In article .com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| Yes. Keep the compost damper. Ants (and woodlice) are a sign that it
| is too dry, and DO NO HARM
|
| The latter was my first gut response to this post.
|
| The former I am surprised about. My compost heap was part OK, part
| soggy mess, and it was RIDDLED with woodlice in both parts. ...

That was probably an illusion. Woodlice will not (cannot) live in
soggy compost, but are very likely to appear in large numbers at its
boundary with a dry region.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article .com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| Yes. Keep the compost damper. Ants (and woodlice) are a sign that
it
| is too dry, and DO NO HARM
|
| The latter was my first gut response to this post.
|
| The former I am surprised about. My compost heap was part OK, part
| soggy mess, and it was RIDDLED with woodlice in both parts. ...

That was probably an illusion. Woodlice will not (cannot) live in
soggy compost, but are very likely to appear in large numbers at its
boundary with a dry region.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

My woodlice like damp humid conditions. The top of the compost bin which is
very moist is heaving with them. Any pile of dry leaves also seems to have
an abundance towards the bottom of the pile.
So it's a not to wet and not too dry situation around here.

In article ,
"Rupert \(W.Yorkshire\)" writes:
|
| My woodlice like damp humid conditions. The top of the compost bin which is
| very moist is heaving with them. Any pile of dry leaves also seems to have
| an abundance towards the bottom of the pile.
| So it's a not to wet and not too dry situation around here.

Precisely. They need air to breathe. Earthworms thrive in saturated
leaves, but woodlice don't.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article .com,
"Cat(h)" writes:
|
| Yes. Keep the compost damper. Ants (and woodlice) are a sign that it
| is too dry, and DO NO HARM
|
| The latter was my first gut response to this post.
|
| The former I am surprised about. My compost heap was part OK, part
| soggy mess, and it was RIDDLED with woodlice in both parts. ...

That was probably an illusion. Woodlice will not (cannot) live in
soggy compost, but are very likely to appear in large numbers at its
boundary with a dry region.



You could well be right - bearing in mind that I had just dismantled my
heap, so that the messy and good parts were a bit mixed.
But that's interesting to know.
This is a most educational place :-)

Cat(h)

neilson writes



Ok, thanks for all your feedback, much appreciated.
I think i'll try and disperse the ants by adding moisture and turning
regularly then may be looking out for some of that 'Nippon' stuff you
have suggested, if the latter doesn't work.

Don't bother. They're not doing any active harm, merely being a useful
indicator that your heap is too dry.

How much moisture, e.g. half a watering can once a week roughly, or
does it depend on the compost volume (think my Darleks about 340
litre), and is pretty much full at the moment.

Does it have any drainage at the bottom? If it did, then the easiest is
just to lob liquid on it at any opportunity (plain water or the water
you've boiled the cabbage in, empty the teapot, or best of all boost the
nitrogen level by using recycled beer). Once you have no ants, and can
scoop out little red worms by the handful, you have it about right.

What if i've positioned my compost bin ontop of an existing ant nest,
resite the bin somewhere else?

I'd have thought the ants would relocate.

--
Kay

Couple of years ago I had red ants in compost bin.

Make a tea of chillies. Just as you would make usual tea but using any kind of chillies...hotter the better I suppose. I only had the red dried at the time and so used these. Also I heated it all up in the microwave.
Let it cool and then 'water' the compost. It works.

Am gonna use this concoction to sort the ants out around the paving and damp course of my house as I wouldn't be able to use the commercial brands because of the birds feeding on the ants.
Starglo