My Hotbin Went Cold Keep Calm and Carry On Mulching ( @Beaniecomposter)
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- čas přidán 9. 12. 2023
- If your hotbin goes cold in winter, remember you are not the only one struggling. It happens to all of us every season. Follow us and you will find the way to bring it back to temperature. It is also the best time of the year for mulching your plants and what can be better than using your home made compost.
Always glad to watch a Beanie compost video. A bit jealous that you can leave dahlia in the ground. I admire your casual and easy approach to "emptying" the bin. I am totally intimidated to empty it, and it is filled to the tippy-top.
Hi Louise. We have never dug our dahlias up here but to be honest they are never the best but I think that has just been the recent drought that we have had during the summer. Emptying the HB when it is cold is always messy so i understand how you feel. Just take out the sides and front and hopefully it will not collapse. It is amazing how much compost / mulch you produce.
Keep it up Beanie Family!!
Thank you
Hi Beanie and Mrs Beanie, good to see you both in action, both my hotbins need emptying, we’ve had so much rain here, hoping to sort it this week, need the mulch for my banana plants, take care and stay safe, enjoy the holidays, have fun!
Thank you Barry. Not the easiest time of the year to keep on top of things. Sounds as if you have plenty of mulching to see you through to the end of the year. Take care.
Hi Beanie, I don't have a hot bin. I compost using some daleks which I line with cardboard. Been making my own for almost 40 years. It doesn't have to get hot to make good compost. Yes, it does get hot, but not hot enough to kill weed seeds. that's why I never compost them, they go into the wheelie bin. When the bin starts to cool down, it's a good sign. It means it's working, also when the level drops, that's another good sign. That tells me it's time to turn it into the next bin. And that's what I do, just keep turning it. It doesn't have to be completely broken down, only until I can't tell what the ingredients are. then I use it as a mulch and let the weather do the rest. I must be doing something right because my garden's been thriving for years. Happy composting Beanie.
Hi Stephen, great to hear that you are having a lot of success with just the cold Dalek bin. I am in the process of doing an experiment with the HB vs a dalek bin and I am impressed with the dalek. As you say you can probably not achieve the heat to kill seeds and perennial weeds and the HB when hot means you can almost compost anything. Today as I feed both the HB and dalek I gave the dalek a stir and it is looking good at the bottom.
I also think experience plays a big part in understanding how it is working for you. From what you said you have plenty of that. Keep it up and thanks for sharing your composting tips.
Oh I am sorry you have been unwell
Better now thanks. Hope all is well.
Great to see another video. Had frosts then torrential rain for the last couple of days so I'd neglected my Hotbin for about five days. Gave it a good feed and a stir this afternoon. It was still warmish but out of the green. I'm confident after watching all your video's it back in the green tomorrow. Running out of bulking agent at the moment after coming to the end of the stuff I put through my garden shredder. Desperately hoping for a dry day so I can make some more. I hope you and your family have a great Christmas and I'm already looking forward to your next video!
Yes although the HB company say feeding once a week is enough I find in the winter months you need to be feeding it at least twice a week to really keep it hot. Plus you need to be ready for that temperature drop that can just suddenly happen. Good thing though is it can take time but then it can just suddenly start getting hot again. Hope you get your bulking agent topped up. Managed to cut the grass in between rain here today so hope you get some dry spells.
Always good when a new video drops thanks
I’m trying to keep 2 HBs going not easy this time of year. As you say keep it dry & lots of stirring.
Back up to 60 now. Can take a while when it goes cold so hoping now it’s emptied it will manage to stay hot over the Christmas period and beyond. Keep up the good work.
Hello Beanie, glad to hear you are fully recovered, lots of lurgies going round at the moment. Not easy to get out to feed the bin when it seems to pour with rain most days. My bin has stayed in green for most of the last 3 months but Ive noticed that I need to feed it more often as weather has been colder and wet, at the moment feeding it every other day. I agree that the compost is great for mulching, my dahlias stay in ground so they have had a good covering and Ive topped up containers. I will need to put some more down as bin will be full in early Jan and I need to make space for the next batch. Have a great Xmas
Hi Margaret good to hear all is well with your HB. I am back at 60 with the HB at home and the mini is back in the green too so all good here as well. I agree to keep them hot you need to be feeding it at least twice a week minimum. Not everyone has the luxury this time of the year to keep on top of things so that is why I thought it would be helpful for people to understand that it’s not a crime if it goes cold. Keep up the good work.
Hi beanie not seen you for a long while.Well mine is cool very cool just had a week of heavy frost and then snow I could only get it to the red that's after regular feeding and stirring so had to use my hot bottle so will take it out tomorrow then feed and stir it see what happens.Might have to use the bottle again then if unsuccessful will have to empty the full bin by now and use as a mulch ( no storage room this time of year)and start again.Glad to see you again and your helper(Mrs B) mine stays indoors bye
Yes not easy to keep it hot. Hope you manage to get your HB sorted. I do find the kick start bottle doesn’t always help that much. As you say you need to use it multiple times to really make it work.
Hi Beanie, Thanks for the latest video. Like you , I have found it really difficult to keep my hotbin in the green. So I took the difficult decision to empty my bin, give it a good clean out, and retire it for a few months. Like you, I've been a keen advocate of the hotbin since its launch, but the last two winters have been so hard to keep it up to temperature .
My intention is to use the first grass cut in February to kick start the hotbin, with all the shredded paper etc I will have saved up over the winter.
I use a cold composter in conjunction with my hotbin, for hard to digest garden waste, so my kitchen waste wont go unused. I'm strangely missing the routine of adding to my hotbin every few days, its funny how its become part of my life now, so I'm looking forward to starting again in a couple of months.
Have a lovely xmas and a happy new year !
Hi Paul. I fully understand how you feel about missing the routine. I guess over the years I have become more relaxed about the temperature. I know that if it goes cold during a cold snap then I can get things hot within a week. It can get frustrating how one minute it is working great then the next you are battling to get things hot again. So I see your reasoning for having that winter break. Hopefully come spring you will have the enthusiasm to start again and you never know you may miss it so much that you go back to it sooner. Take care.