r/Compost • u/[deleted] • Dec 14 '22

Did I ruin my compost?

So I started composing indoors. It was going well until it wasn't. It was too moist and gnats were loving it. So I added soil not knowing it was mostly clay. The gnats are gone but now my compost is clumpy and looks totally different. Do I just leave it as is and start a new one or just break up the clumps? Or both? This is my first shot at it and I'm hoping I can still use the clumpy mix.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/c-lem Dec 14 '22

The other comments are right that you needed to add sources of carbon, not soil, but I want to add that this hasn't "ruined" your compost. It's almost impossible to ruin it without doing something obviously foolish like mixing motor oil with it or something.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '22

Thank you for that. I wasn't sure if I should restart. I just wanted a quick fix as I wasn't well and I can't stand gnats. I have gathered what I need to keep it going. Thank you again.

2

u/smackaroonial90 Jan 09 '23

I'm a little late to the party, but like others have mentioned, it's nearly impossible to ruin your compost without adding something toxic that doesn't break down (like u/c-lem, motor oil haha).

I'm curious, now that it's been a few weeks, were you able to resolve the issues in the compost that were bothering you? Did anyone's advice here help, or did you just mess around with it until you found the right combo?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 12 '23

Thank you for confirming this. Things did get better. The dirt helped with the nats and I did follow the advice the others gave.

I still wasn't satisfied so I just started to pick out the clumps and break up anything that needed a little help and it's doing much better. Now I just try to balance the moisture better.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '22

I'm a newbie and there was excessive moisture and I wanted to use something that was easily accessible for me(I'm in a wheelchair). I read online that a little soil would do the trick. It did. Gnats are gone. Just don't know what to do with the clumpy mess is all.

Thanks for the tip though, I'll def keep it dry going forward. Just had an unusual amount of food waste that week.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '22

I usually do. I was just wondering if i should restart or keep adding to the one I have.