Compost bin size.

[ReptileAddiction]

Hello. I am interested in starting a compost pile but don't have much space for it. Would I be able to get a healthy compost pile in a 2 gallon bucket? What is the smallest I could go.[/quote]

[tomc]

In a word, no. About as space efficient you can go with are one of the plastic composters.

There are factory made tower and or drum composters. For free on freecycle, or reduced price on craigslist.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree, compost pile that size isn't workable. The plastic composters mentioned come with footprints as small as about 28" square. If you don't have space for that in your garden somewhere, then I would think about doing a worm bin. Vermicomposting can be done in the space of one of the plastic storage bins you can buy.

[ReptileAddiction]

You can get a bigger bin than 28" square with about a 2 foot height. I have looked into vermicomposting and know how to do it. I will consider that. I could build my own out of a trash can to I was just hoping to do it without buying anything I have a design that I think will work great buy I will see if I can get one on CL or freecycle.

[toxcrusadr]

Just a circle of fencing or chicken wire in any diameter you want will work fine. If you have footprint problems make it tall and skinny.

[PunkRotten]

You could go hunt for a few pallets and make a bin. I found them with ease behind businesses.

[ReptileAddiction]

I will use chicken wire. I think I have some so its FREE

[toxcrusadr]

That's the way to go in my book!

[Midwestguy]

I would have to disagree with those who have said it is not feasible to use a 2 gallon bucket for composting. Not only is it possible to use a 2 gallon bucket but it is also possible to use a 1 gallon plastic coffee can! Here is a link that teaches you how to do that.
https://www.diynatural.com/kitchen-compost-bucket-diy-easy-and-frugal/

There is also a 2.5 gallon compost bucket you can buy online. Below is the link to that website.
https://thehomecompoststore.com/large-kitchen-compost-bucket-2-5-gallon-compost-bin-includes.html

You can also use a 5 gallon bucket for composting and below are a couple of links that also teach you how to do that. I personally think that the 5 gallon bucket sized composter is the perfect size for making compost for your indoor potted plants.
https://www.gardenguides.com/84890-compost-5-gallon-bucket.html

https://www.ehow.com/how_8259174_make-compost-five-gallon-buckets.html

I guess my point is that it does not really matter how small your container is, as long as you have all the right elements for making compost.
Now if you want compost for your vegetable garden or flower beds, then you will definitely need something larger. I have three compost bins made of recycled wood pallets behind my garage. I have a friend who mows lawns for a living, so he sometimes dumps his grass clipping back by my compost bins.

I hope this helps, and happy composting.

[cynthia_h]

I would have to disagree with those who have said it is not feasible to use a 2 gallon bucket for composting. Not only is it possible to use a 2 gallon bucket but it is also possible to use a 1 gallon plastic coffee can! Here is a link that teaches you how to do that.
https://www.diynatural.com/kitchen-compost-bucket-diy-easy-and-frugal/

This "composting bucket" is the type where one accumulates kitchen wastes to take out to a separate compost pile. The article is written in a vague manner, but a close reading shows the true function of the Folger's coffee can. The author is trying to sell his book, which is not on composting, gardening, or any related topic (DIY frugality; I think we beat him to the punch on that one...).

There is also a 2.5 gallon compost bucket you can buy online. Below is the link to that website.
https://thehomecompoststore.com/large-kitchen-compost-bucket-2-5-gallon-compost-bin-includes.html

This is a larger "accumulation bucket" for people who have busier kitchens than I do, or perhaps larger kitchens than I can envision. There's no provision for actually making compost in this 2.5-gallon bucket. Again, the author is purposefully vague, so it's necessary to read the article carefully and not get too excited about the word "compost." Unfortunately.

You can also use a 5 gallon bucket for composting and below are a couple of links that also teach you how to do that. I personally think that the 5 gallon bucket sized composter is the perfect size for making compost for your indoor potted plants.
https://www.gardenguides.com/84890-compost-5-gallon-bucket.html

https://www.ehow.com/how_8259174_make-compost-five-gallon-buckets.html

Both of these websites are "written" by non-experts who simply rewrite what they find on the Web.

Authorities on composting, like [url=https://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostbrochure.pdf]Cornell University[/url], [url=https://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/site-map.shtml]U. of Florida[/url], [url=https://www.growbiointensive.org/grow_main.html]John Jeavons[/url], [url=https://casfs.ucsc.edu/about/history/farm-garden-projects]Alan Chadwick[/url] (who inspired Jeavons), and others pretty much agree that the minimum volume to successfully make compost is one cubic yard/meter or pretty close to it because of the need to maintain heat but not excessive heat in the center and at the bottom of the mass.

I guess my point is that it does not really matter how small your container is, as long as you have all the right elements for making compost.

A too-small container will overheat and then go too cold, in rapid cycles, and thus kill off the microbes that actually do the work of creating compost. Take a look at the book forum here; a previous moderator led an excellent discussion of [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=43]Teaming with Microbes[/url] in summer/fall 2010; it turns out that the needs of the microbes are fairly specific.

Now if you want compost for your vegetable garden or flower beds, then you will definitely need something larger. I have three compost bins made of recycled wood pallets behind my garage. I have a friend who mows lawns for a living, so he sometimes dumps his grass clipping back by my compost bins.

I hope this helps, and happy composting.

Sounds like a good deal! Pallet bins + free grass clippings! (No lawn chemicals, I hope?)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[estorms]

I am using landscaping timbers cut in half and stacked like lincoln logs. I have three of them. When it is time to turn the compost, I pull one on the end apart and stack it back at the beginning. It works very well. I found them behind the shed when I moved here.

[collinsj]

One thought I have is to just place your compost ingredients directly in your garden as a mulch. Take and put them around your plants and just let them naturally compost. Hopefully you have a place for a permanent garden.

If it is too cold or not a good time to grow, just keep pilling it up. It will compost slowly and you'll have some of the best gardening soil you can imagine.

To prevent critters or make it look pretty, get some plastic mulch sheets and put over it.

I do this a lot instead of composting. I do have 3 large 4x4 foot 'chicken wire' bins out back. But when I'm lazy and don't want to walk that far, I just put the compost material around plants in my raised bed. Works great.

Best of Luck,

[rainbowgardener]

Ugh... sounds nasty to me, rotting veggies around your plants. And in my yard, critters (especially the raccoons, but also possums) would easily rip through plastic to get to kitchen scraps. And once you cover it with plastic, you aren't doing aerobic composting any more. I will stick with my compost pile and worm bin!

[toxcrusadr]

I don't know, nature drops rotting fruit around her plants all the time. But your points about critters are well taken, all depends on the conditions. I have big coons AND possums, so it's chicken wire or a plastic bin with a lid for kitchen scraps at our place.

[Flowerhead]

I have made many small batches of compost in a 30 gallon bin. I fill it up 2/3rds full with a store bought, 2 cubic ft bag of compost and add kitchen scraps every few days or so. I stir with a shovel. Never add water: to prevent rotting. I also add small amouts of other ingredients to make a very rich compost. I add: wormcastings, green sand and lava sand, humates, fish meal, kelp, gypsum, blood meal, bone meal, etc....

Stir in new material for 10-12 weeks and then let it finish for 3 more weeks before using it

The process is much faster in warm weather

I get a lot of bang from a small space!

[ElizabethB]

Reptile - just how limited are you on space? Do you have room for a 4'x4'x4' bin? G made 2 bins for me adjacent to each other mainly because I have a hard time turning and it is easier to turn from one bin to the other. He used scrap lumber and chicken wire. He ripped some 2"x4"s for corner post. He used scrap boards 1"x4" to frame the bottom of the boxes. He put another run of boards (he had to scab some) half way up on 3 sides of each box then again around 3 sides of the top. Stapled chicken wire on 3 sides of the boxes. On the front he cut some boards to size so they slide in between the corner post. I can pull the boards out when I need to access my compost. If you have the strength to turn you can do with one box. It took a couple of hours and no $ other than a roll of chicken wire, screws and staples. If you don't have scrap lumber laying around check with the big box stores or any lumber yard. Look for warped or damaged boards. Talk to the manager and make a deal on the damaged boards.

I save lots of $ by buying warped/damaged boards and broken bags of soil.

Good luck

[BluesJay]

I'm in Northern California and listen to Farmer Fred every week, he always says the minimum size for a compost bin is 3 foot X 3 foot. From my experience I'd have to agree. What I have going now is sort of a combo worm farm/compost bin. Got tired of turning so often so I let the worms do most the work now

[rot]

..
End Game

“Hello. I am interested in starting a compost pile but don't have much space for it. Would I be able to get a healthy compost pile in a 2 gallon bucket? What is the smallest I could go.â€

[Flowerhead]

Compost isn't always free. I appreciate the sentiment but I feel it limits my results to go totally free

When I use a small bin, I don't add water. It prevents the kind of rotting that stinks ups the garage! If it's dry, it breaks down properly in the bin and won't smell bad. Plus when I add water to a small bin, it collects in the bottom and becomes an issue because it's soaking wet down there!!

[rainbowgardener]

Compost isn't always free. I appreciate the sentiment but I feel it limits my results to go totally free

When I use a small bin, I don't add water. It prevents the kind of rotting that stinks ups the garage! If it's dry, it breaks down properly in the bin and won't smell bad. Plus when I add water to a small bin, it collects in the bottom and becomes an issue because it's soaking wet down there!!

If it smells bad, it's because it is not getting enough AIR!! Anerobic digestion is very stinky. It's not what we want to be doing. If it gets wet at the bottom, it's because there's not enough drainage. In both cases, the answer is whatever container you are composting in needs to have lots of holes. Preferably a compost pile should be sitting on ground, so that earthworms and soil bacteria, etc can enter it.

If you have to compost in your garage, you should really think about a worm bin instead. But even that has to have holes for air and for drainage. I have a worm bin in my basement, in a plastic container. It has a lid on top, and a lid upside down underneath to catch the leachate liquid that drains out.

Compost done right should never smell (except a bit pleasantly earthy) and should be a little damp (like a wrung out sponge) but not sopping wet.

[estorms]

I have eight acres, so if a racoon digs through my compost pile I really don't care. I rarely see any evidence of anything in it except my neighbor's chickens. Probably because they aren't interested in grass and vegetables.

[Flowerhead]

I get good results from my 30 gal bin! It isn't worth it to compost this way in the winter - it needs to be warm outside. I'm not limited to my garage. This first started as an experiment and became something regular.....

I currently also have a large outdoor bin that's filled with shredded leaves

[toxcrusadr]

If I were you I would dump my kitchen scraps into a bin each week and cover them with the shredded leaves. A perfect mix. Voila, compost. Either inside the garage (with drainage) or outside.

If your method works for you, by all means keep doing it. But most of us would not buy finished compost and put it into a compost bin; it should go into the soil. What the kitchen scraps need is a not yet composted, brown material, like leaves.

Re: mineral amendments, a compost pile does not need them to function. The level of minerals in finished compost made from a variety of ingredients is quite surprising. It is an excellent mineral supplement as well as providing organic matter, so unless one has an identified deficiency in their soil, other additions aren't necessary.

But again, it's all up to you. I just wanted to mention some of that for the benefit of other readers.

[estorms]

Compost doesn't have to be complicated. I just use what I have when I have it. I will dump kitchen scraps on it all winter. When I have other things I put them on. When I don't, I don't. I never water it, never cover it, and only turn it a couple times a summer. It still works. The only rule is no meat; we have a local bear and several bobcats. I don't want them or anything that will eat my neighbors chickens hanging around my yard.