Green Cone

[douggym]

I have a Green Cone located in a sunny position in my garden for the treatment of kitchen waste. I have used an excellerator powder in it quite often but the contents do not seem to be rotting down as, I think they should. The cone is now beginning to get quite full. Should I just keep adding more kitchen waste to it or get rid of new waste in some other way and just leave the cone to rot down the waste already in it? We are a family of 4 and the Green Cone is supposed to handle the waste from a family this size quite easily. Could I be doing something wrong?

[Lonnie]

I've never heard of a Green Cone, if its a plastic bin, of the council type, the stuff does rot down, but slowly, the best thing you can do now, is to put some earth on top of what you have, and leave it,
I have four, and a Rota Bin, the way I work it, is to take stuff from the council bin, transfer it to the Rota, I generally have some decent stuff in a month,

[douggym]

Thanks Lonnie, the green cone was supplied by my local council. It is a green plastic cone about 3 feet high with an inner black cone and a basket on the bottom. The basket part is buried in the ground and the idea is that any kitchen waste put into the opening top of the cone will degrade or rot to a liquid which will leach out into the soil below ground surface level. But mine is just filling up with what is becoming a foul smelling mass. It is supplied by a company called ........Green Cone. They are not helpful.

[n00dles]

Hi doug,

Have the council book on the various compost bins....Do you want me to post on here what it says to do? Or have you a book explaining it all?

[douggym]

Hi n00dles. Thank for the offer. Accepted. At the moment I'll try anything as the area is becoming a no go zone. Do you know where I can get hold of some 'Gas Mask Area' signs?

[n00dles]

Gawd blimey!! Wondered what that smell was!!

Thought it was my hubby's socks!!

Will post all what I have in the booklet so give me a week....only joking !!

I have the Green Johanna (takes garden waste as well)
FANTASTIC !!! Have already used compost...installed last year, anyway back to business, will start typing....Am I allowed a coffee break!

[n00dles]

Green Cone:

Takes ALL food waste including meat, bones and dairy products and NO garden waste.

The GC needs to be installed in a sunny part of your garden.
The digestion chamber needs to be buried in the garden by digging a hole (up to 90cm wide by 70cm deep). It is vital to install the GC in an area of good drainage - or to create good drainage by putting gravel under the digestion chamber.

Under no circumstances must the base or the digestion chamber be below the water table where water gathers.

Once the GC is properly installled it will work with very little maintenance.

To be cont....

[n00dles]

A convenient caddy is provided that can be kept in the kitchen to collect your plate scrapings and other food waste before emptying the waste into your Green Cone.

The GC food waste digester requires no mixing or turning - just put all your food waste into the GC and forget about it.

In a well operating GC very little waste residue will be produced. Should the residue build up to ground level and not decrease, the cones can be removed to access the digestion chamber and the residue can be dug into any suitable area of the ground in your garden.

[n00dles]

Doug,

another part in book says:

Installation requires digging a hole

42cm deep - 60cm wide

[n00dles]

The GC can take all your food waste, cooked and uncooked including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. This means you will never have to put food waste into your dustbin again.

A food waste digester uses natural micro-organisms and worms to break down the food waste into water and carbon dioxide, and leaves a small amount of residue. The nutrient rich water produced enters the soil. The water must be able to drain freely, otherwise the digester will become anaerobic (without oxygen) and cease to work.

Accelerator powder:

The A C contains natural bacteria. Before emptying the kitchen caddy into the cone a small amount of accelerator powder should be shaken into the kitchen waste.

[n00dles]

That's it I think doug, just been looking through the book in case I had missed anything..

Rotting down is usually a quicker in the summer months,
but if you still have the build up problem then as suggested, remove the cone(s) to access the digestion chamber....

Good Luck!

[douggym]

Thank you very much n00dles. I'm doing everything right according to the rules. Will just hold my breath and take the top off. Thanks again.

[Lonnie]

I just read n00dles post, this bin IS a strange one to me, good luck with it anyway.