We’ve had a flurry of questions over the last couple weeks here at Gardenerd.com. Here’s one that came in with urgency:
“We have had an issue with maggots in my compost tumbler. I am not
using any meats or fats of any kind – only green food wastes. How do
I correct this? Is my compost ruined?”
Not to worry. Those maggots (most likely Black Soldier Fly larvae) are actually helping your compost break down. While it’s true that they bring out the “ick” in most people, maggots, worms, and other garbage consumers are actually powerful creatures when it comes to ridding the world of waste. Here are a couple articles that I found to ease your mind:
Always end with brown – Now, if you still don’t want these critters in your compost bin, one thing you can do to help ward them off and keep them away is to make sure you have a thick enough layer of “browns” – i.e. dried leaves, shredded newspaper, dried grasses, etc., on the top of your pile.
Turn your pile – keeping air flowing through your pile will help in every way. Turn your pile often (letting it get hot in between turnings) and that should help.
Watch the water – compost piles need to be wet, but not too wet. Too much moisture creates an anaerobic environment, which can cause that rotting smell of garbage to permeate your world. The general rule of thumb is to keep your compost pile “moist like a rung out sponge.”
Hope this helps. Keep us posted on the activity in your compost pile.
I have an upright plastic combose binn that has been in operation for about five yars. Works great, maybe a little slow, so I added red wigglers.
In th meantime, my landlord gave me used of his tumbler compose bin. I thought I would really be cooking with gas now. I set it up threw some on my stationary materials in it and let it go red wigglers and all. The worms went crazy.
Here’s my delimna I think I probably needed to add paper or leaves for aireation during the heat of Arkansas’ summer (ths year temps were relative mild) but one day noticed my worms seemed to be gone and I had what I consider an infestation of maggots. It is my belief that sometime during the summer by worms died and the maggot showed up to feed on their carcasses
I’ve been reading about maggot cmposting. Maybe they aren’t terrible after all.
I have yet to dump that bin. I mean after all who wants maggots in their soil?
I need some insight here. Help! What should I do next? It’s October
Hi Lin,
Hmmm…worms in a compost tumbler. They generally like things cool and dark, so if your compost tumbler is in the sun, they will try to leave or seek shelter. If there is no escape, they will die. Don’t get me wrong, worms in the compost bin are fine if you have enough material in there for them to hide inside to keep cool. Usually compost bins are situated on soil so they can burrow down to the bottom to retreat from the heat, but a tumbler has no “bottom” so to speak, so they have nowhere to go for refuge.
The introduction of maggots is generally not a bad thing (they break down organic matter just like worm and other creatures in soils). LOTS of people write in asking about maggots, or black soldier fly larvae, or some other gross creature that has infiltrated their compost and worm bins. It’s perfectly fine. Once the organic matter is broken down completely they will have nothing left to eat and will leave or die. Some people even breed black soldier fly larvae in their worm bin to feed to their chickens. Great protein for hens!
But I digress. You may want to add more brown material (dried leaves, shredded paper, coir, etc.) to your bin to see if things dry up a little, making the space less hospitable for your maggots. They like things moist. Worms prefer a balance. Not too wet, not too dry. They vacate if it’s too extreme in either direction. So, add more paper, put it in the shade and wait it out to see what happens. Sound good?
Wow i just saw my compost bin loaded with maggots. I hate maggots!! I freaked out and got on line. Geuss they are good for the bin i will leave them alone and let them do their thing.
Yea, don’t worry about it, Lisa. By the time your compost is broken down they’ll be gone and they’re helping it all happen faster anyway. Good luck with your compost!
Wow, when i saw maggots in my compost i was FREAKED!! but now i feel much better reading this and all the other info online. Phew! i guess i will just leave them and hope that when they get added to my garden all will be well.
You can send pictures to askgardenerd@gardenerd.com. They will most likely leave if they run out of food. It won’t affect your soil (decomposition makes compost, compost is good). Just make sure they aren’t June beetle grubs:
https://www.google.com/search?q=june+beetle+grubs&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=3cU&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_m3GT9zdJqOq2gWmuoztAQ&ved=0CFoQsAQ&biw=1467&bih=982
They eat plant roots.