purpleinopp said:Yes, it does sound like it needs air. A compost pile shouldn't have a bad odor. Stirring it up should help. It also sounds like it may be mostly greens if it's so moist. If you're able to add some browns, that should also help. Stuff like paper, dried leaves, small twigs, pine needles.
purpleinopp said:Unless you added "poison," there's none there. It's just stinky anaerobic (w/o air) decomposition. ... As soon as your stuff dries out, the odor should be gone.
dyzzypyxxy said:Really, David you should aerate the old compost maybe once a week with a little stir, using maybe a digging fork to turn the outside stuff in to the middle. You do want to make sure you don't go back to an anaerobic state in the old pile. Too much aeration is better than not enough. If it's 'working' well, the turning process won't hardly slow it down.
When you turn it, you should encounter a hot area in the midst of the pile. If it's cooled off, that's an indication it's used up most of its air and fuel in the middle and it needed turning.
Moonhowl said:The info here is rather like a system of checks and balances, David. By being open forums, posted information is seen by anyone reading. If there seems to be some misinformation/mistaken ID's, etc, it will be questioned, corrected and/or explained or changed.thanks for explaining me about the site
There are moderators for the different areas and a wealth of anecdotal experience and info from the members here. The Moderators work to ensure that info that goes into the Plant Data Base is accurate .
The site is owned and operated by Dave and Trish Whitinger. http://garden.org/about/ http://garden.org/about/tos/
I hope this helps answer your questions.
greene said:Dave is the mastermind behind All Things Plants; you can send your thanks to him by putting an @ in front of the name dave and he will see you message.
Oh, if we contribute 'wrong' information, others will come along to give information that is more accurate and correct. It is best to read all the answers and pick the best answers; answers that were given by multiple people are more likely the correct answers.
Three cheers for everyone on ATP!
Oh, and three cheers for people who ask questions. We love to answer questions.