Ahhhhhh !!

[Nik]

hi gardening guys & gals

right as most of you regs know i work in a supermarket and have access to lots of out of date fruit & veg for my compost bin but i think i may have gone crazy & put to much fruit stuffs in !!

now i have wasps,i went down to the compost bin with my son to give it all a good stir about but got bombarded with about 5 wasps that were persistent in guarding there new found food fest.

iv mowed the lawn and put loads of grass cuttings in do i need more cardboard matter ?? again i have access to as much cardboard as i need so that wont be a problem,will the wasps go once the fruit has broke down

is it too damp maybe ??

o i dont know,please guys give me some insight,so i dont have to make whatever mistake im a making again

its funny i have lavender bushes growiing in my garden and watching the bee's come & go ,going about there bussiness is a joy & to be honest some big big fella's come & go...but cause no disress or trouble what so ever,i even get close to watch them an never feel intimidated by there nature,where as wasps are a totally different ball game !!!

ahhhhhhhhhhh please help a wasp hater

Nik.

[paulsherwin]

You will get wasps if you have overripe fruit, as they are attracted by the sugar. This will stop after a while.

From the sound of it your compost heap consists of rotten fruit and grass clippings. Anything will form compost eventually, but it sounds as if you need to add more woody and absorbent material. Dried leaves are the best thing to add, but brown cardboard (fruit box type) is good too. Ideally you should shred it in a garden shredder. Maybe you have access to a commercial shredder at work?

After adding some cardboard / leaves / shredded prunings, give everything a good stir with a garden fork (watch out for the wasps if they're still around )

You can also add shredded paper if you have an electric paper shredder.

Paul

[greengirl]

Hi Nik have sympathy with your wasp problem. My 10 year old is a waspophobic and won't go near the composter, actually has problems with going into the garden full stop in the wasp season until later in the evening when he is forced out. So emptying kitchen waste bin not his chore! Found a wasp bike in the carport, that didn't go down well. I guess just having the composter as far away as poss is the answer!!! We rented a house one August which had plum and pear trees in the garden, overripe by that time ... oops, never again.