WatchingThePlanet.org

Many people have somehow acquired the misconception that compost normally stinks, that it must be a smelly affair. Nothing can be further from the truth. An earthy scent is normal and inoffensive, but a well-built compost shouldn't produce unpleasant odors.

So if you have a bad smell coming from your compost bin, answer these few questions to help determine the problem and find out how to fix the problem.

1. Did you accidentally throw in leftover meat or bones with other composting material?

If you did, remove it quickly, for you will definitely get a rotten smell coming from the bin.

Meat and meat bones should never be added to your compost pile because...

a) Especially in the summer, heat causes the meat to rot quickly and within hours develop a very bad odor.

b) Cooked meat is "dead" food so adds nothing to your compost.

c) Finally it attracts animals who will tear your bin apart to get to the meat.

2. Did you accidentally throw milk or cheese products in the bin?

Again, milk and cheese will turn acrid and cause a smell in your bin, so all must be removed from the bin.

3. Is there an ammonia smell coming from the pile?

If so, your pile has too much "green" stuff such as fruit peels, tea leaves, vegetables, and peelings.

To change this condition, you must mix in brown stuff such as buckwheat hulls, dried grass clippings, paper, or peat moss (and the list goes on). In other words, the compost pile must be rebuilt.

The best way to create a "non-smelly pile" is by beginning with one layer of "greens" followed by one layer of "browns", and continuing this process of alternating each layer until you have no more ingredients to put into the pile.

4. Is there a "rotten egg" smell coming from the pile?

If so, there is too little air getting to the center of the pile. Since air provides the necessary oxygen which enables bacteria to carry out "aerobic' or non-smelly decomposition, it is very important to keep plenty of air flowing through the compost pile to help the decomposer organisms do their job.

Because air penetrates only the first few inches of the pile, it needs help to reach the center. Therefore if you suddenly get that nasty rotten egg smell around the compost, it means that anaerobic bacteria are moving in, and the pile may simply need to breathe. (Oh, the pile will decompose, but the decomposition will be accompanied by this rotten egg smell.)

There are five ways to add air to your compost pile...air which is absolutely necessary in order to develop the high temperatures needed to kill harmful bacteria and speed the process of decomposition:

A) Turn you pile inside out with a garden fork

B) If you do not want to do the work of turning the pile, try stirring it with a stick instead (much harder to achieve results

C) Use an aerator tool, a rod with flaps on one end and a handle on the other normally found at a garden center.

D) Create an air stack by building your compost pile around a perforated pipe, a bundle of long twigs, or a tube of wire mesh.

E) Build your compost pile on a raised platform of loosely spaced boards and allow air to be drawn up from the bottom. If you choose this method, be sure to sprinkle soil throughout the compost to add those essential soil bacteria.

I have had up to three compost bins in my back yard, and I have never been bothered by smell. So if you follow the above steps, you should not have any more problems with "smell."