[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: Compost issues

Mon Nov 19 13:41:29 EST 2007

I tried a layer of boric acid (well it does get rid of roaches) in the composter and the fruit flies seemed to like it. Don't have any castor beans handy but plenty of cedar, I might try that too.  

But a strict regiment of:  bananas go in the fridge, Kitchen Compost gets a lid, and Compost Toilet has a new foam gasket around the seat has really knocked the little buggers back. I'll try reducing the urine additions for a while until I change out the barrel, that might help too.  I'd rather use mechanical management than organic insecticides anyway.  I'll keep these suggestions handy for the next infestation.  

Lawrence Lile, PE, LEED AP
Project Solutions Engineering

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of YankeePerm at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:53 PM
To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] Compost issues
Importance: Low

Aha~   I warned about this problem about a year ago and was told I didn't 
know how to run a composting toilet--dump in lots of sawdust.   Somebody on this 
list apparently though I'm an idiot.

OK, these measures work, but not 100 percent:   I have put small branches and 
needles of red cedar (J. virginiana) through my chipper shredder and added a 
handful to the litter in a compost toilet.   I've also mixed this with castor 
bean (very toxic) and China berry (an insecticidal tree but not for your 
climate) and this has cut way back on the fruit flies.   The fruit flies are 
attracted to urine, so if you pee outdoors or in a jug for separate use as much as 
practical, this reduces the attraction.   This summer I grew some papalo (seed 
from Johnny's Selected Seeds) as a warm-weather cilantro substitute and it 
helped suppress fruit flies in all forms of compostables.   Fruit flies actually 
evolve over short spans, adapting to conditions, so alternating toxic 
additions will likely have more effect than relying on any one additive.   

A solution I've not tried, because I'm cheap, is diatomaceous earth, which 
will kill the maggots but probably needs a bit added with each deposit of 
compostables.   You can buy an insecticidal grade which is more effective, but I 
have seen 100 percent control with the 'less effective' type in the control of 
carrot maggot and onion maggot, with controls treated with the recommended 
synthetic pesticide in alternating beds.   The controls got infested--the beds 
treated with swimming pool grade diatomaceous earth did not. (And some trace 
minerals were doubtless added to the soil.) Swimming pool grade is both cheaper and 
more readily available than insecticidal grade.   The material is not toxic 
per se (but don't breathe it in, or it will slash your lungs!) but acts like 
millions of microscopic knives to slash open the bodies of the maggots as they 
move through it.   So if insecticidal plants are not sufficient, or if   you 
just can't provide any during the long northern winter, diatomaceous earth is 
surely worth a try.   It is harmless to earthworms.

Dan Hemenway
In a message dated 11/11/07 10:48:38 PM, LLile at projsolco.com writes:

> I've usually tolerated a few fruit flies around my kitchen compost.  I used 
> to use an open top stainless steel pan (hey, it was free) which I liked 
> because it was very cleanable.  But fruit flies liked it too.  I found that a 3LB 
> plastic coffee can with a tight lid controls them pretty well, I have no 
> more kitchen compost fruit flies after I started to use the tight-lid 
> container.  It doesn't clean up as well as the stainless steel, but I can get all I 
> want from work for free. 
> 
> Yeah, the kitchen fruit flies are gone, but they've moved into the compost 
> toilet!  Yeech. 
> 
> Fruit flies, unlike the regular black houselfy kind which I don't have, 
> don't seem to be bothered by having sawdust dumped on thier heads every day.  
> They also seem to ignore the fly strip I hung in there.  There is also some kind 
> of real teeny mite or soemthing that has taken up residence. 
> 
> I am SOOO glad that I did not build a permanent, huge composter out of 
> concrete or buy some expensive Clivus Mulchomaniac.  Because with the drum 
> composter you can always excercise the nuclear option - clamp a lid on the drum and 
> take it outside to compost.  Take that, fruit flies!  Howabout 12 months of 
> complete darkness inside a hot compost drum?  Any that do survive won't bother 
> me again, they are outside. 
> 
> I didn't have enough time to clamp on the lid and take it out that today, 
> but I did try a little murphy's oil soap on the whole menagerie.  The area 
> around the seat needed cleaning anyway, like any toilet does.  I figured that 
> soaps can get rid of bugs int he garden, why not around the composter?  I am not 
> sure the soap did any good, but it did make me feel better. 
> 
> I also (finally) invested in a roll of adhesive gasket material for the 
> lid.  I should be able to seal the little devils out - unfortunately they are 
> already in there, so this is like shutting the barn after the horse escapes. 
> 
> This would be one advantage of the 5 gallon composter models - no time for 
> an ecology to grow up around your system.  And it would be an extreme problem 
> with those giant composters that get cleaned out once a year - if you have a 
> problem you have a BIG problem, with a FOUNDATION under it.   Since the 35 
> gallon drum composter is portable, I could switch systems in a weekend if this 
> continues to be an issue.    I am also glad I am not using 50 gallon drums - 
> it takes a lot longer for them to fill, leaving the chance of getting a fly 
> issue that much greater. 
> 
> drum composter page:  http://members.socket.net/~llile/ConcreteStain
> /Compost_Toilet_50_gallon_drum.html
> 
> --Lawrence
> 

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