If your composter is dripping a liquid the material in it is too wet to properly anerobic compost. There should never be any liquid runoff from a properly constructed compost pile, even one in one of those really expensive and unnecessary commercial things. Slugs and snails are part of Ma Natures recycling machine but they do not distinguish between living plants and dead plant materials and so are considered pests. About all they will do in your composter, besides digesting some of that material, is mate and lay eggs to spread around your garden because as wet as your compost is it is a very good envinment for them.

I like the bucket idea but also think it would be less work to worm compost. FWIW - you can't use garden worms or night crawlers, so keep that in mind. To the green/browns ratio - that really is for people who want to speed compost. A pile of leaves (or branches) will break down - it is NOT fast but does so in nature everyday without a 'proper recipe' - keep that in mind, this does not have to be complicated. It should be pointed out that if you have a garden and can fit a wire fence or hardware cloth in a 3x3ft area you can compost right there. Using a 9.5ft piece of wire fence, you can attach one end to the other (using the fence to latch onto itself or tywraps) making a circle. I made several from wire fence the neighbor was tossing. You can make a larger diameter but I wouldn't make it higher than 3ft as it makes it harder to get in the pile. To find out how much fence you need just multiply 3.14 time the desired diameter. IF I was going to buy fence I would buy half-inch hardware cloth instead - it allows for plenty of air flow. The important things are to have water (moisture), air flow, mixed with organic materials. IMO the buckets are not likely to be welded together IF there are holes drilled in the bottom. Of course, if they do get difficult you can simply use something (anything) in the bottom to keep the top bucket from going all the way in. I have used things like empty glass jar or solo cups. Just look in your recycle bin to find something that will fit. HTH

There are some plant seeds that make it through an animals digestive system and I think people that make a really big fuss about "weed" seeds ion manure fail to understand that unwanted plant seeds fly through the air, are dropped as birds fly over or are even carried into the garden on animal fur. "Weeds ", unwanted plants are a fact of life and will grow where ever they want to. kimmq is kimmsr

I love worm castings, they work almost as fast as the liquid fish fertilizer. My problem has always been finding them in sufficient quantities, as the bags I can get are only a pound or 2, soil mender brand. They don't go thru the spreader well either, so I end up walking around the yard with a bag of worm poo & a wooden spoon, tossing out small amounts as evenly as I can. My neighbors must think I'm nuts & probably warn their children to stay away! I use 2 scoops each on my roses & 3 scoops for all my hanging plants to help them hold water. Sunshine in a bag!