I got this tumble composter for Xmas. I filled both sides full by March with a 50% mix of greens vs browns but maybe I went heavy on the browns There’s some leaves behind my house that were already heavily composted that I used for most of the browns. I couldn’t get it in direct sunlight so I couldn’t get as hot as I’d like. Does my brown to green ratio look off? How does the compost look after 6 months. I feel like it should’ve broken down more in that time.
by unlikelyhero11
3 Comments
Not done
I feel like the tumblers do a bad job at composting. Mine also never finishes. My other one that sits on the ground though goes fast and is always filled with worms
Looks like it’s going well but not fully broken down yet. I have the same tumbler and adding lots of wet material at once just ends up with those big dense balls of material.
Despite being a compost tumbler, I find the best results come when I’m just patient and kinda forget about trying to get compost as quickly as possible, and instead just treat it as a way of diverting items like kitchen scraps from the waste. Greens like kitchen scraps go in there along with just enough dry browns to stop things going too slimy. I just keep gradually filling it up, turning regularly, and adjusting the amount of browns I add to keep it in a good place
Then once that side is filled up I switch to the other side and start over. Keep an eye on the full side, just making sure it isn’t too dry or slimy. If it’s overly dry I add a little water, if overly slimy might add a small amount of very fine browns. As much as possible it’s best to just try and forget about that full side though while you’re gradually filling up the other.
Because it’s about using kitchen waste rather than making a pile as quickly as possible it can take a few months for that new side to be full. By the time that is filled the older side is ready to tip out. Depending on the conditions it might be good to use, just pulling out big chunks and dropping them back in the tumbler, or sift it and use the sifted compost for plants with the chunkier material chucked back into the tumbler as the start for the new batch.
Important part is that a tumbler can be really useful, but it isn’t really a replacement for a large ground compost pile, it’s a different tool with a different use and if you try to just create compost as quickly as possible from it you will get frustrated.