To get fast superb results when composting grass lawn mowings in the HOTBIN: Add 40 parts grass with 20 parts shredded paper and 1 part wood chip (bulking agent) Typically this is a medium sized lawn mower collection box (40 litres) with a full carrier bag of shredded paper (20 ...
Read More »Why choose to HOT compost
HOT COMPOSTING MEANS YOU CAN ACTUALLY COMPOST ALL FOOD WASTE WHICH IS MUCH HARDER TO ACHIEVE IN COLD COMPOSTING BINS. Now we really do understand £185.00 is a lot for a household to pay for a HOTBIN. However when you look at the big picture there is certainly more than £185.00 worth ...
Read More »Preventing a wet HOTBIN
HOW AND WHY DO I USE CORRUGATED CARDBOARD AND SHREDDED PAPER IN THE HOTBIN? Dry corrugated cardboard and shredded paper is easy for composting bacteria to digest (see table below). Because they are also very ‘dry’, i.e. have very low water content (typically less than 5% water), they are the ...
Read More »Can I compost Horsetail (Mare’s Tail or Equisetum Arvense)?
YES YOU CAN COMPOST IT. BUT!! Problems will arise if the heap does not get above 40C – the seeds will survive cold composting and you will spread the seeds when the compost is used. A hot compost heap (40-60C) will kill the seeds. However as this is such an ...
Read More »Worms and HOTBIN composting
A QUESTION WE OFTEN GET ASKED IS; DO I NEED TO KEEP MY WORMERY NOW I HAVE A HOTBIN? The simple answer is no and the key benefit is that the HOTBIN can compost both food waste and garden waste. Therefore you can save space, reduce costs and still keep ...
Read More »How do I prevent maggots and flies getting into the HotBin?
The quick answer is “Get your waste hot (>40C) as quickly as possible” Flies and maggots in the HotBin are a real rarity. They can occur and it tends to be when the HotBin is in the ‘set up’ phase before the temperature has risen above 40C. Below we explain ...
Read More »Is your HOTBIN compost good, bad or fabulous?
It could be any of these! Even if your compost looks brown, at one extreme compost can be harmful to plants, at the other, it is nature’s best growing medium. Not all ‘compost’ is the same and you need to know what you have before spreading it on your garden. ...
Read More »Can you compost cigarette butts?
A number of composting advice sites indicate cigarette filters are made from synthetic plastics and do not decompose! We disagree – controlled hot Composting of cigarette butts is viable. Please read on to find out why! Whether a material IS or IS NOT compostable (i.e. biodegradable) is a matter of ...
Read More »HOTBIN investigates an interesting composting method
We had an interesting question come in last week! Was Black Soldier Fly (BSF) composting the most efficient composting system ever? After many years in composting, we had not come across BSF before, intrigue and a hint of competiveness that any system might be better than the HOTBIN, we did ...
Read More »A text book start for the HOTBIN
The Compost Woman, who knows an awful lot about composting, reviews the HOTBIN! And I’m pleased to announce she has had a text book start as she has already reached 60C! http://www.the-compostbin.com/2012/07/hotbin-trial-day-1.html She started with an very full HOTBIN having plenty of material available for her base layer.
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