"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
I've been using a compost bin and putting all garden waste in them and
also
kitchen waste that seems to be the same sort of thing, ie plant material
only. This means in addition to prunings etc from the garden I also put in
salad leftovers, vegetable scraps (uncooked), banana peel, rotten apples
and
apple cores, used teabags, and not a lot else.

In warm weather there is a steady prescence of tiny flies in and around
the
bin, along with a few wasps. The tiny flies pose a real problem since
windows
are nearby- so I need to either stop using this type of composting, or if
possible change what gets composted to remove the fly problem.

But I have a feeling that these tiny flies will be hanging around whatever
I
put in the compost bin. They seem to hang around bags of commercial
compost
and even potted plants that are planted in compost!

Can anyone clarify this for me- is there any restriction on what material
I
compost that would mean I no longer get these tiny flies in attendance?

My confusion arises partly from the idea of "garden waste" versuns
"kitchen
waste"- if the latter is all uncooked vegetable matter like peelings (and
I
suppose the exception, cooked teabags), how can any other organism tell
that
it has been inside a kitchen?

TIA for any insight.
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

The little flies are part of the process but one of those black bins with a
lid that seals and we only see them when opening the bin to put more kitchen
waste in, never seen wasps near mine so cant comment on those.

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cultivars