User avatar
RASelkirk
Full Member
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:47 pm
Location: SETX, zone 9b

What is Bin With Divider Within Tumbling Composter For?

Hi All,

Our son got me a tumbling composter for my birthday which has a divider that allows for two different chambers within. What is the purpose of the divider? Do you do long-term stuff in one side? Right now I am adding kitchen trimmings + lawn clippings on one side and dead tomato plants in the other...

Russ

User avatar
webmaster
Site Admin
Posts: 9476
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 12:59 pm
Location: Amherst, MA USDA Zone 5a

Hi Russ,
I updated the question so it's more specific and attracts an answer.

;)

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The divider in the bin is to separate the compost you are cooking from the compost you are still adding to. The tumbler design only helps with turning compost.

If you make regular compost in bins or piles, you would still have separate piles. One pile will be for what you are building or adding to. Once that is full with the correct ratio of greens and browns + water it is ready for the composting stage. You can add a compost starter or throw a shovel full of compost or soil to add the bacteria. Once you start to let the compost cook, you will not add anything more to it. Instead you will start another pile next to it. The more the compost is turned the faster it should make compost.

In reality, the tumblers don't hold a lot. It is easier to build the pile in a day and start the decomposition process. It is hard to get tumblers thermophillic because they often don't have enough volume 3x3x3 or 1 cubic yard minimum. Once the pile is built and properly wetted, it should cook for 3-4 days. If it is thermophillic, it will start steaming if it is covered. After being in thermophillic range temp 130-140 degrees for 4 days then you start turning. The more you turn the faster compost gets made. The tumblers are best used for the turning phase to make faster compost. Making the starter piles on the ground and getting them to the thermophillic range and then transferring them to the tumbler for finishing. We had to drill holes in the tumbler, because it collects too much water especially if you over water the compost or there are too much stinky soupy greens.

For myself, I only do vermi composting. It takes up less space and the worms do all the work.

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/composting-101

User avatar
RASelkirk
Full Member
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:47 pm
Location: SETX, zone 9b

Thanks for the tips. I've got four 3' x 6' above ground beds, so this bin ought to be OK. Kinda wish it didn't happen though, as I now feel inclined to sweep up my lawn trimmings instead of blowing then into the yard. Much harder at 68 years of age in a 100° + heat index...

Speaking of heat, should the bin be in the shade or does it matter? Being black, I'd guess it could be as high as 180° in the sun.

Russ

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I’ve never owned the 2-chamber tumbler, but from what I understand, you can start by filling (as much as the tumbling action allows) both chambers with pre-balanced ingredients, and when they are all half done and shrunk down in volume, move contents of one chamber to add to the second, and THIS is when you can start that offset cycle of filling the now emptied chamber with fresh new ingredients. By the time the combined chamber is just about done, and you can empty and sift out the finished compost, you’ll be able to put the larger debris in with the half-done stuff in the other chamber, and start a new fresh batch in the just emptied chamber… and so on.

I’ve had my compost bin and piles in both sunny and shady areas. Shady areas tend to be more private and can “hide” the compost bin/pile better, and I don’t think it affects the process during the summer heat. But it works better to have the compost bin/pile in sunniest area possible during the winter.

It will all also depend on how much it rains at your location and how accessible/convenient to provide supplemental water is.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

We only had the bins in the sun but it is the turning that is important. If the pile is made right whether in the shade or sun it should heat up. Most people do lazy composting and do it cold and slow and that can take six months to do. In cold climates soil microbial activity grinds to a halt until it warms up again.



Return to “Composting Forum”