Wheelie bin of Leaf mould - how to increase heat

I have a Wheelie bin now settled half full.
It has shredded leaves, straw and cardboard and it’s damp/wet. The mould compost is covered with a couple of layers of weed control mat and a piece of carpet.
Doesn't seem to have any heat in the mould compost helping with the composting.
Dont want to add waste food if can be done without.

 

I never get heat in my compost bins, I dont think they are big enough.

 

My 1m x 1m x1m compost bins do get hot - but not hot enough to kill weed seeds, as I don't turn it as much as I should.

I have an big old dalek compost bin just for leaves, that never even gets warm, but there's some lovely leaf mould at the bottom that's about 6-7 yrs old now.

 

Leaf litter decomposes differently to green waste due to imbalance of carbon nitrogen ratio(ie more browns than greens.) It takes longer (2 years compared to hot compost in c16 weeks,); the product has differing attributes and is worth seperation, needs space & patience !
Agree small volume composting is difficult, reckon a metre cube (5 pallets ) will work, especially if you can assemble the ingredients and build a cube in one go.Carpet cover.

 

Is that brown autumn leaves, or fresh green ones?

If brown, you have no "green" stuff in there so it won't compost in the normal way (I believe it's the "green" stuff that generates the heat). Brown autumn leaves are generally left to form leaf mould on their own, and it's a slow process that doesn't really generate heat - a few years to get nice crumbly fine stuff. I don't think the straw and cardboard will do anything there. They'd be better composted with grass clippings, green weeds etc.

If it's fresh soft green leaves I was going to suggest too dry but possibly too wet. A compost heap needs to be moist but not sodden if it's going to rot down. And the volume may not be enough foe a hot heap, wheelie bins being relatively tall and slim so they have a fair bit of surface area to lose heat.

 

They pile the chippings up in the park from trees that have been pruned or cut down, in the winter, it starts to steam after about 3 days.
But they are big piles.

 

Leaf mould is broken down by fungi and takes a long time and is cooler whereas normal compost is via bacteria which happens much quicker.

 

Thanks all,
Is there any point in adding shredded cardboard to the leaf mould in the bin ?

 

You said you had cardboard in the bin in your original post.
You can either wait another few years or add it's contents to a much bigger heap with plenty of green material in it.

 

Leaf mould and home made compost are entirely two different processes and produce different products.
Leaf mould is made just using leaves on their own, preferably shredded but not necessary, just needs to be left to do its own thing and is better put in a chicken wire cage to let the air/rain/sun work on it. A wheelie bin won't really work as you have found, it's probably wet because there's no air getting in. You might be better off putting it into black plastic sacks, then stabbing holes into the sacks with a garden fork for aeration.

Our mainly birch tree leaves decompose within a year and makes lovely friable leaf mould which you can use either as a mulch, for seed sowing or dug into the soil.

You don't have to turn it or add anything else, just time and patience will do the job.

 

The problem I have with brown leaves in the compost bin is that they stay mostly intact for much longer than the rest of the material. I don't mind some partially decomposed leaves in my compost if it's being used as a mulch but I find it much better to have compost and leaf mould separately.

 

Put your leaves in a black plastic rubbish bag. Tie it then leave in a sunny spare corner of the garden for a year or so.

 

If I wanted the leaves to break down more quickly I made sure I shredded them finely, either with a mower or put them in a container with string trimmer. I would also add whatever grass clippings were still available in autumn to bring some heat with the bacteria. Then just leave them damp until spring where fungal decay and worms would get to work.

I have had decent heat with a darlek bin ,at least 60c from memory but you need to fill it all at once with a good mix of browns and greens, probably more greens . It needs to have moisture and stirring up a bit to keep the heat.
The main problem with the dalek I found was it was difficult to turn the material, especially initially when they were less broken down. Often I'd take the skin off my knuckles when catching the rim, as I often don't or forget to wear gloves

 

I have two open piles for my compost heaps, I never turn them or chop anything. They never get warm and take a couple of years to rot down.
I do, when I think about it, sprinkle a handful of compost activator over them. Garrota, other brands available.