Composting Question

[BISCUT]

I am experiencing a large number of fruit flies since I purchased the pictured composter. The composter seems to work rather well. I was thinking on this and I can say that I do not have enough cellulose fibers or water content. I very much like the fact that since I've started to use this composter we (family of 4) only use 1 garbage bag a week now. The rest is recyclables and food scraps for composting.

Any advice on how to limit the fruit flies is appreciated. I do not have any other problematic pests in the compost, like house flies and we never put any scrap meat in there as we would have issues with animals from the woods.

Edit to add image:

 

[55hambone]

A successful compost pile will have a mix of browns (carbon) like fallen leaves, dead or brown yard debris, shredded paper and greens (nitrogen) like fresh grass clippings, vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, etc. The flies are after the greens. Place several inches of shredded leaves (browns) on top to keep the flies from getting to the greens. Just move the leaves to one side to add to your compost bin and then push them back to cover things up. You can also cut an old piece of carpet and use it to cover the top of the bin's contents. But it must be completely covered to keep the flies out, otherwise it won't work.

 

[SuperSalad]

Yes, covering the straight food scraps is vital to keep all critters including flying insects away. You want that stuff at least 2 inches deep where the underground bugs and such like to munch on it in the damp and dark.

Also, lots of browns. They say 1:1 of brown to green, but I like to keep my browns higher than that for most of the time.

 

[BISCUT]

A successful compost pile will have a mix of browns (carbon) like fallen leaves, dead or brown yard debris, shredded paper and greens (nitrogen) like fresh grass clippings, vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, etc. The flies are after the greens. Place several inches of shredded leaves (browns) on top to keep the flies from getting to the greens. Just move the leaves to one side to add to your compost bin and then push them back to cover things up. You can also cut an old piece of carpet and use it to cover the top of the bin's contents. But it must be completely covered to keep the flies out, otherwise it won't work.

Would shredded paper be an adequate substitute for leaves?

 

[SuperSalad]

Would shredded paper be an adequate substitute for leaves?

Yes, shredded paper is a good brown for compost.

 

[BISCUT]

Yes, shredded paper is a good brown for compost.

I'll start shredding all the important doc's Thanks for the help.

 

[BISCUT]

Wanted to add a follow up. Since adding newspaper and shredded paper from my office room; no more issues with fruit flies and the compost is rolling right along in the heat we've had for the last month or so.

 

[SuperSalad]

I was starting to get a real issue with excessive moisture/bug myself about a month ago. I added a couple big scoops of leaves, and shredded a few cardboard boxes and paper bags into my pile and we're all happy in my hood now.