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As far as I can see, a cone composter is basically a plastic laundry basket planted in the ground with a large plastic plant pot or bucket tipped upside down over it. Would the waste break down as successfully if I simply dug a hole, put the stuff in and put a bucket over the hole? I was thinking of doing several small ones of these rather than one big one in the middle of the flower bed.

Hi sda, welcome to Ish. If you go to the welcome section and tell us a bit more about yourself more will welcome you too.

I'd never heard of cone composters so I did a quick search. From what I can see they say they are not composters, in that you can't put garden waste in, only kitchen scraps. It seems the body of it is double-walled to trap heat so it hot composts - hence making it safe for meat and cooked kitchen waste.

So, in answer to your question, merely putting a bucket over a hole would not achieve that. And I'm guessing they need positioning in full sun - personally I can see better uses for those areas of my garden.

I loved this ...

"Does the Green Cone produce methane?

Not really."



My own opinion is that kitchen waste composters are about as useful as a jelly saw. If you're making kitchen waste in meaningful amounts, cut down on your kitchen waste. You'll save money and you won't then be tempted to spend it on products like this. And, as GA says, that sunny spot could be better used to grow something edible - or even just pretty.

Mike

Do you think it would be possible to make small amounts of compost using a carrier bag, or bin or laundry basket?

You can hot compost using a heavy duty black plastic bag as long as its in a sunny spot.

I could put one in an old dustbin bag cage that had a rubber lid. Would I also need to pierce the dustbin liner or would it be enough that it's open at the top, albeit with the cage lid down?