Henergy Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I've just done a bit of beg patch clearing & dug up some gone to seed rocket. Opened up the compost bin to drop it in and the whole top is covered in tall mushroom like fungi !!!!!! HELP !!!!!! I have a bit of a strange phobia of fungi and hate it when it grows under my trees etc. What can I / should I do ? And is it normal ?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Its completely normal - I just leave mine alone and it disappears of its own accord (and it doesn't reappear in the garden later ). If you can't bear it then maybe shut your eyes when opening the compost bin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 It's damp, it's dark and it's warm - fungi will love it. I'd just turn it over with a fork, or get someone else to do it if you can't bear to, and carry on putting more stuff on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henergy Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 If its normal than thats ok - I will get DH to give it a stir !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Sorry to hijack this thread but I've got white crawling maggotty things in my compost bin . Are those normal too ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 er....not in my bin If I saw maggots in there I'd be horrified. Maggots are normally attracted to meat based waste - could any bones/cat food be in there? Or, just as vile looking but a lot less yuckily revolting, would be ant eggs. The little blighters are often to be found in my bin, and the ants move them about if I happen to disturb them so they could look like maggots. They turn into winged ants in my bin and probably are pretty harmless. However, I have to admit to pouring boiling water on them - I don't want to somehow end up with ants in my compost on my veggies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I know, it's disgusting . There's absolutely nothing except grass/fruit/veg/chicken poo in there so I don't know what they're doing there . Should I scoop them out? Or would boiling water work in a compost bin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I have maggots in the compost bin too, along with the ants and their eggs. I do not put any food in it. It's just chicken/rabbit droppings and garden stuff. I assumed that flies laid their eggs in the droppings and that was where the maggots came from. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I found maggots in my sack of chicken poo last week (the chickens' poop a scoopings and old bedding go into a compost sack for transportation to my dad's allotment). As well as cleaning out the coop daily, I also s"Ooops, word censored!"e as much poo as possible off the ground in their pen, which is where I guess the maggots have come from. I must admit to having a vigorous spray in the sack with fly killer spray as they were grossing me out, plus I didn't really want to open the sack one day and find a whole load of flies suddenly swarm out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 OMG - I never thought of maggots in poo I've never had any yet, perhaps I've been lucky. I do pour boiling water into a plastic compost bin so if I were you I'd try that. I'm not sure if I dare go near the 8 bins now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 If you can't bear it then maybe shut your eyes when opening the compost bin? I opened the compost bin once to find a rat sitting up blinking at me. I always give it a sharp rap before lifting the lid now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
