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Sun, Jun 19, 11 at 15:37
| still new to composting, we have an 85 gal tumbler that is about full. kitchen scraps and shredded paper mostly. while we were filling it, we had close to no flies once we started adding lots more browns.
now we've stopped adding anything to the tumbler and are giving it a spin about once a week. spun it today and I could hear it sloshing around. sounded very wet. opened it up and loads of fruit flies. there's some more room in there now, should I just add more browns? thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| .. Not a tumbler guy but, Orient the door down so excess moisture drains. Don't worry if it dries out. You can add as things develop. You want to be in control of moisture levels to keep control of the flies. Turn more frequently. Part of the point of a tumbler is to turn more frequently with ease. two cents |
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| Fruit flies, Fungus Gnats, or any of the other flies larva need a fairly moist environment to hatch and grow so their presence in any compost indicates the material is too moist and needs to dry out. Add some dry material to absorb the excess moisture or position the drum so any excess can drain, but that excess moisture will slow down digestion because it replaces the air the aerobic bacteria need to function. A too wet compost mix will also develop a putrid odor. |
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- Posted by granolamom NY (My Page) on Mon, Jun 20, 11 at 17:03
| OK, will add more dry material, keep the door down and spin more often. I was spinning it every day but someone suggested I do it less often. at least there's no putrid odor. |
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| We get some fruit flies too and it even started smelling like amonia after not turning for a few days. The first lesson I learned with my tumbler was to avoid adding liquid. I watered everything down and it stays too wet I think. Next batch I will not add any water and see if the greens will provide the required moisture by themselves. |
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