Compost Tumblers

cholyk 5/1/2021, 12:07 pm

Hi everyone,
I swear I've followed all the instructions. I can't get the compost in my tumbler to heat up! It's full, I added lots of browns to my greens, I watered, I rotate every 2-3 days. Now it's reducing in volume but I'm worried it will start to turn to sludge. My only positive so far is it doesn't smell bad.

So...Can I get good compost even if it never gets hot? Or will I eventually end up with a slimy mess??

markqz 5/1/2021, 1:55 pm

cholyk wrote:
So...Can I get good compost even if it never gets hot? Or will I eventually end up with a slimy mess??

"Slimy" implies too much water. The material should only be slightly damp. You also say "tumbler", so I'm wondering what type of model you have. The plastic models that are available from local big box shops have pretty small capacity. I can't imagine that they get very hot, or at least not for very long.

So anyway, some pictures of your set up and compost might help.

Good luck!

OhioGardener 5/1/2021, 3:54 pm

cholyk wrote:Hi everyone,
I swear I've followed all the instructions. I can't get the compost in my tumbler to heat up! It's full, I added lots of browns to my greens, I watered, I rotate every 2-3 days.

I have two Jora compost tumblers with the twin bins, and they make excellent quality compost - each bin makes completed compost in about 30 days. If the compost is too wet, or has too much browns, it will not heat up and compost.

I have never added water to the tumblers. As the greens begin composting the compost tends to get wet wet on its own, and sometimes I have to add browns (I use pine pellets) to absorb the moisture. You should grab handful or two of the compost in your tumbler and squeeze it see how moist it is. If water comes out of the compost when you squeeze, it is way too wet.

cholyk 5/2/2021, 5:18 pm

Ok, so here are some pictures. It's definitely a small tumbler compared to the Jora ones and it's divided into two compartments. I filled up to the air vent (3/4 full?) and then stopped adding new stuff. When I squeeze it, it makes a squilchy sound and I might get a drop of fluid. My glove definitely had liquid on it after squeezing. Too wet? I thought it was dry so I added some water but now it definitely seems wetter and the volume has decreased to 2/3 what was originally in there. It does smell earthy rather than rotten, if that's a good sign. But it is definitely air temperature in there.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

yolos 5/2/2021, 9:12 pm

The smaller black tumbling composter - I have one just like that. I never got it to heat. I think it is just too small. I just leave the compost material in there for a long time or add it to my larger compost pile when I build it (one time a year every fall). It does have two compartments and I just think these compartments are not large enough. The large square composter should be able to heat up if the correct amount of "greens" and "browns" are used.

cholyk 5/3/2021, 8:56 am

“The smaller black tumbling composter - I have one just like that. I never got it to heat. I think it is just too small. I just leave the compost material in there for a long time”

How long does it take if you leave it in there?

Yardslave 5/3/2021, 11:59 am

That's pretty wet, leave the lid off for a few days until it's dry enough. Give it a turn or two to expose the wet stiff to the air. When it's right, it will compact when grab a hand full and squeeze it into a ball if it breaks up into crumbs when you release it, you're good to go. Another thought; while you're waiting for it to dry out, throw a few cups of flour into the soggy compost. Mix it well and it will help kick start the beneficial mycorrhiza and fungus.

cholyk 5/3/2021, 6:33 pm

Thanks Yardslave! I'll definitely give that a try as soon as it stops raining!

**jimmy cee** 5/3/2021, 11:33 pm

OhioGardener wrote:
cholyk wrote:Hi everyone,
I swear I've followed all the instructions. I can't get the compost in my tumbler to heat up! It's full, I added lots of browns to my greens, I watered, I rotate every 2-3 days.

I have two Jora compost tumblers with the twin bins, and they make excellent quality compost - each bin makes completed compost in about 30 days. If the compost is too wet, or has too much browns, it will not heat up and compost.

I have never added water to the tumblers. As the greens begin composting the compost tends to get wet wet on its own, and sometimes I have to add browns (I use pine pellets) to absorb the moisture. You should grab handful or two of the compost in your tumbler and squeeze it see how moist it is. If water comes out of the compost when you squeeze, it is way too wet.

I'm curious as to what temperatures your tumbler is reaching ? 30 days for completion in a tumbler borders on miraculous. optimum temps from the completion of compost is 130 to 150 deg. F. during the climb to those temp's, microbes kick in and out as temp's raise.
Using aged horse manure in carefully measure quantities I was only ever able to get internals in my composter to the high 90s.
I've declared my tumbler a toy after 15 years of playing with it..even at that it was fun and still is. The tumbler gave me my first interest in composting after reading how important it is in the SFG mix.

OhioGardener 5/4/2021, 8:39 am

jimmy cee wrote:
I'm curious as to what temperatures your tumbler is reaching ? 30 days for completion in a tumbler borders on miraculous. optimum temps from the completion of compost is 130 to 150 deg. F. during the climb to those temp's, microbes kick in and out as temp's raise.

The compost reaches 160ºF, and stays there several days. I check the temperature daily, and when it starts dropping I rotate the tumbler 5 times to mix the compost. The temperature will increase again and I let it set until it starts dropping again. I repeat that process until it no longer gets hot again. I then just rotate it every 3 or 4 days until it cools down to about the ambient temp, and then let it set to "age".

I am fortunate to get the pulp from a juice bar as well as from two neighbors. The juice pulp is finely ground or pulverized fruit and vegtables, which breaks down really quickly in the compost tumbler. I mix the juice pulp with coffee grounds and pine pellets to put in the tumbler, and by the end of the 2nd or 3rd day it has reached 160ºF in the core.

**jimmy cee** 5/4/2021, 11:15 pm

Ok, Then tumblers will reach high temperatures depending what is being used inside...very very interesting and thank you for this bit of info...

yolos 5/11/2021, 10:47 am

OhioGardener wrote:

I am fortunate to get the pulp from a juice bar as well as from two neighbors. The juice pulp is finely ground or pulverized fruit and vegtables, which breaks down really quickly in the compost tumbler. I mix the juice pulp with coffee grounds and pine pellets to put in the tumbler, and by the end of the 2nd or 3rd day it has reached 160ºF in the core.

OG - I make one large compost bin every fall. Now I am trying to start my compost tumbler. I am interested in your use of pine pellets. I have some but do not know how much to add to my greens. Lets say I have 2 gallons of English Pea/Garden Peas. How much pine pellets would you add to that to get it started.

markqz 5/11/2021, 2:05 pm

jimmy cee wrote:Ok, Then tumblers will reach high temperatures depending what is being used inside...very very interesting and thank you for this bit of info...

Did you have a huge tumbler or small ?

OhioGardener 5/11/2021, 3:01 pm

yolos wrote:OG - I make one large compost bin every fall. Now I am trying to start my compost tumbler. I am interested in your use of pine pellets. I have some but do not know how much to add to my greens. Lets say I have 2 gallons of English Pea/Garden Peas. How much pine pellets would you add to that to get it started.

For 2 gallons of the peas, it would only take about 2 cups or so of pine pellets. It is tricky because the pine pellets expand greatly when they get wet, so a quart of dry pine pellets will expand to about a gallon of when they get wet.

yolos 5/11/2021, 9:29 pm

OhioGardener wrote:
yolos wrote:OG - I make one large compost bin every fall. Now I am trying to start my compost tumbler. I am interested in your use of pine pellets. I have some but do not know how much to add to my greens. Lets say I have 2 gallons of English Pea/Garden Peas. How much pine pellets would you add to that to get it started.

For 2 gallons of the peas, it would only take about 2 cups or so of pine pellets. It is tricky because the pine pellets expand greatly when they get wet, so a quart of dry pine pellets will expand to about a gallon of when they get wet.

Do you think (since I have plenty of time) that I should soak the pine pellets to make sure they are properly hydrated or just throw them in the composter and, if needed, add a little water?

**jimmy cee** 5/11/2021, 10:31 pm

I have a small Envirocycle tumbler, had it for years. It never really performed well mainly because I dont think I was very serious about it.
Now I am going to give it some real workout, hopefully. Its 2/3s full now with last falls leaves. All black and matted together, maybe that is called leaf mold. Next grass cutting I will be mixing some freshly cut green to it in small quantities to see if I can get it going. Last week I added these cuttings to my large piles and it took off like I couldnt
believe. Probably in the upper 140s....

**sanderson** 5/16/2021, 3:23 pm

yolos wrote:. . .Do you think (since I have plenty of time) that I should soak the pine pellets to make sure they are properly hydrated or just throw them in the composter and, if needed, add a little water?

I used alfalfa feed pellets and added enough water to the soaking bucket to thoroughly wet and expand them before adding them to the compost pile.

yolos 5/16/2021, 4:27 pm

sanderson wrote:
yolos wrote:. . .Do you think (since I have plenty of time) that I should soak the pine pellets to make sure they are properly hydrated or just throw them in the composter and, if needed, add a little water?
I used alfalfa feed pellets and added enough water to the soaking bucket to thoroughly wet and expand them before adding them to the compost pile.

Thanks, that is just what I decided to do. I also found an almost empty bag of alfalfa pellets and added them also.

Sponsored content

Compost Tumblers

Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers

Re: Compost Tumblers


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.