I built 2 of these last year, but I used some wire to attach the pipe to the bottom of the trash can so that the pipe would not move around. I also cut a hole in the lid so that the pipe sticks out of the lid about one inch. That allowed the pipe to essentially work like a chimney by pulling fresh air in through the side of the trash can as the warm moist air came out of the top of the pipe. I also drilled lots of extra holes in the pipe to get better air flow. During cool evenings, the warm moist air coming out of the pipe almost looked like smoke coming out of a chimney.
Great idea, I will do the same. Last winter I had an issue of the can (with greens and browns in it) to drain and have enough air. This might solve that problem 👍👍👍👍
@@tripudium17 I mainly composted leaves and coffee grounds so I did not have any problem with rodents at all. I would also occasionally put in some fruits and vegetables but again no problem with rodents.
bought a neglected house with trees overhanging the roof, when i cleaned out the spouting , "compost" that had developed from leaves which had collected there was absolutely full of worms this was 10 feet (3 metres) above the ground, so if there is moist food about they will find it they are very ingenious
...of course what happened is that birds dropped them on the roof. At the top of Uluru ( formerly Ayers rock in Austraila) at certain times of year, small ponds form in the depressions in the rock, and fish can be found. The fish absolutely do not swim up there. Birds fly in to drink, and fish eggs stuck to their feet get deposited.
Thank you for this follow up!! My first can went into the garden and citrus in barrels. They are thriving. Built another can and plan on doing 2 more, so I can harvest every 3 months. I also have a compost bin that turns. I add mostly citrus scraps to that one. It doesn’t break down as much as the trash can, but it still breaks down. I get worms in it(it’s at least a foot off the ground). I then add it to the trash can as food for the worms in the can. Also, I add natural soil to the trash can to inoculate the compost
I'm a senior with some disabilities. So, compost heaps that require turning, are a challenge to me. I am so excited to find a solution that works for me! I'm excited to get going. Thank you.
We have been using a system like this for about a year and it is a big improvement over our previous large open pile. We have not had problems with mice (we don't have many here), or rats (we have a lot). I will add that one thing you absolutely need is more than one unit. One to till, and one to break down. We usually "mix" ours once or twice (just dump it out, then fill it back up, seems enough to get things more distributed. Takes 3-4 months to break down, just in time to fill the second can. Moisture was a problem over the winter here, and things got a little smelly. I will be adding more air holes to try to alleviate. We never add water directly, though the remnants of the coffee pot with grounds and liquid usually go in, so that keeps things moist. Our main struggle is trying to find enough browns. The whole system sits in the back of the yard and looks nice a tidy. Recently I purchased a bulb auger (like a long drill for digging). I will use it to mix the cans every couple days, or whenever I think about it, and things are breaking down much faster (and, it takes very little effort). We don't seem to get any worms in ours, but we have ours elevated on some bricks to help with airflow.
You're right about worms finding their way in on their own. I use five bins like that with only the bottom holes and the worms thrive in them. Makes compost fairly well as long as I remember to water them every so often. I do have red ants and fire ants here in central valley California, but they help the composting process so far as I can tell. Don't want them around though, they are aggressive and the bites hurt, especially when they swarm up an arm or leg. Just get composting guys, don't make it over complicated, it practically takes care of itself. Multiple bins are a great way to do this lazy compost, since it does take longer, and you can rotate your production to provide regular fertilization once it's up and running. Just go for it, it's a great sustainable and cheap way to add fertility to dead soil! 🌱
Thank you. I was doing a modified johnson-su with food scraps but kept finding them gone...eaten by critters. So i started this trash can method a month ago and look forward to the results when its done.
I've been composting for about 3 years now. My biggest tip that I see nobody mentioned in any videos is to lay something down between the ground and the compost you're making. tree roots has been a thorn in my side lol. I now use pretty thick plastic that i have on hand from work. I was thinking some kind of landscape fabric would work but I don't think it would because tree roots would still go through that. It robbed all of my compost. Of course if you're composting out in the open disregard this post. Great video I'm going to try the vent PVC down the middle. I have on hand some dryer flexible thin metal ducts for a dryer. I think that would work too?
Pencil size holes or smaller for juvenile mice in our area is what pest management reccomends. Gonna have to give these a shot. Less HOA complaints for not having a "refuse" pile 🙄
When making up our pots we add shredded kitchen scraps and wood chips (to reduce weight) and compost/soil before planting. When we empty the pots into the compost pile at the end of the year there are worms in the pots and the wood chips have started to break down. So the worms will find a way into the pots/bins.
I have a challenge for you if you're interested. As I've built my raised beds, I've added a perforated pipe in some of them. I believe that these beds have produced better, but I haven't compared the same type of plants, same conditions, etc. If you build 2 beds, fill the bottom with chips or whatever you can get, decent soil on top, and a pipe in only one bed. Use the pipe for adding kitchen scraps. I add shredded paper or leaves as a top layer, to keep flies away. Or I have caps on some of the pipes. I'd like to see how they would compare, if you put the same plants in each bed. I can't do this because the bottoms of all my beds are filled differently, according to what I get my hands on at the time.
With the method I had problem with bad smell due to anarrobic and I had to remove the central pipe because it was preventing heating up the core of the compost and inner temperature was very low.
I don't know how much big these trash bins are but if the diameter is less than 2 feet, there is no point in providing the pipe in the middle as air can circulate in the compost up to 1 feet from the hole on the side. Since you have holes on all sides, that easily covers 2 feet of diameter. To make sure, the compost remains aerated, it must be checked that it isn't too soggy. If it is, then adding a bit of browns will help suck up the excess moisture and restart the aerobic decomposition.
If do not have worms add some soil from your garden which most probably has worm eggs. After some time from eggs worms will grow and spread around your container. My mistake was not adding browns which leads to spoil and bad smell and during summer heat not adding water which leads to death of worms.
Because of your part 1 I started this. I’m on my second trash can now. Literally started the second one today April 28, 2022 @ 44 Gallons with 1/4” holes all around. One thing to note, I never added water. I usually would have spare water from say my kids cup or an almost empty glass. I’d add it to my kitchen bin so by the time I added it to my can, it was getting plenty of water. I judged it by any condensation on the top of the trash can.
Thank you so much for sharing this information, this looks like something I can do myself. However, I do have a couple of questions. What kind of worms do you add to your compost can? Worms from your yard, store-bought fishing worms, or specialty worms such as Red Wigglers? Where do you buy/find them? Do you add dirt at any time, for the worms?
0:50 I don’t think the type of worm matters. You can usually find worms in WalMart in the hunting/camping section. Also try nurseries and hardware stores.
I have a qq. The last time I was composting I got a bunch of bugs along with the worms. They were living well together but there where bugs. Almost like water bugs. Some would say roaches but they where not roaches… but like an inch or two in size. Maybe I wasn’t mixing well enough? Any ideas? Is it bad?
I made one of these after I seen your video. But I have become frustrated because I get ant and flies. What do you do about the flies and the little “sugar ants” that get in through the holes.
Diego Had a plant question for ya. Ive got 30g fabric pots with about 20 or so gallons in the pot in my rooftop garden. Planted a bunch of bean plants in several and basically all of the beans are looking lime green/yellow. Not sure what I'm missing but some of the very same pots with other plants are looking awesome. Its strange. Ive done no personal watering as we have had quite a bit of rain over the last 10 days here in Nyc. Any thoughts are appreciated.
This is basically a cold compost worm bin. You need about 1 x 1 x 1 m volume to get a hot compost, and need centrally placed vents to get a proper oxygen level inside the bin.
@@bsod5608 i made mine about 3 x 3 x 2 ft, and stuck 4 logs in it around the center, pulling them out after watering. It got noice and hot. Its gotten a bit cold after about a week and a half though
Diego I watched your video about this last year and started one of these. I just went through it last week and the top half looked like it was pretty well broken down but the bottom half was still not broken down much at all. I was really disappointed about this. I did not add the worms but I also didn't see any crawling around in there as I was digging around which I was expecting to see because of the holes drilled in at the bottom. Any advice?
@@erdalestay7917 it's just gonna take more time. If you've not done so already, you could try drilling some holes all round the trashcan (not just the bottom) to introduce some airflow. I've done this and then every now and then push a stick through the holes into the material to help aerate it, then pull the stick out again. Also, I know this is "no turn" but every now and then I roll the trash can to mix everything up. This helps everything break down more evenly. However, if the trash can is heavy this may be a struggle. This method has worked for me for a few years and I still use it.
Strange. If you set it on soil, the worms will come. If you are a very wet location, then the worms might find it even if it is not sitting on soil. I only do vermicomposting and I use much smaller containers, covered, watered, and let the worms do the work.
What do you use your compost on. I’ve never seen a garden tour video. I recently made some bio-char. It would be interesting to be some comparisons of a bed with and without it.
I live in Southwest Washington State and can control the amount of water my trash can receives, but what about when the temperature is below freezing. Will this damage my worms? Thanks for you for all of the information on this type of composting, wish I had seen it before I purchased a mini pod!
I was thinking the same as I live in Massachusetts. Like will this method work throughout the winter? I've never composted before. Any thoughts of what you've done with your garden area through the winter?
I lived in Maine, and in the morning after a hard freeze you could remove the lid off of the can of compost and feel warmth in the pile. Think about it, healthy compost piles generate heat. Earthworms are actually smart, before the ground freezes they instinctively go down below the Frostline or head to where they detect heat...
The worms dig down as it gets cold, and if some don't, don't worry about them. Their cousins will repopulate the bin when it thaws, and convert the corpses.
Videos on the horse manure no turn system with the two buckets come back in a month or two you’re talking about doing a garbage can a month. Where is those videos?
How is it aerobic when it took a year to compost? The perforated tube would hardly drive an adequate amount of air through the compost. You've also lost a fair bit of volume. Plus, to get the humus-like texture, there'll be a lack of oxygen. Thus, it's NOT aerobic. Please stop calling it aerobic.
What does it taking a year have to do with it. Even in a cold compost pile that can take even longer, fungi is doing most of the work, but the fungi still needs oxygen, which mean it's aerobic. As for the pipe, you don't need a huge pipe. Even in the ground where you've punched holes in the soil to aerate the soil, the holes aren't very big, but yet oxygen is able to get deep in the ground to give the bacteria and fungi oxygen. And lastly, as the material break down, it will shrink in volume, everyone that's composted knows this.
I built 2 of these last year, but I used some wire to attach the pipe to the bottom of the trash can so that the pipe would not move around. I also cut a hole in the lid so that the pipe sticks out of the lid about one inch. That allowed the pipe to essentially work like a chimney by pulling fresh air in through the side of the trash can as the warm moist air came out of the top of the pipe. I also drilled lots of extra holes in the pipe to get better air flow. During cool evenings, the warm moist air coming out of the pipe almost looked like smoke coming out of a chimney.
How many months to break down in your experience.
Great idea, I will do the same. Last winter I had an issue of the can (with greens and browns in it) to drain and have enough air. This might solve that problem 👍👍👍👍
I'm worried about mice if I have the opening of the pipe outside the lid, how did you deal with rodents in your design?
@@tripudium17
I mainly composted leaves and coffee grounds so I did not have any problem with rodents at all. I would also occasionally put in some fruits and vegetables but again no problem with rodents.
@@Well_I_am_just_saying Thanks for replying
bought a neglected house with trees overhanging the roof, when i cleaned out the spouting , "compost" that had developed from leaves which had collected there was absolutely full of worms this was 10 feet (3 metres) above the ground, so if there is moist food about they will find it they are very ingenious
...of course what happened is that birds dropped them on the roof. At the top of Uluru ( formerly Ayers rock in Austraila) at certain times of year, small ponds form in the depressions in the rock, and fish can be found. The fish absolutely do not swim up there. Birds fly in to drink, and fish eggs stuck to their feet get deposited.
Thank you for this follow up!! My first can went into the garden and citrus in barrels. They are thriving. Built another can and plan on doing 2 more, so I can harvest every 3 months. I also have a compost bin that turns. I add mostly citrus scraps to that one. It doesn’t break down as much as the trash can, but it still breaks down. I get worms in it(it’s at least a foot off the ground). I then add it to the trash can as food for the worms in the can. Also, I add natural soil to the trash can to inoculate the compost
I'm a senior with some disabilities. So, compost heaps that require turning, are a challenge to me. I am so excited to find a solution that works for me! I'm excited to get going. Thank you.
I recommend you look into a compost tumbler. They are elevated , easy to use, easy to empty.
We have been using a system like this for about a year and it is a big improvement over our previous large open pile. We have not had problems with mice (we don't have many here), or rats (we have a lot). I will add that one thing you absolutely need is more than one unit. One to till, and one to break down. We usually "mix" ours once or twice (just dump it out, then fill it back up, seems enough to get things more distributed. Takes 3-4 months to break down, just in time to fill the second can. Moisture was a problem over the winter here, and things got a little smelly. I will be adding more air holes to try to alleviate. We never add water directly, though the remnants of the coffee pot with grounds and liquid usually go in, so that keeps things moist. Our main struggle is trying to find enough browns. The whole system sits in the back of the yard and looks nice a tidy. Recently I purchased a bulb auger (like a long drill for digging). I will use it to mix the cans every couple days, or whenever I think about it, and things are breaking down much faster (and, it takes very little effort). We don't seem to get any worms in ours, but we have ours elevated on some bricks to help with airflow.
You're right about worms finding their way in on their own. I use five bins like that with only the bottom holes and the worms thrive in them. Makes compost fairly well as long as I remember to water them every so often. I do have red ants and fire ants here in central valley California, but they help the composting process so far as I can tell. Don't want them around though, they are aggressive and the bites hurt, especially when they swarm up an arm or leg. Just get composting guys, don't make it over complicated, it practically takes care of itself. Multiple bins are a great way to do this lazy compost, since it does take longer, and you can rotate your production to provide regular fertilization once it's up and running. Just go for it, it's a great sustainable and cheap way to add fertility to dead soil! 🌱
This compost looks really nice. Nice easy compost bin for anyone.
Sweet
I’ve been doing this by accident, I knew there was something to it!
Can’t wait to make some amendments, like adding the pipe 👌👌
Thank you. I was doing a modified johnson-su with food scraps but kept finding them gone...eaten by critters. So i started this trash can method a month ago and look forward to the results when its done.
Bioreactor update please 🙏🏿. It's been another year, so I think those woodchips should be mostly broken down by now. Thanks for all the good info
You're so right Diego. Every process takes time. The result is so thankful to Earth creation.
Finally a nice easy system that will work for me and my family. Thanks for the great video.
I've been composting for about 3 years now. My biggest tip that I see nobody mentioned in any videos is to lay something down between the ground and the compost you're making. tree roots has been a thorn in my side lol. I now use pretty thick plastic that i have on hand from work. I was thinking some kind of landscape fabric would work but I don't think it would because tree roots would still go through that. It robbed all of my compost. Of course if you're composting out in the open disregard this post. Great video I'm going to try the vent PVC down the middle. I have on hand some dryer flexible thin metal ducts for a dryer. I think that would work too?
Every time i see your videos i want to start singing "shakedown 1979"
Looks simple enough appreciate the effort and time making these videos…stay blessed
Pencil size holes or smaller for juvenile mice in our area is what pest management reccomends. Gonna have to give these a shot. Less HOA complaints for not having a "refuse" pile 🙄
This is especially good in your location where it tends to be dry. The finished compost looks good.
When making up our pots we add shredded kitchen scraps and wood chips (to reduce weight) and compost/soil before planting. When we empty the pots into the compost pile at the end of the year there are worms in the pots and the wood chips have started to break down. So the worms will find a way into the pots/bins.
Nnn
I have a challenge for you if you're interested.
As I've built my raised beds, I've added a perforated pipe in some of them. I believe that these beds have produced better, but I haven't compared the same type of plants, same conditions, etc.
If you build 2 beds, fill the bottom with chips or whatever you can get, decent soil on top, and a pipe in only one bed. Use the pipe for adding kitchen scraps. I add shredded paper or leaves as a top layer, to keep flies away. Or I have caps on some of the pipes. I'd like to see how they would compare, if you put the same plants in each bed.
I can't do this because the bottoms of all my beds are filled differently, according to what I get my hands on at the time.
Again, great info & much appreciated. Just beginning. Thank you.
With the method I had problem with bad smell due to anarrobic and I had to remove the central pipe because it was preventing heating up the core of the compost and inner temperature was very low.
I don't know how much big these trash bins are but if the diameter is less than 2 feet, there is no point in providing the pipe in the middle as air can circulate in the compost up to 1 feet from the hole on the side. Since you have holes on all sides, that easily covers 2 feet of diameter. To make sure, the compost remains aerated, it must be checked that it isn't too soggy. If it is, then adding a bit of browns will help suck up the excess moisture and restart the aerobic decomposition.
ty
Thank you for simplifying composting
Can I add worms once the bin has been filled with browns and greens? You’ve inspired me to create this system and I’m on can #2 getting filled up!
If do not have worms add some soil from your garden which most probably has worm eggs. After some time from eggs worms will grow and spread around your container. My mistake was not adding browns which leads to spoil and bad smell and during summer heat not adding water which leads to death of worms.
Because of your part 1 I started this. I’m on my second trash can now. Literally started the second one today April 28, 2022 @ 44 Gallons with 1/4” holes all around.
One thing to note, I never added water. I usually would have spare water from say my kids cup or an almost empty glass. I’d add it to my kitchen bin so by the time I added it to my can, it was getting plenty of water. I judged it by any condensation on the top of the trash can.
Was condensation good or not?
I had red ants in mine and I dumped about 2 cups of DE on the top layer and around the can and then they were gone within a week.
What happens if your compost goes anaerobic?
My compost smells like leaf mold.thank you for your tips
You may have to turn it and try mixing everything together. You just need to get oxygen in the pile.
wow great idea!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this information, this looks like something I can do myself.
However, I do have a couple of questions. What kind of worms do you add to your compost can? Worms from your yard, store-bought fishing worms, or specialty worms such as Red Wigglers? Where do you buy/find them? Do you add dirt at any time, for the worms?
0:50 I don’t think the type of worm matters. You can usually find worms in WalMart in the hunting/camping section. Also try nurseries and hardware stores.
I would think that if you add wood chips at the bottom of the can it will help the muddy yuck at bottom.
I have a qq. The last time I was composting I got a bunch of bugs along with the worms. They were living well together but there where bugs. Almost like water bugs. Some would say roaches but they where not roaches… but like an inch or two in size. Maybe I wasn’t mixing well enough? Any ideas? Is it bad?
Nice idea. Where can you place this? In a shaded spot, is sunlight ok. Thanks.
I have them all over. Keeping it in the shade is probably better than in full sun.
Can I add wood ash if its not treated with anything?
I made one of these after I seen your video. But I have become frustrated because I get ant and flies. What do you do about the flies and the little “sugar ants” that get in through the holes.
when i make turn compost, it gets hot in the middle, is that okay for this system.
Awesome. Thank you, Diego.
Diego Had a plant question for ya. Ive got 30g fabric pots with about 20 or so gallons in the pot in my rooftop garden. Planted a bunch of bean plants in several and basically all of the beans are looking lime green/yellow. Not sure what I'm missing but some of the very same pots with other plants are looking awesome. Its strange. Ive done no personal watering as we have had quite a bit of rain over the last 10 days here in Nyc. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Isn't the center where the heat is held and maintained though, wouldnt it be best to have the aerated pipe(s) like on the side
This is basically a cold compost worm bin. You need about 1 x 1 x 1 m volume to get a hot compost, and need centrally placed vents to get a proper oxygen level inside the bin.
@@bsod5608 i made mine about 3 x 3 x 2 ft, and stuck 4 logs in it around the center, pulling them out after watering. It got noice and hot. Its gotten a bit cold after about a week and a half though
What kind of food scraps should you not compost?
Diego I watched your video about this last year and started one of these. I just went through it last week and the top half looked like it was pretty well broken down but the bottom half was still not broken down much at all. I was really disappointed about this. I did not add the worms but I also didn't see any crawling around in there as I was digging around which I was expecting to see because of the holes drilled in at the bottom. Any advice?
What was the material in it?
@@DiegoFooter leaves, paper, and a ton of kitchen scraps
@@erdalestay7917 it's just gonna take more time. If you've not done so already, you could try drilling some holes all round the trashcan (not just the bottom) to introduce some airflow. I've done this and then every now and then push a stick through the holes into the material to help aerate it, then pull the stick out again. Also, I know this is "no turn" but every now and then I roll the trash can to mix everything up. This helps everything break down more evenly. However, if the trash can is heavy this may be a struggle. This method has worked for me for a few years and I still use it.
Strange. If you set it on soil, the worms will come. If you are a very wet location, then the worms might find it even if it is not sitting on soil. I only do vermicomposting and I use much smaller containers, covered, watered, and let the worms do the work.
Thk u!!!!
Do you leave it covered throughout the year? Or you don’t have to
What kind of worms did you add? I have a a few of these on cinder blocks and I still had worms find their way in.
Red wigglers.
@@DiegoFooter Thanks for that info.
We get a lot of rain. How to take care of that?
Do you mount it off the ground?that may reduce the oxygen content down low.
What size trash can do you use?
What do you use your compost on. I’ve never seen a garden tour video. I recently made some bio-char. It would be interesting to be some comparisons of a bed with and without it.
I live in Southwest Washington State and can control the amount of water my trash can receives, but what about when the temperature is below freezing. Will this damage my worms? Thanks for you for all of the information on this type of composting, wish I had seen it before I purchased a mini pod!
I was thinking the same as I live in Massachusetts. Like will this method work throughout the winter? I've never composted before. Any thoughts of what you've done with your garden area through the winter?
I lived in Maine, and in the morning after a hard freeze you could remove the lid off of the can of compost and feel warmth in the pile. Think about it, healthy compost piles generate heat. Earthworms are actually smart, before the ground freezes they instinctively go down below the Frostline or head to where they detect heat...
The worms dig down as it gets cold, and if some don't, don't worry about them. Their cousins will repopulate the bin when it thaws, and convert the corpses.
Allow soldier fly larvae to enter the system and your have compost in days, not months.
Is there a link to a video showing what you used for feed stock?
See the description.
Hi Diego, any idea of what to do if ants move into your bin?
Is that a problem that has to be solved? Or maybe another way of asking - is that a negative?
I guess the worms might be staying outside the contents because deep inside the bin it will be too hot for them to live.
👍🏼
How do you guys keep raccoons out?
We don't have earth worms! Well we do, I have been here 6 years and only come across 1 earth worm. I am not joking. I am in the garden all the time.
Videos on the horse manure no turn system with the two buckets come back in a month or two you’re talking about doing a garbage can a month. Where is those videos?
If you have chickens you can feed those egg shells to them.
What about fire ants getting in your compost
"contents inside" is tautologous.
I would probably drill many more small holes around the bottom to increase that oxygen and still keeping our rodents
In my place, rats chip my compost bin even I made small holes that rats can't get in..😀
They will always try their luck😂
Mice and rats easily chew through plastic. Metal would be rodent proof.
Try coating exterior of bin with red hot pepper, that will stop them from further interfere
How is it aerobic when it took a year to compost? The perforated tube would hardly drive an adequate amount of air through the compost. You've also lost a fair bit of volume. Plus, to get the humus-like texture, there'll be a lack of oxygen. Thus, it's NOT aerobic. Please stop calling it aerobic.
What does it taking a year have to do with it. Even in a cold compost pile that can take even longer, fungi is doing most of the work, but the fungi still needs oxygen, which mean it's aerobic. As for the pipe, you don't need a huge pipe. Even in the ground where you've punched holes in the soil to aerate the soil, the holes aren't very big, but yet oxygen is able to get deep in the ground to give the bacteria and fungi oxygen. And lastly, as the material break down, it will shrink in volume, everyone that's composted knows this.