A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Compost Technique

I got a e-letter today from wayside gardens and in it they had a compost tip. I was wondering if anyone had tried this, 'cause I am thinking about it. The way it works is this:
you take a storage bucket (like the rubbermaid or sterlite) and poke holes in the bottom. then you put 2 bricks in the bottom of a deeper one. you put the first one down in the second so that it sits on the bricks. then you put your kitchen compost material in the top one and put the lid on. you keep adding to it and when you need to add moisture, you just pour water over the top. then when you need to water your plants you have the tea ready in a container that is easy to dip out of. then, after 3 or 4 soakings, the compost should be ready to turn into a good mulch. So, what do you think???

Sounds like a great idea Jiffy, especially for a small household, but I would give one warning - the "tea" produced should be used or disposed of within 2-3 days of it's making. After about 48 hrs, compost tea that is not aerated tends to set up anaerobic bacteria, which is not good for your plants. Some tender plants may even be killed by this type of bacteria. Now, I have talked to people who use "old" tea, and have had no problems, but I've experienced it myself, and it's so sad to think I've hurt the plants I was trying to help!
Old compost tea = Anaerobic bacteria = bad


So, are ya gonna try it?


Nikkal

Awesome Nikkal. I think I would like to do something like that to make the compost more useful to me faster. I don't have a small household, but rather have such busy schedules and such picky eaters that I don't generate a lot of compostable material in the kitchen. and the yard cuttings just get left as we don't have a lawn of any sort yet.

Got a question for ya Jiffy,

They said just put your kitchen scraps in it??
Nothing brown in it?????

I'm not an expert in that type of composting but, there's usually always sometype of brown to go with the green.
(Green is your match or ignitor to your dry~brown)
So, I am just curious as to the composting process with just kitchen scrap's.

Can you send me the URL for the info you got on it?

I have also heard and read about the using of the compost tea up fast too!! And the stuff Nikkal was talking about!!

Have you ever thought about worm composting????

Send me that info and I'll give it a good read!

Weezie

weezie, pm me your email address again (I lost it) and I will forward the e-letter to you. that way you can read the whole thing.