If you have ever wondered what the big grubs are in your compost…they’re maggots. But more specifically, they’re the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly, and they’re actually not THAT bad for your compost…unless you have a lot of them.
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So we should remove them or not?
If I put cow manure does flies lay their egg
There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they accelerate the breakdown of the raw compostables. Just another part of the cycle. I saw a comment about using them for fish bait – great suggestion. I do it too and catch limit after limit of bluegill.
Yup, maggots helps decomposition … If you have any chickens, large fishes or small lizards, they will be a great food source for them.
Are the maggots an alternate to earthworms? I don't have earthworms because I do roof gardening.
Are they black solidier fly larvae or the scarab beetle larvae?
Hey I have a lemon tree in a pot and I put some fish composite there is to many in the after 4 days. moggets are they can harm my lemon tree
Are millipedes good in the compost?
You totally want black soldier flies. They are not vectors for disease. They are safe. They will eat feces and are the best way to get rid of feces. Google it.
I’m an urban gardener/ novice composter in the PNW. I nearly let out a blood curdling scream when I found larvae all over my bin (which is very similar to yours) but I’ve learned from you and another gardener on here that all is not lost.
My only concern is that my maggots are from tiny white flies, not “regular” black flies, and I’m not 100% sure if that makes a difference.
Chicken food!!
They will increase the population of flies in your area. Not a good idea.
Would charcoal ash do anything against the maggots
I have a similar barrel. https://amzn.to/3bmcwFD It does not get over 90 degrees and that is only due to being in the sun all day. I also have maggots in there. I have read that more green to get temp up. I tried that and now have the maggots. How do I fix this?
Mine smells and full of maggots. Sometimes the black one likes to get in the house which is disgusting.. any advice?
I don't understand why everyone is so upset/worried about the maggots in their compost lol. They don't stick around forever and they are literally doing u a service.
Why more then a few is bad ?
I have this exact same tumbler and when I went out today to check it everything, and I mean everything was covered in the maggots. The compost, the walls, and I remember seeing half an eggshell was completely full of maggots. I immediately decided to shut the lid and rotated the bin.
I'm trying to put enough brown in but it's hard to find enough compared to my my green waist. My compost smells like poop and has a lot of maggots in it. Should I be worried or will it be OK? Is it ok if I just mix this mushy moist mess into my raised garden soil?
Sorry to contradict, but if you have maggots in your compost, you are creating a potential serious health risk. Compost needs forty parts carbon to one part nitrogen. Too much nitrogen is wasteful of nitrogen (which is a very expensive resource), and leads to anaerobic conditions. If you have smelly sludge with maggots It is no longer composting properly, it has become a digestor, and these need to be very strictly managed unless you like flies, their associated bacteria, and stink. A properly managed aerobic compost is sanitary, and very low, or preferably, no odours are permitted, and the compost will have worms or beetle larvae excellent for bait.
A free standing binless compost works perfectly if constructed properly and it can easily be protected by shade cloth from scavengers. Bins are completely unnecessary.
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LOL, I thought those maggots were normal in my compost. It rained yesterday so a lot of them decided to exit my compost bin. I was wondering what was going on and just found out people have compost bins without them? Woooow. I'm gonna leave them because I keep throwing food in there and they just eat it all really fast
Hai sir , in my compost so many maggots how to solve that problem plz share some tips
My compost is full of cream-colored maggots, not the BSF ones.
Awesome!
The information in this video {and comment section} is wildly inaccurate. Failure.