I’m only one person, so it tends to take me a while to fill up my compost bin before dumping it. I know I could dump more frequently, but curious if this type of mold is good, bad, or neutral in terms of the composting process.
by Elegant-Inspector990
8 Comments
Mold is good. Microcrobes go yum.
It’s just too moist. And while white mold is usually good, if you see large patches of dark or black mold, it indicates poor conditions. Basically… the composting process is beginning before your scraps even make it to your pile. If you don’t want to dump it more frequently (which would be your best bet) just add paper scraps or straw to your bucket each time you add scraps. Balance out the moisture with what you’d add to your pile anyway.
Happens in my bucket a lot too when i forget it for a few days. Wouldn’t eat it, but harmless to you and your compost pile
I was concerned at first. I’m in a number of food safety and cooking subs too.
But once I saw the sub, I laughed a bit.
For a compost bin, this is great. Mold and other microbes are what make a compost bin work.
That said, as someone who has used a countertop compost bin for a while, it will start to smell. I opted to just start dumping it once a week, regardless of how full it was.
I put my bucket outside for that reason, right next to my kitchen door. Also for the damn fruit flies fruiting around
I didn’t notice the subreddit at first and was utterly scandalized.
You’re keeping the bucket sealed while inside, right?
Mold is great for compost, but terrible for indoor air quality.
If I were you, I’d get a smaller bucket. I use a 2 quart for a family worth of kitchen scraps. Sometimes I have to take it out twice in one day (before cooking dinner and then again after dinner), but I never have to worry about spores getting into my house, affecting my lungs, and potentially dry rotting the structural members of my house away (that last one is a bit extreme, yes, but I’m paranoid after being bitten by dry rot one time… never again)
No, it’s not. But the apples look perfectly good to eat still! Just kidding. Sort of.