How important is drainage for a compost bin?

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

My fiancee and I are wanting to get into growing useful plants, and putting our organic waste back to use. We've got a bucket worm bin off to a slow start under the kitchen sink (could only get about 50 red wigglers, but they're breeding in there), and we'd like to build a compost bin out of some surplus materials.

The problem is, we've got that thick, sticky, red Georgia clay that floods easily and takes forever to drain. We still haven't set the bin up yet, because the weather's been merciless, and we're undecided on how to assemble it. Our budget is very tight so we must work with what we have.

Yesterday, a mattress support section was removed and replaced, and looking at the old one I thought, "If I strip that down, it might make a good base for the bin." I've got it stripped, and it looks good, solid but open. If I cover it with some old wire it should do well keeping the compost up out of the standing water.

Today I was reading a thread here, and saw a remark about earthworms entering a compost bin on their own from the ground, when conditions are good. I do want worms and other bugs in my compost, and I doubt the kitchen worm bin will be able to supply enough.

Would it be okay to build my compost bin bottomless, sitting the compost directly on the (sometimes flooded) ground? Is there a way I can assist/encourage vermicomposting helpers into the heap if it's raised? What should I be doing, here?

Featured Answer

grubby_AZ Tucson Z9

11 years ago

Since a bin is just a way to keep a pile compact and orderly (aside from any composting acceleration you could get), let the stuff sit on the wet clay ground. Water will wick up only so far and there are many advantages to having material directly in contact with a source of organisms. those beasties don't die off when the ground floods, and the ground certainly isn't flooded 24/365.

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Comments (6)

Jon Biddenback
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
My compost bin bottom (maybe).
Jon Biddenback
Original Author
11 years ago
An idea I just had: Omit the screen, let the organic waste fall through the bottom and collect there, and as it breaks down and composts, it will form soil the worms and other bugs can crawl up through just fine, but without the poor drainage issue of the clay it sits atop. We can just leave that bottom layer of compost where it is, and only harvest and use the stuff sitting above the frame.

Good idea? Bad idea?
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Jon Biddenback
Original Author
11 years ago
Our soil is pretty near dead, in terms of bugs. I just turned 35 cubic feet of it and found 1 worm that turned out to be a root, and 2 sow bugs. I think it will take a while before the bin area is lively, but I'll try to be patient. Just got to remember it's like long-term stock investing, except it's life instead of money.

Into that 35^3 feet of soil we've worked roughly 20 lbs of dried chicken poop, 20 of used cat litter (non-clumping), 50 of sand, 40 of black mushroom compost, and on top sits about 5 lbs of spent coffee grounds, 10 of shredded green leaves from freshly trimmed branches, and tomorrow we'll be adding probably 10 more lbs of shredded brown leaves from some branches the city took down and digging it all in, but it's a bit dark and I'm tired tonight.

It's starting to look a bit more like dirt than that uniform clay, at least. I'd love to have some alabama jumpers to stir it and break it down deeper than the foot I've dug, but no money right now and nobody nearby has any to spare.
kimmq
11 years ago
In a properly constructed compost pile where temperatures may rise above about 70 degrees F earthworms are not going to be a factor since they cannot exist for long in temperatures much above about 60 degrees F. Earthworms also need a fairly moist environment, one that is not very conducive to aerobic bacteria working the material to be digested.

Drainage is important in a properly functioning compost pile because too much moisture displaces the air the various bacteria that do the most to digest the material need to function.

kimmq is kimmsr
david52 Zone 6
11 years ago
When I build a compost pile on top of ground that is susceptible to getting flooded now and again (here from irrigation water) , the compost works like a giant sponge and soaks it all up, turning it into a big sloppy mess. It works much better on land that won't get wet from the rain or another source.