

[veggiechicken]

Thanks for the reminder JJ - I've moved this thread. Hope everyone's happy!

[shushkin!]

I keep all my shrub prunings, I don't send them to the council tip. I cut them up into roughly 6" pieces, and leave them all at the back of the border where you can't see them. They provide habitat for bugs & beasties which in turn are food for wild birds

The only thing I burn is holly, because I have a huge one and the leaves really stab me. I let it dry out till it's brown, then burn it in the chiminea

I do the same with shrub prunings. I cold compost as I cant turn over the compost as your supposed to. It takes a year for it to all break down and of course there are loads of weed seeds in there. I chuck the shrub prunings in as a carbon element and they help keep the mix open. The twigs take a couple of years to break down. I cant put perennial weeds in like nettles or dandelions as that would be the kiss of death. Happy nettles etc and a very cheesed off me!

[ancee]

We still have sunflower stalks from last year that aren't doing anything. They've been chopped to bits now, but are still showing no signs of leaving! My composting is disastrous. I have taken all the hints and tips from off here, but still have nothing to show for all our hard work!
Where am I going wrong?
Pallet composter, built in two parts.
In goes, garden prunings, weeds and leaves.
In goes ripped cardboard and paper
In goes vegetables peelings
Compost accelerator.
Sandwiched one on top of the other
Turned from one side of the pallets in to the other, about every couple of months.
Just a sludgy mess.
Have now put it in one side and covered with a cardboard lid. I am going to leave it and start on a new compost in the other side of the pallet composter.
Any tips guys?

[roitelet]

I think you need more browns. More paper cardboard, dead leaves and less water.

[Bigmallly]

It needs to be turned more often. I try to do it once a week, if not, once a fortnight.

[Penellype]

I made cold compost for years before I got my hotbin and never had any problem with a slimy mess, even though I turned it only once or twice a year and left the heap uncovered. The key is to mix it well as you add stuff, especially grass, which needs mixing with other things, not leaving in lumps. I chopped up woody stuff into smallish pieces, but just threw in softer material like old bedding plants, potato foliage, tomato plants etc as they were.

Nowadays I chop everything to about 2-4 inches and mix more carefully for the hotbin, and I add a great deal more shredded paper than I ever used to with the cold composting.

[taff]

If it's a sludgy mess, it's too wet, and there arent enough browns in there.

If you're putting in grass clippings, you have to spread them quite thinly because they'll clump and not rot.
You either need to make a large, say 1m square, of integrated browns and greens and leave it for a year, or turn it more freqently and add more browns.

Paper will also stick together and turn into a wet lump unles it's spread thinly,

Intorduce more browns and more air pockets to encourage aerobic decomposition. SOunds like it's anaerobic at the moment because of too many greens.