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How to use a compost accelerator

Updated: October 2026

You have a tub or a bag on the bench, and two webpages disagree about the grams. This is how to use compost accelerator powder or bran without borrowing a figure from the wrong pack. Follow the pack in your hand. If it prints no dose, do not invent one from another brand. The [compost accelerator comparison](/hub/raised-beds-greenhouses-and-compost/compost-accelerator) is the listing table. Products Compared editorial team, 15 October 2026, from maker pages, the Royal Horticultural Society, and the amazon.co.uk captures. No laboratory test was run. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a tub or a bag on the bench, and two webpages disagree about the grams. This is how to use compost accelerator powder or bran without borrowing a figure from the wrong pack. Follow the pack in your hand.

Our top picks

Moutta Moutta bokashi 3 kg

Best overall

Moutta Moutta bokashi 3 kg
8.6/10about £29.99
View offer
Topline Topline Garotta 2 x 3.5 kg

Rank 2

Topline Topline Garotta 2 x 3.5 kg
9.0/10about £17.99
View offer
Bioefekts Bio-Composter 500 g

Best value

Bioefekts Bio-Composter 500 g
8.0/10about £7.98
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Layer first, product second
  2. 2.Garotta doses that do not match
  3. 3.Bran is a different spoon
  4. 4.Listings with no dose

Layer first, product second

A sprinkle cannot repair a heap that is already wrong. Grass and raw peelings are greens. Torn cardboard, paper, and chopped prunings are browns. Build that layer before you open a tub. Moisture comes before the product. Squeeze a handful. Surrey's wrung-out sponge still applies: damp, with no stream of water. A brown, woody layer is the case for opening a tub, and the pack sets the grams.

Garotta doses that do not match

Westland's current page says 200–250 g, about two trowels, on each 30 cm layer, plus about 4.5 litres of water if the waste is dry or woody. Older Barrs copy still says 2–3 tablespoons per square metre on an 8 cm layer, and 6–8 weeks, and never add cooked food. Those two rates cannot both be one scoop. That clash is why this page will not pick one gram for every tub. The Topline bundle does not print either figure, so follow the box you hold and do not add the two methods together.
Moutta Moutta bokashi 3 kg

Testsieger

Moutta Moutta bokashi 3 kg
8.6/10about £29.99
View offer

Bran is a different spoon

A bran dose belongs in a sealed bucket, on food, with the air pressed out. It does not belong on a leaf heap in place of Garotta. The Royal Horticultural Society's bokashi guide says a handful of bran per inch of waste, for about two weeks. The result looks like pickled food, not finished compost. Moutta states 1–2 tablespoons at the end of each day. Use that only if the bag is Moutta. Biorfe says sprinkle and states no grams. Do not copy Moutta's spoon onto a blank Biorfe bag, or either figure onto dry leaves.

Listings with no dose

Several packs print nothing you can follow. BritishBasics reviewers say the 500 ml bottle never says neat or diluted. Bio-Composter's title says 5 m³ and prints no grams. Both Lava-Lite bags print no dose, and the reviews describe grit. The Levington-titled listing prints none either. Do not borrow another product's sprinkle for it. Neudorff Radivit states 15–20 g per layer of kitchen and soft garden waste. Do not use it with compost worms. If your bottle or bag has no instructions, stop and ask the seller or return it. A cold bin is a separate question on compost bin not hot in winter.

Common questions

How much compost accelerator do I add?
Add the amount printed on the pack you are holding. For current Garotta, Westland’s page says 200–250 g on each 30 cm layer, about two trowels, and about 4.5 litres of water if the waste is dry or woody. The Amazon bundle of two 3.5 kg boxes does not print that figure. Older Barrs copy still says 2–3 tablespoons per square metre on an 8 cm layer. If your box and the webpage disagree, the box wins. If the box is blank, do not invent a gram.
Do I water it in?
Water when the waste is dry or woody, not when the heap already drips. Westland’s Garotta page pairs the sprinkle with about 4.5 litres if the layer needs it. A handful that runs is a reason for torn cardboard, not another litre. Vitax’s polythene cover is on a sheet for a product that is not in this set. Wet slime needs air and browns first.
What if my bottle has no instructions?
Stop, and do not copy another brand’s grams. BritishBasics, Bio-Composter, both Lava-Lite bags, and the Levington-titled listing print no dose in this capture. Reviewers of the liquid say it never says neat or diluted. One Bio-Composter review could not read the pack. A blank bottle is a return or a question to the seller, not a prompt to pour the whole bottle into a dalek. The same applies to a bran bag that arrives with no slip.
Can I use the same dose for bran and for Garotta?
No. Garotta’s current maker page is 200–250 g on a 30 cm layer of a heap. Bran, on the Royal Horticultural Society’s guide, is a handful per inch of food in a sealed bin, for about two weeks. Moutta states 1–2 tablespoons a day. Those numbers describe different processes. Putting a heap-maker trowel of bran on dry leaves, or a bran spoon of Garotta into a kitchen caddy, misses both methods. Read the pack, then match it to the bin you have.
The old webpage says tablespoons and the maker says 200 g. Which do I follow?
Follow the pack in your hand. Westland’s current page is 200–250 g, about two trowels, on each 30 cm layer. Barrs’ older page for a 3.5 kg Garotta box is 2–3 tablespoons per square metre on an 8 cm layer, with talk of 6–8 weeks. Both cannot be the instruction for one scoop. If your box prints one of them, use that one. If your box prints neither, do not average 200 g and two tablespoons into a homemade rate.
Can I put the maker on a worm bin?
Do not put Neudorff Radivit on a worm bin. Pasted label text says not to use it with compost worms, and the 15–20 g line is written for garden compost. A heap powder is the wrong addition if the bin is a wormery rather than a dalek. Bran belongs in a sealed food bucket, not on the worms either. A worm bin is a different system. Keep accelerator granules on the garden heap they were labelled for.

Related pages

Compost accelerator buying guide

Best compost accelerator

Compost accelerator

Bokashi vs compost heap: sealed bran or a heap maker

Compost bin not hot in winter: usually just the season

Sources

Public UK and manufacturer sources from the research digest, last checked on 15 October 2026.

  1. RHS — Composting (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  2. RHS — Composting through the winter (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  3. RHS — Bokashi (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  4. Garden Organic — How to make compost (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  5. GOV.UK — Animal material in home compost (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  6. nidirect — Garden waste (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  7. Westland — Garotta compost maker (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  8. Neudorff — Radivit (retrieved 15.10.2026)