I bought my Hotbin mini just in the run up to Christmas after watching your videos. I’m pleased to say, thanks to all your tips it was up and running hot in the first few days and 10 days in I’m maintaining it too. It’s a hungry beast but sent it and it’s going to give me the run around keeping it going as temps drop.
Hi Linda, well done at getting your HB hot. Yes as many will say it is like a pet that always requires attention. I do think during the winter you need to keep feeding it little and often rather than just one big feed once a week to keep it hot. Keep us updated on how it goes. Never a dull moment with a HB.
I think your little flies might be Fungus Gnats. You can get rid of them using a product named Mosquito Bits in the US. It's a bacteria added to the soil that solves the problem. Might be a good addition to the biome?
I hope you know how much we striving hot bin composters appreciate your brilliant channel. You have answered so many of my questions that I couldn't find information on anywhere, and like you say, if you were to believe that your compost process should be like on the hot bin site and videos, then you'd get very discouraged because it's never the same. Everything collapses, everything goes cold, and everything is smelly. And those little flies are just teeming out of the bottom of my hatch right now. Time to empty probably. Thanks Beanie 👍
We are happy that you find our channel helpful. It does make me laugh that the hotbin company have never shown any videos on the hotbin going cold. The weather is getting warmer and weeds are growing fast so its a good time to empty ready for the spring. Thank you for watching and the comments it inspires us. Hope the channel has helped you with some of the hotbin problems.
Hi there beanie just to say I have 4 large compost sacks full of lovely compost from my summer of composting so it really worked well for me just a few hiccups but soon got it going an took out compost every 6 to 8. Weeks so was always good air flow plus I really chopped things up very well and drained leachate every day as then not to much wet left in there if left to long no air flow an will soon lose heat I found , so kept taking compost out often . And used a lot of compost as well so had lots out of mine saved me buying compost all summer , and got quite a big head and was really chuffed with mine , if went down in temp I gave it a cup of sugar stirred well and was back on full temp by next day that’s naughty thing to do only did it a couple of times but did work 🤣 love to all old lass up north Jean X 💕💕
We hope you are able to carry on using yours but if it is a danger to yourself then you can just leave it in the garden and every time you look at it just think of me getting bitten by those ants.
Hi Beanie thanks for another great video. Compost looks really good. I have never managed to remove compost without the stuff dropping down, as you say. I have managed to hold stuff up a bit by using a thin square piece of wood that I push into the compost above where Im going to empty. To keep the air vent on the top edge clear I wedge a sponge into the vent before I empty compost and it stops stuff dropping into the vent.
That's a great idea. It is people like you that have simple ideas that really help people on this channel. It was my first time emptying the Mk 2 so will defiantly be trying that trick next time. Maybe we will soon see a small piece of sponge on the hotbin spare parts for £5. Thanks for the comment.
@@BeanieComposter Of course you do have to remember to remove the sponge before putting hatch back on - last time I had closed everything up before I remembered and had to open whole thing up again - gardening and composting seems to be good for my soul but not my memory!!
After first seeing the video on the hotbin company where it did not collapse and could not believe it I almost thought at one stage mine was not going to collapse. I saw you left them a comment and not sure if they got back to you. It was damp enough to hold together so I did get quite a lot out then in true style it finally did collapse. Defiantly a good yield for the first time. Has taken me nearly two weeks to get it hot again but finally at 50 and rising. Hope yours is doing ok.
@@BeanieComposter no never heard back. I agree maybe it was older. Mines always so wet and in a very tricky spot to empty!! Is neatly tucked away for day to day but not great for emptying!!
@@BeanieComposter mines been at a good temp last few weeks. Again quite full but composting down well and like yours almost charred in places. I still need to fully empty mine to change the replacement baseplate they sent me!! Waiting a fine day for that job (and when I don’t have covid 🙄🙏)
😂 Rick Mayall , think anything that gets them all together young and old is always good , now I’m feeling better I will keep watching you and reading the gangs comments , as do enjoy watching you three in summer especially when lovely mrs Beanie giving you a rollicking that cracks me up 🤣 Jean 💕X ps and don’t keep saying introduce 😂🤣😂used to spend ages rescuing all the worms
Ha ha the ant nest in yours I still chuckle when I think of that , I will be sad it won’t be the feeding it will be the emptying etc that will be my problem unless I get much better , take care you three , Jean X💕💕
Yes Jean it is not easy to empty as you need to crawl on the floor etc. We need to come up with a better solution. Maybe we need to promote community composting where everyone is involved and the young ones( I don't mean Rick Mayall ) can take over the hard graft.
The white 'ash' stuff you talk about in the middle of the compost is actually caused by anaerobic bacteria that build up when the compost really heats up - the general bacteria in the heap reproduce so much they suck up all the air, leaving a deoxygenated space that then acts as a perfect breeding ground for these anaerobic bacteria to do their work. Generally such bacteria are discouraged in compost heaps, I think mostly because they're smelly. But since the hotbin is contained and you're only seeing this stuff in the very center of the bin, after the compost has cooled off and finished, it's not a concern that you need to do something about it. It also does indeed act as an indicator that you hotbin did get hot - but it's not 'ash' per say. I was doing a lot of research on hot composting late last year and came across a series of research articles from a university that compared the well-known 18-day hot compost formula with a new method that did not simply follow the day schedule for when to turn the compost and instead turned compost only when there were signs of white anaerobic bacteria building up. They concluded their alternative method produced better compost in the same 18 day window but with less effort, since they overall turned their piles 1-2 times less than the 18-day method would indicate. Can't find that article again now looking through my history unfortunately. I did find this after a quick google, and you can do more research yourself: www.reddit.com/r/composting/comments/bhv1xv/what_specifically_is_the_white_stuff_found_in_hot/elw2oyb/?context=3
Hi Yes I looked into it on the hotbin website and as you say it is a bacteria. I just refer to it as ash from a BBQ as that is what it looks like for me (I am not the best at explaining things). Thank you so much for sharing the articles as I am sure many people on here will be interested including myself. It is great there are people on here like yourself that take the time to share things that can add to your composting knowledge so thank you for your time.
Hi beanie I AM sorry I can't find your recent vlog.I have a puzzle for you at the top of my composter it seams dry but when I emptied it,as soon as I removed the door it stunk and it was just a stinking soaking mess.The Hb is fairly sheltered from the rain at tha bottom of me garden , I've emptied several times before it's always the same I've tried more bulking then more paper it's always the same.Ive now got 6 bags of the stinking material waiting for sunny days to try to dry it out.Any ideas what I am doing wrong.bye for now hope I get a reply bye
Hi Roger, good to hear from you. Without seeing what you are adding in to the HB it is hard to tell. The bottom waste will normally be wet but shouldn’t be stinking. Have you been running it in the green or does the HB never stay or get hot. Each time you feed the HB are you stirring the new waste into the old. I always stir the old waste first from quite low down to check on how wet things are. As I have said before if paper/cardboard is wet then add more to the new mix. Always better to be drier. Are you adding too much waste in one go. We have a video on ratios on the channel so if you can find this it may help. It sounds as if your HB is going anaerobic which I am sure you know. I would suggest emptying everything and cleaning the HB completely and starting over again. My last video HB service is what I would suggest. You can add some of the old waste back in but add extra bulking agent and paper as you put the waste back in. Just add enough waste to get to the top hatch and then give it time to get hot. Feed it every other day but with only one caddy of waste including paper and bulking agent. See how that works and see if you get into the green. You can also send some photos to our email and I will look at them. If you do send me some photos of the waste you are putting in. The email is on the front TH-cam page. I am not sure where you are but here the weather is good for the weekend but I would suggest not drying out the stinky waste and putting back into the HB just ensure there is no food waste present leave it in old compost bags to carry on rotting down and let it dry naturally. Hope this helps and good luck. Let us know how you get on.
I bought my Hotbin mini just in the run up to Christmas after watching your videos. I’m pleased to say, thanks to all your tips it was up and running hot in the first few days and 10 days in I’m maintaining it too. It’s a hungry beast but sent it and it’s going to give me the run around keeping it going as temps drop.
Hi Linda, well done at getting your HB hot. Yes as many will say it is like a pet that always requires attention. I do think during the winter you need to keep feeding it little and often rather than just one big feed once a week to keep it hot. Keep us updated on how it goes. Never a dull moment with a HB.
I think your little flies might be Fungus Gnats. You can get rid of them using a product named Mosquito Bits in the US. It's a bacteria added to the soil that solves the problem. Might be a good addition to the biome?
Thank you very much for that information, Tom.
I hope you know how much we striving hot bin composters appreciate your brilliant channel. You have answered so many of my questions that I couldn't find information on anywhere, and like you say, if you were to believe that your compost process should be like on the hot bin site and videos, then you'd get very discouraged because it's never the same. Everything collapses, everything goes cold, and everything is smelly. And those little flies are just teeming out of the bottom of my hatch right now. Time to empty probably.
Thanks Beanie 👍
We are happy that you find our channel helpful. It does make me laugh that the hotbin company have never shown any videos on the hotbin going cold. The weather is getting warmer and weeds are growing fast so its a good time to empty ready for the spring. Thank you for watching and the comments it inspires us. Hope the channel has helped you with some of the hotbin problems.
Once again, another great video.
Thank you.
Hi there beanie just to say I have 4 large compost sacks full of lovely compost from my summer of composting so it really worked well for me just a few hiccups but soon got it going an took out compost every 6 to 8. Weeks so was always good air flow plus I really chopped things up very well and drained leachate every day as then not to much wet left in there if left to long no air flow an will soon lose heat I found , so kept taking compost out often . And used a lot of compost as well so had lots out of mine saved me buying compost all summer , and got quite a big head and was really chuffed with mine , if went down in temp I gave it a cup of sugar stirred well and was back on full temp by next day that’s naughty thing to do only did it a couple of times but did work 🤣 love to all old lass up north Jean X 💕💕
We hope you are able to carry on using yours but if it is a danger to yourself then you can just leave it in the garden and every time you look at it just think of me getting bitten by those ants.
Hi Beanie thanks for another great video. Compost looks really good. I have never managed to remove compost without the stuff dropping down, as you say. I have managed to hold stuff up a bit by using a thin square piece of wood that I push into the compost above where Im going to empty. To keep the air vent on the top edge clear I wedge a sponge into the vent before I empty compost and it stops stuff dropping into the vent.
That's a great idea. It is people like you that have simple ideas that really help people on this channel. It was my first time emptying the Mk 2 so will defiantly be trying that trick next time. Maybe we will soon see a small piece of sponge on the hotbin spare parts for £5. Thanks for the comment.
@@BeanieComposter Of course you do have to remember to remove the sponge before putting hatch back on - last time I had closed everything up before I remembered and had to open whole thing up again - gardening and composting seems to be good for my soul but not my memory!!
@@BeanieComposter
😂
@@margaretedwards4076 yes the joys of owning and running a hotbin.
You do well getting as much out as you do without collapse! I rarely ever reach the back!!
After first seeing the video on the hotbin company where it did not collapse and could not believe it I almost thought at one stage mine was not going to collapse. I saw you left them a comment and not sure if they got back to you.
It was damp enough to hold together so I did get quite a lot out then in true style it finally did collapse. Defiantly a good yield for the first time. Has taken me nearly two weeks to get it hot again but finally at 50 and rising. Hope yours is doing ok.
@@BeanieComposter no never heard back. I agree maybe it was older. Mines always so wet and in a very tricky spot to empty!! Is neatly tucked away for day to day but not great for emptying!!
@@BeanieComposter mines been at a good temp last few weeks. Again quite full but composting down well and like yours almost charred in places. I still need to fully empty mine to change the replacement baseplate they sent me!! Waiting a fine day for that job (and when I don’t have covid 🙄🙏)
@@kateg730 A few fine days ahead. 18 next week I have seen. Hope the covid thing is not to bad for you and you are better soon.
@@kateg730 At least you only need to empty a handful of times a year. Not the best job even with space.
😂 Rick Mayall , think anything that gets them all together young and old is always good , now I’m feeling better I will keep watching you and reading the gangs comments , as do enjoy watching you three in summer especially when lovely mrs Beanie giving you a rollicking that cracks me up 🤣 Jean 💕X ps and don’t keep saying introduce 😂🤣😂used to spend ages rescuing all the worms
That is one less job you need to worry about. Will have to think of some funny things for the next videos.
Ha ha the ant nest in yours I still chuckle when I think of that , I will be sad it won’t be the feeding it will be the emptying etc that will be my problem unless I get much better , take care you three , Jean X💕💕
Yes Jean it is not easy to empty as you need to crawl on the floor etc. We need to come up with a better solution. Maybe we need to promote community composting where everyone is involved and the young ones( I don't mean Rick Mayall ) can take over the hard graft.
Lol where can I get those flowers? Hee hee
I'm sure in any household shop. Hope it gave you a laugh.
The white 'ash' stuff you talk about in the middle of the compost is actually caused by anaerobic bacteria that build up when the compost really heats up - the general bacteria in the heap reproduce so much they suck up all the air, leaving a deoxygenated space that then acts as a perfect breeding ground for these anaerobic bacteria to do their work. Generally such bacteria are discouraged in compost heaps, I think mostly because they're smelly. But since the hotbin is contained and you're only seeing this stuff in the very center of the bin, after the compost has cooled off and finished, it's not a concern that you need to do something about it. It also does indeed act as an indicator that you hotbin did get hot - but it's not 'ash' per say.
I was doing a lot of research on hot composting late last year and came across a series of research articles from a university that compared the well-known 18-day hot compost formula with a new method that did not simply follow the day schedule for when to turn the compost and instead turned compost only when there were signs of white anaerobic bacteria building up. They concluded their alternative method produced better compost in the same 18 day window but with less effort, since they overall turned their piles 1-2 times less than the 18-day method would indicate. Can't find that article again now looking through my history unfortunately.
I did find this after a quick google, and you can do more research yourself: www.reddit.com/r/composting/comments/bhv1xv/what_specifically_is_the_white_stuff_found_in_hot/elw2oyb/?context=3
Hi Yes I looked into it on the hotbin website and as you say it is a bacteria. I just refer to it as ash from a BBQ as that is what it looks like for me (I am not the best at explaining things). Thank you so much for sharing the articles as I am sure many people on here will be interested including myself. It is great there are people on here like yourself that take the time to share things that can add to your composting knowledge so thank you for your time.
Hi beanie I AM sorry I can't find your recent vlog.I have a puzzle for you at the top of my composter it seams dry but when I emptied it,as soon as I removed the door it stunk and it was just a stinking soaking mess.The Hb is fairly sheltered from the rain at tha bottom of me garden , I've emptied several times before it's always the same I've tried more bulking then more paper it's always the same.Ive now got 6 bags of the stinking material waiting for sunny days to try to dry it out.Any ideas what I am doing wrong.bye for now hope I get a reply bye
Hi Roger, good to hear from you. Without seeing what you are adding in to the HB it is hard to tell. The bottom waste will normally be wet but shouldn’t be stinking. Have you been running it in the green or does the HB never stay or get hot. Each time you feed the HB are you stirring the new waste into the old. I always stir the old waste first from quite low down to check on how wet things are. As I have said before if paper/cardboard is wet then add more to the new mix. Always better to be drier. Are you adding too much waste in one go. We have a video on ratios on the channel so if you can find this it may help.
It sounds as if your HB is going anaerobic which I am sure you know. I would suggest emptying everything and cleaning the HB completely and starting over again. My last video HB service is what I would suggest. You can add some of the old waste back in but add extra bulking agent and paper as you put the waste back in. Just add enough waste to get to the top hatch and then give it time to get hot. Feed it every other day but with only one caddy of waste including paper and bulking agent. See how that works and see if you get into the green.
You can also send some photos to our email and I will look at them. If you do send me some photos of the waste you are putting in.
The email is on the front TH-cam page.
I am not sure where you are but here the weather is good for the weekend but I would suggest not drying out the stinky waste and putting back into the HB just ensure there is no food waste present leave it in old compost bags to carry on rotting down and let it dry naturally.
Hope this helps and good luck. Let us know how you get on.