Hello from CarolineD

[CarolineD]

Hi. I'm new to all of this. I'm not getting the results I need. Compost is too wet and making lots of leachate. Hoping to find some answers here

[lynb]

Hello, I've had my hotbin for about 18 months, with little success. Managed to achieve the desired temperature over our lovely hot summer, but as soon as the weather cooled, so did the bin. I've emptied it and tried a restart, but cannot get the temperature up. Like yours, my compost is wet and rather smelly. I thought the answer was to keep adding more shredded office paper and card board, but it isn't making much difference. I'll keep trying, as it seems to work well for some people! Cheers, Lynda

[Salexander]

I have been operating a hotbin since June and have not found the operation of it straightforward - there is a learning curve involved. I have made mistakes and have also tried to learn from them. The first thing I'd say is that the hotbin is a bit more fussy in comparison to the last bin I owned. I need to be aware of what I am doing as the hotbin is less forgiving of mistakes than my previous open sided plastic bin. Look on the hotbin like an old fashioned fire in a grate with a chimney. For a good fire you need a good draft of air going up the chimney - as hot air rises cold air is sucked in at the base of the fire. If the chimney gets partially blocked, the fire doesn't work as well, and if totally blocked the fire goes out. Your hotbin works in the exact same way - as your compost heats up the hot air leaving the top of the bin draws in cold air through the grill at the base. So endeavor to use enough wood chip (or something similar) to keep your heap open. I didn't bother to add any after my initial bag that came with the bin was used up - and paid the price. The compost just keeps slumping and blocking the airflow.

If the compost is too wet your mix is probably wrong - perhaps too much kitchen waste and/or grass clippings and not enough rough materials to balance it out. Remember that a head of lettuce is about 95% water! There is always a bit of leachate out of my bin but doesn't bother me unless it's excessive. There are plenty of leaves around at the moment - run a rotary mower over them and add to your bin - useful way of adding drier carbon rich materials to wetter nitrogen rich kitchen waste. Also collect in leaves now for adding to your bin next summer when there's an abundance of grass clippings. Have a look around the hotbin website as there is a ton of information available including easy to watch videos. Keep experimenting and good luck with your bins. PS: One thing I will say about the hotbin - it's a great device to teach you about the science behind the art of composting.