Eco Lesbo Vego

Composting Revisited

February 27, 2010 at 8:44 pm 2 comments

Well, I haven’t done anything with the compost yet, but I am planning on investigating it tomorrow. I asked around on one of the Livejournal communities I lurk on and found out:

• The grubs are black soldier fly larvae, which apparently are very good for compost (some people use them purposefully for composting)
• The spiders look like brown house spiders/cupboard spiders – related to redbacks but non-poisonous (except this site says they can be venomous!)
• My compost may be too dry, too wet, not hot enough or not including enough brown matter, which would have created prime conditions for the larvae
• The spiders are likely there to eat the larvae (which I’m not convinced of – those grubs are bigger than the spiders, quite a lot bigger).

I have options as to what I can do:

• Turn out the compost onto the ground somewhere and let the birds make short work of the grubs and spiders
• Leave the lid on and start a new compost pile outside – in about a year the compost in the bin should be fantastic and the bugs will be gone
• Pour boiling water in the bin and kill all the critters, then continue with the composting
• Leave the critters in there cos they’re super awesome for composting
• Turn the compost thoroughly and try to get the balance better for composting without so many grubs (potentially burying food scraps in the middle of the bin to increase the heat as they decompose, which will keep the bug population in balance better)
• Cover the compost in 2 to 4 inches of brown matter to discourage the bugs, which will, hopefully, discourage the spiders in turn.

I’m not sure which one I’m going to do yet. Suggestions? I like the idea of the birds going to town, but I am not keen to scoop everything out of there and spread it around on my lawn. The bin is under the house, so I can’t just leave the lid off and let the birds come to it – they can’t get to the bin. My gut is boiling water cos those grubs and spiders really kinda creep me out, but if they’re actually good for the compost, then maybe that’s not a good idea either! Maybe trying to work with the balance of the compost to at least keep the population down is the best idea…

I’m also a little scared of opening the bin and having a swarm of black soldier flies come out, even if they don’t bite or anything. I still don’t want them all in my face.

I’ve got to decide something soon; I have food scraps piling up…

P.S. Thanks to everyone who helped me over on Livejournal!

Entry filed under: Meanwhile.... Tags: composting, insects, spiders.