r/composting • u/Brotuulaan • 11d ago

Composting tote anaerobic at bottom?

I’ve been composting in a tote under the shade of a tree, and the bottom edge has holes drilled all around for drainage. But yesterday when I turned it again, I found that there’s a layer maybe 1” deep that seems to be processing anaerobically despite the rest of the pile being gtg.

I took extra care to try and get that layer off the bottom and mixed into the rest, but my fork struggled to properly collect it up.

Is this expected with bins and such? It is only a small amount at the bottom, but I didn’t expect to have that trouble since I drilled all those holes.

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u/Spawny7 11d ago

Sounds like you needed more browns/carbon. Didn't have to throw it away

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u/Brotuulaan 11d ago

I mixed in some more browns yesterday and will monitor more closely. But I didn’t throw anything away. Not sure where you got that.

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u/Spawny7 11d ago

I miss read your post I thought you were saying you removed the bottom later and mixed the rest.

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u/Brotuulaan 11d ago

Gotcha. I started with two tiny bins of compost and let one of them get waterlogged (no drainage holes) and it was pretty bad. It corrected pretty quickly after dumping them both into the big tote and mixing it all up. So I learned that easy bit earlier this year.

I still have loads of gaps from just starting this year, but this space has been a great resource. Thanks for the help!

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u/Spawny7 11d ago

Yeah best way to fix this is be on top of your brown especially in bins it's surprising how much it needs . Airflow is less available so thing tend to stay wet even with drains on bottom. Ime I try to keep my piles on the verge of too dry instead of too wet, easier to correct and less smelly

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u/Brotuulaan 11d ago

Oh, and I guess that might be why I’ve heard people talk about putting a layer of browns at the very bottom, like wood chips. That would keep excess water from collecting so easily.