[pepsi100]

I posted this in the Hotbin forums (its one of those forums that dont seem very active)
I posted it over a week ago, no replies, I know I always get replies here, which is why its my favourite place to ask questions
Here is my question
I bought a Hotbin at the RHS Flower Show, it hasnt arrived yet

I have been told it will arrived very soon

How do I get it started ?

I have a huge pile of weeds and grass cuttings

Can I just dump them into it ?

I know I can put cardboard and shredded paper into it, do I layer it ?

I dont have twigs, wood to put in there

I have a normal composter, looks like a Dalek, square lid and a front hatch

Every so often I move it, then just fill it back up , putting all the top stuff back in so its now at the bottom of the Dalek,

I leave it for a year or so, then dig it in, anything that hasnt rotted away goes back in the Dalek

This is what I have been doing for years, is a Hotbin any different ?

It will be mainly grass cuttings going in there, along with cardboard and shredded paper

Come the end of summer it will be the old hanging baskets and window boxes, normally I just dump everything into my dalek composter, can I do the same with a Hotbin ?

[Nobbie]

https://www.hotbincomposting.com/user/downloads/HOTBIN-UserManual-v3dl.pdf

[New shoot]

It is basically layers of stuff that you mix together a bit as it goes in.  Follow the usual compost bin rules of mixing greens (weeds, grass clippings, peelings) and browns (cardboard, shredded paper), then add an extra component of a bulking agent.  This is to stop everything compacting down too much and make sure there is air in there.  They usually send a bag of their stuff to get you going.  After that, you can use twiggy prunings, or if you don’t have them, a few handfuls of the cheap bagged bark chips - the big coarse sized ones.

There is usually a drain plug at the base of the bin, so you also need to open that up weekly to get excess liquid out.  My bin is stood on a stack of paving slabs to make it easy to get a watering can under the drain plug.   Then I just fill the can with water and use the contents as liquid feed for container plants.