Maggots

suetoo, Feb 16, 4:28pm
help, I suddenly have maggots in my compost.Only fruit ,veg & garden matter goes into it.
Why suddenly like this !
sharronk1, Feb 16, 4:46pm
some fruit/vege will attract flys and hence maggots. Try and identify the type of fly or maggot
i'd love some nice clean maggots for my frogs
spiritofgonzo, Feb 16, 5:06pm
do you put in cooked veges!You should only put in raw material.
lythande1, Feb 16, 5:19pm
You should put in whatever you like. Cooked, uncooked, whatever.Maggots.there is actually a whole bunch of both insects and bacteria in the compost, it's how it works. It's not playdough, just leave it alone to do it's thing and stop worrying about it/
spiritofgonzo, Feb 16, 6:01pm
let me rephrase . you should only use raw materials, if you don't want maggots and rats.Whilst I agree with you if you have the room, for those of us on small properties who value our neighbours, we need to be a bit more careful.
spiritofgonzo, Feb 16, 6:10pm
Also, one of the reasons for not putting in cooked veges, is to keep any oils out of the compost.
draven111, Feb 17, 4:14pm
just opened mine and it has some sort of larvae in there, I don't think maggots though cos they are not white. So I've chucked heaps of ripped up newspaper and dirt in with some dried leaves.
I've only had it about a month and I'm so over it now! I only got it so I didn't have to have leaky rubbish bags, but I'm beginning to think why do I care.
Problem now is, how do I get rid of the crap inside the bin so I can get rid of the blimmin compost bin altogether! 50 black bags before putting it in a council bag to be picked up come rubbish day!
spiritofgonzo, Feb 17, 5:02pm
add lime.What's more, every time you add vege scraps, add a good handful of lime too
venna2, Feb 17, 5:16pm
I enjoy 'The Supersizers' on Prime TV on Thursday evenings. In the period of history covered by last week's episode (17th century Britain, I think, I'm not sure), maggots were apparently a delicacy! Cheese mites too. Yuk. I agree that we shouldn't put cooked food, or meat/fish of any description into the compost. Maggots are one thing but I certainly don't want to attract rats.
astroflight1, Feb 17, 6:13pm
Neighbours with gardens.
draven111, Feb 17, 7:00pm
I have a huge garden myself, just don't want to touch it now!
liggy2, Feb 17, 7:23pm
Probably not blowfly maggots they are likely to be mudfly or sand fly maggots and are good for your compost as they breakdown organic material. They will mature and disappear.
canz, Feb 17, 8:37pm
Could also be baby worms, but most people know what a maggit looks like, baby worms are like short bits of white cotton, until the change colour
lythande1, Feb 18, 5:32am
I have a small property. Sure it might be a bit fragrant but only if you are right up over the heap.
Maggots eat decaying flesh anyway, not cooked veges. Could be larva of some other bug, like I said, there's loads in the heap.place it in a corner or away from yourself (and neighbours if they are bothered) and leave it to rot down, you don't have to touch it you know,.
mottly, Feb 18, 4:30pm
all these bugs are just doing their job.composting.maggots too.what a lovely compost you will end up with :)
suetoo, Mar 27, 9:59am
great, thanks folks for all the advice & yes only raw stuff,leaves,grass,paper goes in.