My neighbor's composting tip actually worked and I'm shocked

My neighbor Linda from down the street kept telling me to stop putting citrus peels in my compost bin because they kill the worms. I thought she was being dramatic since I've been tossing orange rinds in there for years. After my pile turned into a slimy mess that attracted fruit flies last summer, I finally tried her way. I set aside citrus scraps for six weeks straight and my compost broke down way faster with zero smell. Has anyone else had better luck after cutting out certain kitchen scraps?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_chen13d ago

Ugh man I feel this so hard. I spent a whole summer fighting off those tiny flies and my pile was just this gross wet lump that smelled like rotting fruit salad. Turns out avocado pits and onion skins were my biggest problems. Once I cut those out everything started breaking down way faster and actually smelled like dirt instead of garbage.

the_rowan13d ago

Oh man the rotting fruit salad smell is the worst isn't it. Once I started burying my kitchen scraps under a layer of browns the flies disappeared completely.

davis.emma13d ago

Wait, are you seriously saying avocado pits are the problem? I've been tossing mine in for years and my pile's fine, maybe your pile was just too wet to begin with? Onion skins are mostly papery fiber, they should break down eventually unless you're piling them on way too thick without any carbon to balance it out. Honestly sounds like your pile needed more browns from the start, not less kitchen scraps.