Compost tumblers have been around since gardeners learned to appreciate the importance of compost and the necessity to put air into. Before, aerating requires a shovel and lots handwork. With the help of tumblers, turning and aerating is a breeze. So how do you speed up the composting process of your organic materials by using tumblers?
The first thing to do is put up the tumbler and installs it in a solid, leveled surface, be it on pavers, bricks, or concrete pads. This helps in securing the device so as to avoid spillage and unnecessary skipping of odor.
Second, gather and prepare all your organic. Preparation includes separating the green from the brown. Green materials include those that are rich in nitrogen like grass clippings, manure, garden refuse, tea, coffee grounds, and hair. Brown materials are those rich in carbon like woody branches, sawdust, straw, fall leaves, dried grass, and paper. You may also need to shred or chip the items, you can use shredder or chipper.
Third, put all the materials onto the tumbler with the right ratio. The most ideal is fifty percent green materials and fifty percent brown materials. A balance of these materials will get rid of unpleasant odor. If imbalance in materials takes place, an ammoniac odor occurs; this is caused by the building up of nitrogen. Too much of the green materials then is not good.
You can counter the odor by adding dried leaves, pine needles, and wood ash.
Fourth, cover the materials with water until sponge-like dampness is achieved. And finally, close the unit and use the tumbler according to its instructions. The best way to achieve good compost under little time is to rotate the device at least three times a week. Instructions vary from product to product. The fastest you can probably get is 14 days. glass iced coffee cup