Unfortunately, inexperienced gardeners often make a few mistakes when tending to the compost. This means that the compost is infested with flies or mice or even becomes mouldy. What should you do if there is mold in the compost?
Compost often goes moldy
Mold is natural in compost
Mold bacteria can be found in every garden soil and of course also in compost. The bacteria contribute to decomposition and are therefore an important part of the composting cycle.
If there is severe mold growth, this is an indication that the composter has been filled incorrectly. Most likely you have stacked too many wet materials.
Mold growth can be seen particularly often if you store a lot of damp lawn clippings at once. The grasses cannot rot as quickly if they are not mixed with other materials.
What to do with mold in the compost?
Basically you don't have to do anything. The mold eventually breaks down and good humus is formed.
If the sight bothers you a lot, there are several ways to make it invisible:
- Turn over compost
- implement compost
- Mix wet and dry materials well
- Mix in bark mulch or paper
- Fill in worms
- mix in old compost
- Use compost starter
Some gardeners simply scoop a few shovels of garden soil over the moldy surface.
Make compost rot faster
If you have composted a good mixture of different materials, the decomposition process will be quite rapid. There is hardly any mold to be seen. If you don't have enough different substances available, add worms to the compost.
The administration of compost accelerators is also helpful. You can buy these accelerators at garden supply stores. Or you can easily make your own from yeast, water and sugar.
If you have an older compost pile in the garden that has already rotted well, simply dump a few shovels of that old compost into the moldy compost and dig it up a bit. In this way you provide it with microorganisms that ensure the decomposition of the compost.
tips
The mold of the compost becomes particularly clear when you compost bread leftovers. Bread always goes moldy before it decomposes. Without this process, rotting cannot take place.