Plain answers for a compost pile that smells, stays wet, stays dry, or has stalled. Pick the symptom, get the fix.
Ammonia means too much nitrogen. Rotten eggs, sour, vinegar or poop mean too wet and airless. Rotting garbage means the wrong scraps. Match your smell to its fix.
A slimy, dripping compost pile can be saved: it needs more browns, more air, and a cover. How to dry it out, step by step.
A dry, stalled compost pile needs rewetting in layers as you turn, some shade, and enough bulk. Here's how to restart it.
Meat, dairy, cooked food, pet waste, and diseased plants cause most compost pests and smells. What to leave out of a home compost pile, and why.
Compost slows in winter but doesn't die. Keep adding scraps, turn less, insulate the outside, and expect a fast restart in spring.
Which materials count as compost browns, which count as greens, and the rough two-or-three-to-one ratio to aim for between them.
Rats, mice, fruit flies, ants and wasps in a compost pile each point to a different problem. What attracts each one, and what to do.
Maggots in a compost bin are normal. They point to exposed scraps or a wet top: bury scraps under browns, dry it out, keep meat out.
Pill bugs, sow bugs, slugs, springtails and gnats in a compost bin are normal. Lots of them usually means a wet top: bury scraps, add browns.
Compost tumbler in balls or not breaking down? It's usually too wet or topped up too often. Add dry browns, break up clumps, then give it time.
Compost bin not breaking down? What's inside tells you why: too dry, too wet, too chunky or short of greens. Match it and make one or two changes.
Compost bin not heating up? Small home bins often stay cold and still make compost. For heat, make it bigger, then fix the moisture, greens or air.
Closed plastic cone ("dalek") compost bin not working? It's usually too dry, too wet or just slow. Find out which, make one change and lift the bin off to get the compost out.
Ready compost is dark, crumbly and earthy, with almost nothing recognizable left. A bin needs months: take it from the bottom, put the rest back.
Mold in a compost bin is usually fungi doing their job. Leave white threads, check dry spots, bury moldy scraps and don't eat mushrooms.
In the right conditions, compost can catch fire. A working pile can steam; smoke means call 911. How hot a pile should get, and how to cool it.