Return to the Soil Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
Posted by
widdleavi z6 PIT (
My Page) on
Mon, Apr 16, 12 at 17:48
| Let me start by saying that I am new to composting. I have the lifetime dual composter as well as some other rolling ball composter. All 3 are pretty much full. The rolling ball one has lots of leaves mixed in with kitchen leftovers (just fruits and veggies) as I got that one in the fall and put in shredded leaves. The problem with that one is it never seemed to heat up and 'cook' the compost. I live in Pittsburgh PA and it was out in cold all winter. Anything I can do to get it started ? The Lifetime dual composter which I got recently are both full and STINK. Lots of fruits and veggies in them but I mix in shredded newspaper and some dead leaves. Now it is attracting lots of flies. What do I do to reduce the smell and get rid of flies ? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Try adding grass clipping or something nitrogen rich. I have read that a well balanced pile is better. Also, I think the sun and some hot days might help. Other than that, I dont know. My pile was hot for a couple days and then stalled. I do know that my pile is kind of moist with alot of fruit and grass that is still yet not "brown" but in its moist dead stage. Im hoping as thing start to die more and decay a bit it will heat up again. I added wood shavings and shredded paper to get it going again and I keep turning to try to avoid any flies and gnats. It seems to be decaying more rapidly since two days ago so well see. Im still a rookie so Im trying what works and reading what the pros do. There are alot of people here that can help you |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Compost that smells bad and is alive with flies of any kind is too wet, most often. Compost does need some moisture but too much can exclude the air the bacteria also need to function. The link below will take you to a very good composting tutorial that may be of some help. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| The smelly wet ones may also have too much nitrogen from the food waste. Do not add more food waste or grass clippings to those until you get them dried out a bit and smelling better. I would add dry leaves, more paper etc. leave the doors open in dry weather to let some moisture escape. The 'dead' one with only leaves needs MORE nitrogen to break down. Add some grass clippings and food waste to that one. Approx. and equal volume to the half decomposed leaves should be OK> Observe the temp, odor and moisture. If it starts to smell bad you've overshot. I've heard over and over that these tumblers get too wet rather easily. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
It is not so much that the tumbler composters "get to wet rather easily" as it is that people add too much too wet material and not enough dry material, or add water to the mix when it is not needed. Just like any other compost pile the mix needs to be balanced between wet and dry material.
One might need more Nitrogen, or it might need more moisture, or it might need more dry material because the mix is too wet which keeps the bacteria that are going to digest the material from having enough air to function. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Its funny how much Ive learned since I posted that response...lol Yes Ive noticed that when I add more table scraps or cut grass it is VERY moist. I then compensated with shredded newspaper, cardboard, shredded wood chips, etc. If I notice it looks too green I try to add more browns to compensate. If its too wet I add more dry shredded mail or newspaper. I also turn more often if its a little to wet. Things seem to be going better now |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| This is how it starts. You see some improvements then full blown wacko set in. You figure if you just do a little more you can get it hotter and better. Soon it becomes all consuming. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| LOL...Yes. My family is becoming annoyed by my strange requests. Then I tell them. "HEY! I have not put the trash cans out in front for over 2 weeks now!" Then they start to see things in a different light. Im starting to look at everything as CAN BE or CANT BE composted |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Sounds like it's too wet and doesn't have enough browns. Add dry browns, and that will solve both problems. Deanna |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Get someone who is familiar with composting to look at your mix and tell you what the problem. Most likely it is too much 'green' material in proportion to the 'brown' material, too much water or moisture, or not small enough pieces. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
I built a compost tumbler out of a 40 gallon Rubber Maid garbage can. I have had some issues with drainage and smell. However, I found a sure fire way of treating it. Add dry peat moss. It soaks up the excess moisture and balances out the pile. Takes away the smell too, but I don't know why.
Bill |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| Sea474, adding Peat Moss to a compost mixture is adding a high carbon material to the mix and when dry the Peat will help absorb some of the excess moisture and aid in adding some air to the mixture which can help reduce the offensive odors produce by a too wet compost with too much Nitrogen. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
- Posted by simcan z5b/Toronto (My Page) on
Mon, Jun 25, 12 at 12:34
| Yes, as a practical matter I keep a bale next to my composters and I throw a couple of handfuls of dry peat moss on top of every bucket of wet kitchen waste I add. It works very well to control smell and flies (and it even seems to deter raccoons, I assume because it's dry dustiness doesn't agree with them). I have also noticed that the end product is a lighter, richer compost. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
| I use leaves, sawdust or a spare pile of half-composted blended yard waste to cover food waste additions. They all work to control odors. My theory is that 1) the material can physically absorb (or adsorb) molecules from the gas phase onto the surface, and/or 2) the high surface area of all these is covered with microbes which rapidly munch up the odors (possibly eating browns in the process since the smelly stuff is usually compounds high in N). This is borne out by the success of industrial composting operations where finished compost is used as an air filter for the exhaust from in-vessel composting. It apparently absorbs any fugitive odors quite well. |
RE: Smelly Compost and lots of flies
| | |
- Posted by corrine1 7b Pacific Northwest (My Page) on
Fri, Jun 29, 12 at 18:47
| These carbons/browns might also help balance out a smelly too wet pile shredded junk mail or scrap paper
used paper napkins
used facial tissues
empty toilet paper rolls Having a 2nd trash can just for these items next to the usual trash in bathroom and a step on can for compostables in kitchen next to the garbage sure helped us accumulate a lot more paper compost additions. I usually don't have a stash of dry leaves to save up as our rainy season returns when the leaves fall, so they're always wet & better used as leaf mulch or mold once composted. We mostly have big leaf maples that need to be picked up. The other trees are smaller leaves that don't smother plants or lawn. |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
