New to composting - brown or green ?

eyecatchercwd

Hi I've read several blogs and watched you tube but still I'm a tad confused!  Pruning - Is green waste the live garden pruned bits and brown waste the dead pruned bits like last year's dead branches, twigs etc? Also what are used teabags brown or green ? Is anything jucy or moist green ? Anything dry brown? Any help would be great as I don't want to unbalance my composter. It's a darlek type do I have to take the lid off and turn it regularly?

Astro

It is the higher nitrogen material that is called 'green' and higher carbon 'brown'. The colour of the material isn't strictly important, for example tea ,coffee grinds and manures are generally brown though are higher in nitrogen so are called 'green'.

As for mixing the ratios personally I think you just shove in whatever you have got. Ideally to stop the pile becoming slop you add a mix of wet and dry material if you have it. But it all breaks down.

josusa47

I shred unwanted paper and keep it in a big bag by the shredder, then whenever I mow the grass I mix in the shredded paper.

PurpleRose

I have learnt something new here this morning. I did not realise tea leaves/coffee are browns. I always have to be conscious of the green/brown ratio as I seem to have more greens to hand (like most of us).

The amount of tea leaves going in will increase my percentage as we drink loads of tea and coffee and I bring brongbused tea bags home from work

Fairygirl

I put all my tea bags and coffee into the compost. They're standard fare for compost bins
I have the opposite problem of more browns than greens until I compost any annuals, and I don't do many of those. It all breaks down and is useful though.
As @philippasmith2 says - cardboard [particularly the corrugated stuff] is good. Paper towels that haven't touched meat/grease etc are fine, and I put paper hankies in too. 
Keep turning it as often as you can too @eyecatchercwd. That prevents anything just 'sitting', especially wet grass which can become a slimy lump. 

Ferdinand2000

A supplementary q:

What does 'used' compost count as for those who like to categorise?

I am just about to do my next lot of microgreens, and I have about a dozen seed trays of compost and roots.

It sounds like an ideal addition, and perhaps a bit of both.

Ferdinand

Fairygirl

It's just  used compost.
It can go in the compost bin or be used directly round plants, or even added to pots with some fresh stuff - for bulb planting etc. 

Ferdinand2000

Fairygirl said:

It's just  used compost.
It can go in the compost bin or be used directly round plants, or even added to pots with some fresh stuff - for bulb planting etc. 

So just need to make sure there is no Japanese Hogweed or Bamboo in my watercress...

Astro

PurpleRose said:

I have learnt something new here this morning. I did not realise tea leaves/coffee are browns. 

They are brown in colour but count as 'greens' in composting terms owing to higher nitrogen ratio.


https://frostygarden.com/topics/composting-in-the-sub-arctic/

These are some videos I think are useful. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtMsEylZvqw&t=765s

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6CGj7xpFE