| TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS- |
| Symptom
|
Cause |
Cure |
| Full
bin doesn't heat up |
Materials
too wet |
Get
a handful of material from inside the pile and squeeze it-if
water drips out of it, the pile is too wet. Turn the pile into
another bin, adding thin layers of dry straw or shredded newspaper. |
| Full
bin doesn't heat up |
Materials
too dry |
Get
a handful of material from inside the pile and squeeze it-if
it feels crisp, the pile is too dry. Water the pile slowly so
the water soaks into the whole thing. |
| Full
bin doesn't heat up |
Lots
more brown stuff than green stuff |
If
the material is nicely moist, but it doesn't heat up after a
few days, you may have used too little moist, green stuff. Turn
and rebuild the pile, adding thin layers of grass clippings
or alfalfa. |
| Full
bin doesn't heat up |
Cold
weather |
Composting
slows down when the mercury drops near or below freezing. Have
patience-give the pile a turn in the spring and it should heat
right up. |
| Bad
smell |
Materials
too wet |
Get
a handful of material from inside the pile and squeeze it-if
water drips out of it, the pile is too wet. Turn the pile into
another bin adding thin layers of dry straw or shredded newspaper. |
| Bad
smell |
Lots
more green stuff than brown stuff |
Turn
the pile into another bin, adding thin layers of dry straw or
shredded newspaper. |
| Flies |
Poor
management of kitchen waste or fresh manure |
Turn
the pile to cover infested materials. In the future be sure
to cover fresh materials with a layer of soil or compost and
bury them in the center of the pile. In the future, be sure
to cover food scraps with a layer of soil or compost and bury
them in the center of the pile. |
| Animals |
Poor
management of food scraps, or pile too dry-inviting nesting |
Keep
your pile watered so that loose, dry material will not attract
animals looking for a nesting spot. Line and cover your bin
with hardware cloth to keep out pests in urban areas. |
