Is it absolutely necessary to agitate/rotate a compost bin?

Question

I live in a small apartment with limited space (there is a small outdoor patio).

I want to start using a compost bin, but all the models I've found are quite large and seem to include mechanisms for turning or agitating the compost.

I was wondering if this was absolutely necessary to do and, if possible, could I just use a normal container of some sort and 'turn' the compost every so often when I extract the degraded soil to use?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

I agree with J.Chomel's answer and recommend vermicomposting, unless a lot of your scraps are unsuitable to be processed by the worms. Then bokashi composting or a combination of bokashi and vermicomposting could be better. Both methods don't require turning or lots of space. Another thing to consider is what you'll do with the compost you produce. — THelper, Aug 22 '17 at 06:47
BTW there are several related questions that may help you: How to aerate compost without turning?, Is it feasible to compost in an apartment in a city like New York? and Indoor composting with limited space — THelper, Aug 22 '17 at 06:52

J. Chomel · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-21T06:17:16.493

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The bigger the composting pile is, the least turning it needs, because most of the pile remains sheltered from the dry / temperature-changing outside.

If you want to have a compost at your place with limited space to handle it, the best is probably to turn towards vermicompost. You don't need a big pile for this, and worms will do the turning for you. Great soil will come out of this in relative short time.

Another possibility is to have a big compost for the whole building. But neighbors kindness is needed for that.

Good luck!

edited Aug 21 '17 at 06:17

answered Aug 21 '17 at 06:08

J. Chomel

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I think that it should be mentioned that, especially for food leftovers that can get pretty soggy, aerating the compost is necessary for efficient aerobic decomposition. A pile of food leftovers left without bulky carbon-rich material and without turning risks creating an wet anaerobic layer at the bottom, that will produce a lot more CO2-equivalent by releasing extra methane (and it will probably smell bad). – stragu Aug 23 '17 at 06:43

Is it absolutely necessary to agitate/rotate a compost bin?

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