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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Homemade Compost Tumblers & Pests?

14 years ago

I've been researching how to construct a homemade compost tumbler for several days now online. Most of the ones I've seen have holes drilled in the sides for aeration. The holes are usually 3/8" to 1/2".

Has anyone built one of these, and have you had any problems with insects? Or will the temps inside the composter kill any pests that might decide to invade?

Thanks for the help...

Cody

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Comments (4)

Lloyd
14 years ago
Fruit flies and small insects like that will still get in. Frequent tumbling disrupts them fairly well but smaller size tumblers may have difficulty in getting to higher temperatures.

I find if I give it a tumble before opening the door, the pests are not noticeable, but if it's been a few days and you pop the door open first, there can be a few sqaudrons of them.

It also depends on feedstocks. A grass/leave mixture doesn't seem to appeal to pests.

Lloyd
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codyg
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, Lloyd.

I use the Happy Farmer Bokashi composting system for most of my kitchen waste, so I was wondering about adding this to my composting mixture. I think this would attract a lot more insects than just a leaf/grass mixture. I live in far south Texas, so the barrel is going to catch a lot of heat just from the sun -- we had 46 straight days above 100 this past summer, so that may help it heat up, no?

Cody
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Having the door opened or closed won't make a difference with the heat because the heat is caused by bacteria breaking down the material you've put in the bin. The nitrogen in the "green"- grass, kitchen waste, weeds, etc. provide the energy to break down the "browns"- your carbon -leaves, wood chips, etc. If I have a big load of grass clippings and other greens, I'll mix them with saved leaves from the fall, water until moist, and fill the tumbler. It's this mass that will be big enough to produce heat. For my day to day kitchen wastes, I'll put them in another tumbler, toss in some leaves so it won't smell. For me there isn't a lot of heat from this so when I get the bin pretty full, I'll add some more fresh grass clippings or alfalfa pellets to get things working faster. If you get your temps up to 150, that's when you should turn the bin as much over that will kill off the good bacteria. You may also need to fluff the stuff if it is matted down. This will aerate the bin giving the bacteria the oxygen they need. No matter what, composting happens. Just try to keep it aerobic (with oxygen) by turning the tumbler. The materials in the bin should smell earthy. If it smells bad, then it has gone anerobic and the "Bad" bacteria are working. Turn the tumbler or add more browns. Composting is fun! I get a lot of pleasure out of working my piles. Yes, some folks I'm sure thing it's weird, but it's me!
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Thank you all for your information. I'm going back to the drawing board, I guess. I'm impressed, now, with looking at the open bin systems. If they really aren't too smelly, then maybe it won't be a problem here. Do mice get into these, though? The thought of mice dying in a compost pile or bin is kind of icky. Regarding the tumbler, I, too, was wondering how it would work if we're just putting in daily scraps. I'll take a look at the Envirocycle suggested by Motria - but, it sounds like you have to pay more attention to this type of composting than with a bin or pile system. I had never even considered vermicomposting - I will certainly look into that now. I grew up with my parents composting in the 70s, but they never got dirt out of it. It was a big pit in the backyard, and we would lift a sheet of plywood to dump the kitchen scrap bucket into. I want the dirt, because I do both vegetable gardening in the yard and greenhouse vegetable container gardening. Currently, I'm recycling dirt, but would obviously like to supplement that with the homemade compost. I may be back with more questions - vermicomposting - so intriguing!
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OK, I have posted this before, but I use a variety of options and areas, and what I use for kitchen waste is 2 large plastic garbage cans (with lids ) with a lot of small ventilation holes. With this method, I "cold compost" (although sometimes it gets hot): I don't turn it except after it's all full and sitting aside, I might once in a while use my compost turn-whirlie thing in it, but the 2 cans lets me fill one, drag it aside ( I do have a kind of hidden area for these). Along with the kitchen veggie stuff I add just enought shredded paper, ripped up small boxes, maybe toss in some of my shredded leaves if needed for more dry stuff--the point is not to fill one can faster than the other can break down, so try to maximize its use for kitchen garbage. Can 1 does not turn completely to compost before I have to empty it, but may be partially cooked, and may have to cure somewwhere--either in the real compost pile or, you'd be surprised at how you can put partiall compost in some garden areas, start a new bed, or whatever--cover that with shredded leaves and in another month or 2, all is compost. I like the garbage cans because we have seen racoons, possums, and yes rats, out here in suburbia, and I don't put fruit and veggie material out in an open compost bin--only leaves, grass, plant trimmings and so forth.
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Lloyd
14 years ago
Hi Cody

Missed your follow-up, sorry. I have zero knowledge of bokashi composting so I can't give any kind of meaningful comment.

I can't imagine that kind of heat, 46 straight days of 100+, it would kill me! I would suspect with that heat and any sunlight, the temp inside the tumbler will get quite high.

Lloyd
0
robertz6
14 years ago
Both temp. and pests are more a function of how well you understand the composting process, rather than the type of bin you use. Many people think the compost bin is the first step, but I consider choosing an approciate bin/system the last step.

The poster did not indicate the size of his tumbler, which is one consideration; and especially important in the winter

I found my tumbler to be too much work in the warmer months, and decidely inferior in the winter to a more traditional mesh bin. Plus, the mesh bins costs $20 versus $350 for the tumbler, and held three times as much material.

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