Wednesday, February 11, 2009

There are maggots in my compost!

I don't know what to do.

I've been turning the compost, putting dirt in and covering it. Today I opened the lid and was greeted by maggots.



Here is the entire pile, it's in a plastic bin and I wonder if that's the cause.



A closeup of the grodiness, blech.

Thoughts? Solutions? Help!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm definitely no expert but i think you might need to add some air holes to your bin... if you have a drill or something you an use to puncture a bunch of small (i'd say no bigger than the diameter of a bic pen) holes all over your plastic bin to help keep it aerated.

our 'pile' is chicken wire wrapped around 4 steel re-bar type posts- i've never noticed unwanted insects in ours.

Drawing from another EM'er, if i remember, you could utilize a large round plastic garbage can with a locking lid, drill holes all around it and roll it on its' side to mix it up instead of turning it by hand. Good luck!!

Jen said...

Our compost pile (of the past) was also a chicken-wire enclosure. We didn't have any problems to speak of. We have yet to establish one at our new place (we've been here 9 months, though, so I suppose it's time!)