I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing in
shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be patient.

--
SRH

On Mon, 8 Apr 2019 11:45:51 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:

Would mixing in
shredded paper do any good,

torn up curregatted cardboad is best, torn up, gives you more edges,
and that hasten break down, and the curreggated bits give air flow,
again hastens break down, this will dry up the compost

In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing in
shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are active
again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

Janet

On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing in
shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are active
again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

They'll be importing the greenfly next week to collect the honeydew....

--

Jeff

On Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:17:42 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing
in shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be
patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are
active again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

They'll be importing the greenfly next week to collect the honeydew....

Idly wondering if a heating element in the Dalek would raise the
temperature enough over, say, a 24 hour period to kick start activity.

Perhaps a pond or aquarium heater?

I assume that it would need a long enough input of heat to give bacteria
or whatever to multiply enough to keep the temperature up.


Cheers



Dave R

--
Dell XPS laptop running W8.1

On 09/04/2019 14:41, David wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:17:42 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing
in shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be
patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are
active again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

They'll be importing the greenfly next week to collect the honeydew....

Idly wondering if a heating element in the Dalek would raise the
temperature enough over, say, a 24 hour period to kick start activity.

The very expensive very well insulated HotBin uses a hot water bottle to
kick start the heap. Having discovered that, I tried that technique on
one of my heaps, which was almost getting hot, last summer, without success.

Perhaps a pond or aquarium heater?

I assume that it would need a long enough input of heat to give bacteria
or whatever to multiply enough to keep the temperature up.


Cheers



Dave R


--
SRH

On 09/04/2019 14:41, David wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:17:42 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing
in shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be
patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

I opened my most recently filled to the brim dalek composter yesterday
to add a large dead fish (bloody heron!) and noticed the ants are
active again.

From experience they will build a huge colony over summer and chew
everything to a fine compost .

They'll be importing the greenfly next week to collect the honeydew....

Idly wondering if a heating element in the Dalek would raise the
temperature enough over, say, a 24 hour period to kick start activity.

Perhaps a pond or aquarium heater?

I assume that it would need a long enough input of heat to give bacteria
or whatever to multiply enough to keep the temperature up.


Cheers



Dave R

One day in a sunny position would do similar. I note that my brown/black
Daleks heat up more than the green coloured versions.

Often the trick is bulk. I have dustbin that I use to store torn up
cardboard, shredded paper, green kitchen waste and used paper kitchen
roll. Leaving cardboard out in the rain before tearing it up and
removing plastic tape makes the task easier and also means that the card
tends to remain damp before composting.
When I cut my grass I find that most empty dalek, mix the grass
clippings with the content of the paper/card bin and than add any
un-rotted top contents from other daleks. This means there is often a
substantial amount of new material which rots down relatively quickly in
the hotter months of the year.



--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 08/04/19 15:46, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I've turned over a couple of cold composting jumbo bags, and while the
contents have rotted down to a fair degree they are rather wet and
claggy, and fit for a double dug underlayer at the best. Would mixing in
shredded paper do any good, or is it too late and I just have to be patient.

Be patient. Keep it a bit drier.

Compost heaps seem to exist in one of two states - too wet or too dry.

Yes. But the great advantage of cold composting is that all you have
to do is improve the situation and let it continue - there's no such
thing as too late. I would turn it over and open to to the air and
wait. My heaps take 18 months to 2 years to complete but, even then,
it continues to break down in the bags I use to store it (sieved) for
potting compost.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.