Easy, No-Turn Compost That ANYONE Can Make (Part 2 of 2) 

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.

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

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! 🌱

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.

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

Finally a nice easy system that will work for me and my family. Thanks for the great video.

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 👌👌

Looks simple enough appreciate the effort and time making these videos…stay blessed

You're so right Diego. Every process takes time. The result is so thankful to Earth creation.

Again, great info & much appreciated. Just beginning. Thank you.

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

This is especially good in your location where it tends to be dry. The finished compost looks good.

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.

Every time i see your videos i want to start singing "shakedown 1979"

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.

Thank you for simplifying composting

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 🙄

Awesome. Thank you, Diego.

wow great idea!!!!

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'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?

Thk u!!!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

What kind of food scraps should you not compost?

Do you mount it off the ground?that may reduce the oxygen content down low.

I would think that if you add wood chips at the bottom of the can it will help the muddy yuck at bottom.

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.

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?

We get a lot of rain. How to take care of that?

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 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.

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.

when i make turn compost, it gets hot in the middle, is that okay for this system.

Can I add wood ash if its not treated with anything?

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 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.

Nice idea. Where can you place this? In a shaded spot, is sunlight ok. Thanks.

What size trash can do you use?

What happens if your compost goes anaerobic? My compost smells like leaf mold.thank you for your tips

Do you leave it covered throughout the year? Or you don’t have to

Is there a link to a video showing what you used for feed stock?

Allow soldier fly larvae to enter the system and your have compost in days, not months.

👍🏼

Hi Diego, any idea of what to do if ants move into your bin?

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!

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

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 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.

I guess the worms might be staying outside the contents because deep inside the bin it will be too hot for them to live.

What about fire ants getting in your compost

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.

I would probably drill many more small holes around the bottom to increase that oxygen and still keeping our rodents

"contents inside" is tautologous.

If you have chickens you can feed those egg shells to them.

In my place, rats chip my compost bin even I made small holes that rats can't get in..😀

Mice and rats easily chew through plastic. Metal would be rodent proof.

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.