Flies in my compost pile

kkalasa 5/26/2010, 5:58 pm

After so hearing so many people talk about composting I decided to give it a try. I just used a plastic container with holes drilled into to it. For a while I left it uncovered, now I have an ill-fitting lid. I been putting mostly kitchen veggie scraps and dried leaves in about equal parts.

My box is FULL of flies. Fruit flies I think which makes sense, but I've read that it's not supposed to have flies. So what am I doing wrong? I hate to abandon the project but the flies are really gross.

**camprn** 5/26/2010, 6:32 pm

Normal. If you turn the compost more frequently, the sooner it will compost and there will be fewer flies

Flies in my compost pile Not-tagged-smiley-10844

jenjehle 5/26/2010, 8:04 pm

We've had that happen before, depending on what we've added a lot of lately and if the ratio is a little off, which happens-no big deal! Don't beat yourself up about that.

When it seems to be really "buggy" I've noticed adding browns help a lot. Like putting some grass clippings, leaves or shredded newspaper in there.

When I started my compost last year, if I had a question I would just google my question. And turns out, many others had dealt with the same things I had.

Here's a few answers to your question about flies-

Swarms of fruit flies

Composting FAQ

Can I Compost It?

Hope this helps!

trukrebew 5/27/2010, 1:07 am

Try to always bury the kitchen scraps down a bit and then dress the whole top with a layer of browns. This will hide the yummy stuff from those flies and they should disappear.

Sponsored content

Flies in my compost pile

Flies in my compost pile

Re: Flies in my compost pile

It's common...

Flies in my compost pile

Re: Flies in my compost pile


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.