Bottom on Compost Bin or No Bottom?

[Garden Gal]

do the worms actually crawl over the pavers to get under? What do you mean by pavers?

[rot]

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When I moved in I had an area where the previous owners put in some pavers on bare ground where they stacked the fire wood. After moving the fire wood I started my compost piles there.

The pavers are just brick things. Some of them are square, 12 inches on a side and about and inch and a half thick. Just made of cement. Others are interlocking bricks. No cement or mortar in between.

In the spaces between the pavers, the worms manage to crawl up into the bins. Especially during the rainy season where the compost is covered and not saturated with water compared to the rain soaked soil.

The pavers are close enough to form a floor that I can sweep up after turning the bins. Now I use the location for my cold, slow, build-as-you-go, hard to digest stuff bins. I feed the bins and water. After a while they reduce and I can just keep adding. My latest has been fed once a month for a year and half now and I'm just about ready to stop. I've topped it about 5 times this year. It will finish in about a year. I'm starting a smaller one that should go about 6 to 8 months feeding. I'm shooting to feed it for a year if the conditions are right.

For a patio or something you would layout these brick things on top of gravel and then sand. For a bin I don't think you want that for worm action. If I had to make it up I would scratch out a level patch of dirt on some level ground and just lay the pavers down.

Right now there are some ground squirrels making their home underneath and they're starting to undermine my happy platform. Still workable for now but down the line I figure I'll have to dig it up and back fill.

[Garden Gal]

got it! I thought that was what youeant but wanted to be sure. Thank you.

[speedster7926]

ok I'm starting a 3x3 compost bin sitting on thick cardboard so no roots or grass get to it now how long do I have to wait before I use it or can I use it anytime but its better to wait longer? because right now I have like 5 5 gallon buckets full of kitchen scraps and other grass clippings and misc stuff like coffee grounds I know I have to make layers like scraps then grass then scraps and so on? also I'm about also about to till under my garden cause most of my plants are done or over run like my okra ( ants are burrowing into the fruit itself and building nests inside and around it) and the leaf footed bugs (stink bugs) as I call them are all over my cherry tomatoes and I'm finally getting worms in my cucumbers they are burrowing into them and eating them from the inside out. will soap and water spray keep these guys away? sorry multi topic question

[rot]

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You can start filling the bin right away. The compost will finish faster if you fill the bin all at once but you can just keep adding over time. The longer you keep adding, the longer it will take to get finished compost. If you don't turn your compost, expect it to finish in about 6 months or so depending on conditions. You might expect a full year.

You'll need to ask others on your other questions.

Here's a link for a Florida website on composting:
https://www.compostinfo.com/

to sense
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[garden5]

Nix the bottom, but a lid is a good idea. It keeps the rain out, which can really saturate you compost and cause some nutrients to leech into the ground.

[Garden Gal]

visit the link to organic pest control in this forum for help with your pest problems.