Compost Bin vs Compost Tumbler
An avid gardener is always seeking the best advantage to harvest a bumper crop. This could range from choosing only a select range of plant species, to having your soil analyzed in a laboratory to gain insight into what it needs or what nutrients it has enough of. The soil will be the key factor, and this can be greatly enhanced with compost. Now, you can make your own customized compost with either a bin or a tumbler, but which one should you go with? Here’s a good guide to help you decide.
Compost Bins to Start Enriching That Soil
Pros: Able to Start with Wire Mesh
As an advantage, almost any large container can be modified and assembled into a compost bin. At the very least, a bucket will suffice. And all you need to do is cover the container with some sort of heavy top, in order to prevent small animals from entering, and possibly making a home habitat out of it.
The price range of a compost bin is very much easier to stomach than a compost tumbler. Basic models made of a wire mesh can run as little as $30, making it easy for beginning gardeners to start a compost heap.
Cons: Some Physical Exertion Involved
A compost bin will require effort on your part in order to mix the decomposing material on a regular basis. This could prove exhausting if you have a multiple number of compost bins around your yard, or the compost bin is of a large size.
Then, when the material has had enough time to decompose, you will then have to go in there and scoop out the material, a back-breaking effort to be sure. So be sure to consider who will use a compost bin, as the elderly will not be able to safely maintain a compost bin as compared to a compost tumbler.
Compost Tumblers for Modern Home Gardeners
Pros: Fast, Easy, and Efficient
A compost tumbler is easy to operate, and it is not ever necessary to stand there while you rotate the unit for an inordinately long period of time. Only a few cranks of the handle or turn of the rotating cylinder will be more than enough to get the job done.
What’s convenient about a compost tumbler is that you can rotate the barrel and let the compost fall out straight into your bucket or wheel barrow. There is only a minimum amount of physical labor you need to exert, and you can save yourself from possible injury.
Cons: A Cumbersome Price to Pay
The main drawback to a tumbling compost setup is the high price point. Often starting around $100 for entry-level models, they can go as high as $400. Another slight disadvantage of compost tumblers is the fact that they can be overly cumbersome and ungainly.
You will have to situate it in a location which will allow it to spin freely. This prevents you from leaning other garden tools and implements against it, lest the objects may suddenly roll off and injure someone passing by.
Despite all the pros and cons listed here regarding the comparison of a compost bin to a compost tumbler, it will weigh on a number of additional factors specific to your personal gardening conditions. What size do you need? Are you able to easily repair it on your own should something on the unit break? How much gardening do you actually do? After deciding your individual requirements, along with this handy guide, you’ll have rich compost and even richer harvests soon after!
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