Compost Bin Issues

Compost bins make compost – green cones are a food waste digesting system to dispose of non- compostable kitchen waste.

There are several possible reasons for this. Firstly the moisture level may not be right. The bin needs to be moist but not too wet or dry. If the contents appear dry add some water or leave the lid off when it is raining. It may be that you also need to be adding more ‘greens’ to the bin as these have far more moisture than ‘brown’ materials. If the contents look/feel very wet you will need to mix in more ‘brown’ material, paper, cardboard, straw etc. Move the position of the bin into a more sunny position which will heat up the contents and help it work faster.

Some people worry that having a compost bin could attract rats. However, this is not the case. There are many reasons why rats may be already in the vicinity of your garden. For example if you live near water, farm land/open countryside or derelict buildings, you are likely to have rats living around the local area. They may be attracted into your garden like other animals to look for a dry place to shelter for example under a shed or decking or to find food. One common source of food is if you over-feed wild birds (leaving excess food exposed). A rat is only likely to seek out a compost bin in the garden if incorrect waste items have been composted, making the bin a source of food as well as a shelter. For this reason you should not compost cooked foods, dairy products, meat, fish or bones.

If you are still concerned about rats, there are various ways in which you can discourage them from wanting to visit your compost bin.
• Be an active composter. Rats are shy creatures and don’t like disturbance, noise or changes in the physical environment in the garden. Regularly adding a good mix of materials to your compost bin and perhaps even aerating the material now and then will ensure that the composting process works effectively and the frequent disturbance inside and around the bin will act as an effective deterrent against rats.
• Ensure that you don’t add any cooked or processed food waste, meat, fish or dairy products.
• Rats prefer a dry environment to shelter in. Adding a balance of ‘greens and browns’ should ensure that the compost does not provide a dry habitat – the contents of an ideal compost bin should be about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. If your bin does get too dry add some water. It will help the composting and deter visitors.
• Use a compost bin with a lid rather than a loose heap for making compost making it harder for rats to gain access in the first place.
• Site the bin away from walls and fences and anywhere that can be a sheltered ‘runway’. Rats don’t like to cross open spaces and won’t want to be regularly exposed to get to a bin. Similarly, don’t tuck your compost bin away in a part of the garden you rarely visit. Put it somewhere that you regularly walk past the bin, not only will it discourage rats but it will remind you and encourage you to be an active composter.
• Plastic bases for compost bins are available commercially and are a further deterrent, but it is more effective to wrap wire mesh around the bottom and underneath the compost bin to prevent rats getting in (but still allowing worms to enter the compost bin and providing drainage). Chicken wire double or triple folded is adequate but plaster mesh (expanded metal) is the better solution. It’s thicker than chicken wire so harder to chew through and can be obtained from any builders merchants.
• If you follow the advice above you should be able to deter rats from ever entering a compost bin. However, if you still have concerns you should contact your local authority to find out what assistance they can provide under their environmental health policy.
• Also remember, that it is always a good idea to wear gloves when handling compost and soil.
This information is consistent with advice provided by Garden Organic, the National Charity for Organic Growing. The Garden Organic advisory team have not seen any noticeable increase in the number of queries they receive relating to problems with rats when home composting, despite the sharp increase in home composting in the UK in recent years.

Time for some intervention ... empty out the contents of the bin and mix in plenty of carbon rich material (scrunched paper / card, chopped prunings etc). The emptying and re-filling of the bin with a better mix will allow air to circulate and dry out the compost. Also ensure the compost bin is in a free draining position, this will allow excess water to escape.

Don’t! Woodlice are essential in breaking down the wooded and carbon rich material within the compost bin. To save strawberries from attack by the woodlice sift the compost before mulching around the strawberry plants, this should remove or at least make visible any woodlice left in the rotted material.

Ants are one of many creatures that can colonize a compost bin. As with most of these creatures ants are harmless and are in fact beneficial for the heap. This is because they make tunnels which help to add air to the compost. They also add potassium and phosphorous to the mixture. If you do wish to remove the ants from the bin, disturb them as much as you can by turning the compost. Adding copious quantities of water will also encourage them to leave (the presence of ants could be an indicator that the heap is too dry). Adding onions should also discourage the ants away from the bin.

These are fruit flies. They arrive following parent fruit flies laying eggs on the compostable material when in the green grocers, whilst in your kitchen or when the matter is waiting to be put in the bin. To prevent this be sure to keep the compostable matter waiting to be put into the bin covered so that parent flies cannot lay eggs upon it, either use a newspaper shroud or a covered bin as a storage container. To eradicate, always ensure that fresh matter added to the bin is placed under existing composting matter, or add a layer of soil or other “brown” material over the top. This will prevent the fruit fly larvae from hatching. You can also leave open the compost bin lid to allow fruit fly predators to enter. Don’t use fly spray.

It is very unlikely that bees will be attracted to nest in your compost bin. If they do, it is likely that these are bumblebees, which are endangered species and it is illegal to kill them. If possible, continue filling the bin until October/November at which time it will be easy to remove the nest without being stung.

It may help if you place a few woody plant stems or small twigs on the bottom first, especially if using a plastic bin, as this will improve the air circulation and drainage. In addition you may want to start a new bin/heap off by adding a layer/sprinkling of compost from a previous heap (full of beneficial micro-organisms & insects).

It is preferable to site a bin on soil or grass to enable the microbes, insects and worms to gain access to it and its contents. If this is not possible or practical, be sure to add a spade or two of soil to a new bin if it is to be sited on concrete.