Grow Your Own Magazine

My composter is really smelly at the bottom which has been there for 18 months. Thought it would have been better than this by now, it is one of the council plastic ones.

Any ideas anyone? I'm new to all this.

Hello Sunny -meg, welcome to the vine.

Composting a subject in itself but, in short, you want a mixture of stuff in there, some shedded paper, kitchen peelings(not cooked food or meat), Grass clippings, prunings etc.

Avoid onions, weed roots or seedheads and really diseased plant. and use a sepatate one for autumn leaves.

If you can move it every 6/8 weeks and shovel it all back in. It will mix it up, it lets in air and keeps it going- you should have good compost in 6 months or so.

Part of the trouble with those bins is you don't get enough material to get it really hot -try wrapping it in a blanket in winter.

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Paul

thank you for the advice and i will give it a try!

You might also try an activator, You can buy Garotta, or use pee, chicken guano, horse muck and, more for you maybe... some seaweed- that works very well.

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Paul

okay, thanks for the info, have got some old pallets, thought i might try making a compost area.

Oh great, if you've got space. It is best to have the two- then you can be building one heap while the other is doing its thing. Again, get a piece of old carpet to insulate top.

Be a compost DJ.. its all in the mix!

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Paul

Your smelly heap needs some air in it, it's too wet ... I've had this problem with Daleks, esp if in a shadey spot.
Take the whole thing off, place it somewhere sunnier, then re-fill with your old smelly compost, but add in scrumpled up balls of newspaper. This will soak up some of the wet, and incorporate air pockets too.
In future, try wrapping your kitchen peelings in newspaper parcels, so you get a 50/50 ish mix of brown and green

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Good idea TS!

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thanks for the info guys, will try all of the ideas. wrapping it up and putting it in a sunny spot sound positive but i think i shall try wrapping my peelings up in newspaper because it sounds like a better idea.

but does anyone have anyother tips??...

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