Customer Reviews

Scotts 100164 Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Compost Bin

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I recently purchased a second one of thesse Biostack composters because I liked my first one so much (purchased 2 years ago at Smith & Hawken). I decided to expand my composting and didn't think I could get another one since Smith & Hawken folded, but this one is the same. Very sturdy, super easy to put together, and easy to use. If you do nothing but throw stuff in, you'll have compost in 6 - 12 months. If you're willing to invest a little effort and turn the pile once a month, it should be quite a bit faster.

My wife got me this composter after doing much research online. I really like it and it is easy to use. The only minor flaw in my opinion is that it does not allow any rainwater to get in so you have to water it periodically.

My local big box home/garden center (think orange sign) carries these. You might want to go there first to see if they carry the biostack, check it out, and compare pricing. I have several large bags of shredded fall leaves from last year that I want to compost. This looked like a relatively large bin that would be good for the job so I picked one up. Much easier to assemble than my garden gourmet composter, which was pretty downright easy as well. The design consists of three snap together stacking tiers and a lid with two hinged doors on the top. No tools needed to assemble it. It's very sturdy, the plastic seems thicker and tougher than that of the garden gourmet style.

The "biostack" concept makes it easy to turn your pile relative to a standard, non rotating backyard composter. If you want to turn the pile, you take the lid off and shovel some of the material onto the ground until you've got the level down enough that you can lift the top tier off, which you then set on the ground around the new pile you've made. Keep transferring the material and tiers by stacking them on top of each other until you've rebuilt the pile and the box! Very cool, I turned my entire pile in about 10 minutes with attention to watering as my pile was dry in spots.

The downside here is that the entire compost bin/pile moves to a new location of your choosing- typically within a shovel's reach of its original location. So it might not be ideal if you are space limited or have another reason for needing to keep the composter in the exact same place. You could always leave it in place and stir but it will take longer to make compost.

I was able to fit three of those large brown paper yard waste bags full of shredded leaves inside the unit mixed with a garbage can full of horse manure. Pretty good capacity. In the areas where the pile wasn't dry it was very hot. With regular monitoring of temperature and moisture and regular turning I'll have these leaves composted in no time- I'm very happy with it so far.

I got this compost bin a month ago, to aid in my first composting endeavor.

It is very simple to put together, and sturdy once together.

I have been slowly adding material, as I did not have accumulation to begin with. I've now added two lawn-mowing's worth of grass clippings, some leftover leaves and sticks, and a month's worth of plant-based kitchen waste and things are now moving along quite nicely. The bin is about 1/3 full right now, and the pile is already hot. I have not yet done a "re-stack" turn, but I do mix it with a garden fork a few times a week. It isn't all that hard to do, and the stacks stay in place well while I give the pile a good stir.

I can't compare this to other bins, but thus far, I am quite happy with the design and ease of use.

I've had these bins in the past and they are pricey but I've not found any other product equivalent. Due to the stackable feature it's easy to 'flip' the stack weekly, quickly turning grass and leaves into soil in a relatively short amount of time.