Oh dear! You are aghast that your compost smells horrid?
It should NOT! Something is definitely wrong!A properly balanced compost pile should not smell bad. Compost should smell like dirt and if it does not, there is something wrong. Stinky smells are a good indicator that your compost pile is too wet and has gone anaerobic. A number of factors can cause this condition: lack of aeration, too much water, or an imbalance of carbon to nitrogen. Without air, the material becomes stagnant and rancid.
What to do?
One of the most effective method, is to spray your compost with Hijou Lactobacillus Serum with each layering, as the much needed microbes helps to accelerate the composting process and reduce the smell significantly.Here's some of reasons why and what to watch out on the condition of your compost pile:
Too much green material – If you have too much green material in your compost pile, it will smell like sewage or ammonia. This indicates that your compost mixture of browns and greens is off balance. Adding brown materials like leaves, newspaper and straw will help bring your compost pile back into balance.
Compost pile is too compact – Compost piles need oxygen (aeration) to decompose the organic material properly. If your compost pile gets compacted, the compost will start to smell. Compost that has too little aeration will smell putrid or like rotting eggs. Turn the compost pile to help get air into the compost and stop the bad smell. You may also want to add some “fluffy” materials like dry leaves or dry grass to help keep the pile from over-compacting again.
Too wet – Often in the spring, a gardener will notice that their compost stinks. This is because due to all the rain, the compost pile is too wet. A compost pile that gets too wet will not have enough aeration and the effect is the same as if the compost pile was compacted. Compost that is too wet will smell putrid or like rotting eggs and will look slimy, especially green material. To fix this cause of a smelly compost pile, turn the compost and add some dry brown materials to absorb some of the moisture.
Layering – Sometimes a compost pile has the right balance of green and brown material, but these materials have been put into the compost pile in layers. If the green material is isolated from the brown material, it will start to decompose incorrectly and will start to give off a bad smell. If this occurs, the compost pile will smell like sewage or ammonia. Fixing this is only a matter of mixing the pile a bit better.
Too much green material – If you have too much green material in your compost pile, it will smell like sewage or ammonia. This indicates that your compost mixture of browns and greens is off balance. Adding brown materials like leaves, newspaper and straw will help bring your compost pile back into balance.
Compost pile is too compact – Compost piles need oxygen (aeration) to decompose the organic material properly. If your compost pile gets compacted, the compost will start to smell. Compost that has too little aeration will smell putrid or like rotting eggs. Turn the compost pile to help get air into the compost and stop the bad smell. You may also want to add some “fluffy” materials like dry leaves or dry grass to help keep the pile from over-compacting again.
Too wet – Often in the spring, a gardener will notice that their compost stinks. This is because due to all the rain, the compost pile is too wet. A compost pile that gets too wet will not have enough aeration and the effect is the same as if the compost pile was compacted. Compost that is too wet will smell putrid or like rotting eggs and will look slimy, especially green material. To fix this cause of a smelly compost pile, turn the compost and add some dry brown materials to absorb some of the moisture.
Layering – Sometimes a compost pile has the right balance of green and brown material, but these materials have been put into the compost pile in layers. If the green material is isolated from the brown material, it will start to decompose incorrectly and will start to give off a bad smell. If this occurs, the compost pile will smell like sewage or ammonia. Fixing this is only a matter of mixing the pile a bit better.
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