I got 25 pounds of Dr. Earth Fish Bone Meal for $15 from my local hydroponics store because it was stinking up their warehouse. I knew it was a good deal, and figured there'd be no harm in adding it to my compost/dirt pile...I was wrong. When it was dry it wasn't too bad but it rained today and not even 5 minutes afterwards my entire yard smelled like dead fish. To add to the dead fish experience a few hundred huge (almost dime sized bodied) flies started swarming my compost heap. I threw some seaweed on the pile, and the smell went away for the most part, but the flies are still swarming around it. What can I do?
Make yourself a lactobacilli culture. It'll take almost two weeks, but WILL get rid of any foul odors once applied. When the foul odors are gone, so will be the flies. This stuff WORKS. http://gilcarandang.com/recipes/lactobacillus-serum/
could I just put some yogurt and blackstrap molasses into a bucket and bubble it for the same result?
Man I grantee you there is plenty of bacteria in there and time is the only thing that will make it go away at this point. The bacteria and all the other micro/macro best have to process all that fresh material you put in there. Give it a good mix....hose it down with some molasses water and LITFA. It will get all hot/steamy/stinky and then one day in a 2-3 weeks it will calm down and you will be left with some seriously P hot soil.
Mmmmm.... Rotten fish.... It ain't that bad mang - cone smell my 55 gallon 2 week old neem cake tea in the hot summer sun... Lol J
the smell doesn't bother me it's the flies I decided to get some neem oil + castille soap and dump it on the piles, I'll see if it worked tomorrow
some people TRY to breed blackflies.... their larvae are composting machines much like worms.... I'd let em be.... add more to your pile to even the mix.... and turn it all in together.... try to forget the flies.. they're beneficial even if they are irritating.
my compost heap isn't that far from my house so I'd rather not let flies fly around all willy nilly, also neem attracts worms which I like way more than flies so hopefully the neem works
...never forget this smell, it's ideal for camouflaging the smell of budding canna ....lol, you could mix in some brown stuff
Well..... my wife finally made me take my worm bin out of the kitchen......so I can see your point on close quarters.....
The only problem I see with this is that you're adding even more nitrogen. I like the idea of adding more carbon/brown materials to get this heap composting properly - old leaves or hay would be perfect. Might be time to move the compost heap.
IIRC, neem meal = good for worms neem oil + soap = not so good for worms Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
it smells worse than yesterday, but with all the dry seaweed on top it's not overpowering. There's around a hundred flies today, so I'll say the neem oil was a success.
If you have the time, check out this .pdf from Gil Carandang; more especially the part about culturing lacto bacillus via rice wash, milk and a source of food for the micro organisms. (molasses works great) He has plenty of other information in there though the LB culture is by far the most useful remedy for everyday problems with offensive smells. View attachment Beneficial Indigenous Microorganisms and Bionutrients in Natural Farming.pdf
I'm seriously considering just taking all of the dirt it was mixed into and throwing it into the lake behind my house, but I'm not sure if that would just multiply the flies/the smell