hi everyone
the past month or so i have had to accept something is wrong with my heap and the only way to deal with it was to empty the chamber, as you can guess its not a pleasant task to carry out , which is why i had not done it until today.
on inspection of the compost i can see it is very wet in places and compact. this will have not been ideal for the bacteria to make them selves at home and generate the heat. there are also parts that are dry.
i have had difficulty in turning the chamber so i have repositioned the handles on to the barrel this will be easier to rotate
i have left 1/3 of the existing compost inside the chamber and i shall attempt to restart.
changes i need to do are turn the chamber once a day if possible, good exercise considering the size.
i am hoping this will mix the wetter stuff into the dryer stuff
will update before end of week
the existing temp inside chamer is 18c .. the same as external temp today
the past month or so i have had to accept something is wrong with my heap and the only way to deal with it was to empty the chamber, as you can guess its not a pleasant task to carry out , which is why i had not done it until today.
on inspection of the compost i can see it is very wet in places and compact. this will have not been ideal for the bacteria to make them selves at home and generate the heat. there are also parts that are dry.
i have had difficulty in turning the chamber so i have repositioned the handles on to the barrel this will be easier to rotate
i have left 1/3 of the existing compost inside the chamber and i shall attempt to restart.
changes i need to do are turn the chamber once a day if possible, good exercise considering the size.
i am hoping this will mix the wetter stuff into the dryer stuff
will update before end of week
the existing temp inside chamer is 18c .. the same as external temp today
Andy,
ReplyDeleteIs your new style composter insulated? It's possible that with so much exposed surface its a struggle for the Thermophile? bacteria to get started. The other thing I was wondering is if you've experimented with the recipe? Jeane Paige had used a combination of things and if you check out compost obsessives on the mighty interweb they all seem to have various combination recipes.
James.
hi james i havent logged in for some time .. thank you for taking an interest
ReplyDeletei havent insulated the drum as but can put 100mm all round at some stage.
i have noted that grass cuttings are up to 50c within 24hours tho this was a small black dustbin bag and it was left in full sun the day before. this helps to keep the temp high in the chamber when they are added