Composting recycles garden and kitchen scraps into rich , gratuitous food for your garden . Compost bins keep nutrient - rich material out of landfills and keep your garden healthier even on a budget — but they can also become pest attractors . Because pests like bugs and roach are drawn to the food matter in your compost , you may have to attempt a few scheme to keep them under control — or at least , out of your house .
Do Bugs Belong In Compost?
Keep in mind that many bugs and cockroach are natural decomposers that are helping your compost pile do its line of work of decomposing industrial plant and intellectual nourishment remains . Still , that ’s small comfort if you ’re worried about having cockroaches migrate from your compost mickle to your kitchen . The key is to encourage a reasonable universe of louse in your compost while controlling populations to avoid an out - of - ascendency infestation .
Know Your Ratios
Compost rafts should have a carbon - to - N weightiness proportion approaching 30:1 . This ratio further participating , tidy rot while minimizing the hazard that bug will take up residence in your pile . atomic number 6 - rich material are " browns " — dried plant materials like maize stalks , straw or dried leaves . Nitrogen - full-bodied material are " greens " — kitchen flake , sess clippings , fresh prunings , or seaweed , for representative . Layer carbon and nitrogen materials with carbon - rich " Brown " on top as you build the sight , but mix materials equally as you turn it over prison term . This practice aids sizable decomposition and minimizes pest - attract odors .
Maintain Your Compost
piddle and sprain your raft regularly — once a hebdomad under normal experimental condition , and twice a hebdomad or more if a germ infestation has already prepare in . This activity breaks down hemipteran colonies , keeps the temperature up so the nap " cooks " quickly without free olfactory property and encourages even decomposition . If the plague is advanced enough that ants or bug swarm your shovel or pitchfork as you wrench , a sticky barrier on the hold made of mag tape or flypaper will discourage them and make your job more pleasant .
Use “Green,” Nontoxic Control Methods
Organic pest ascendency methods let in silica and diatomaceous earth ( DE ) can work in your compost pile as well as your garden or your house . Both DE and silica work by damaging the waxy coating of a circle ’s body or generate into the joints , causing it to shrivel . you may blend these naturally occurring pulverization into your compost and , if you have concerns about the plague spreading to your keep area , sprinkle them around the exterior of the house to discourage pests from detect their way indoors .
Consider Alternatives
If you have a long - standing bug problem in your compost , consider alternative composting methods like making or buy a plague - resistant bin . Any bank identification number with a palpebra and small air holes will keep out most gadfly while still allow the chemical substance summons that make composting happen . You might also regard composting kitchen scraps indoors in a worm bin , building or corrupt a barrel composter or eat up intellectual nourishment scrap in your garden where they can molder easy underground .
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