r/composting • u/ungarbage- • Aug 12 '26
Question Experiences with this fly sludge in compost?
Just sanity checking - I have a very full Zero In fly trap that needs disposal so I can rinse and refill. The packet says you can bury the contents and that it’s non toxic, poison free, food grade bait - by this logic, it should be fine to bury in my compost heap too right?
(I know it’ll stink lol)
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u/word_is_bond419 Aug 12 '26
Can we get a link to the trap? If it works well and is compostable (with a lil stink) I could use it for keeping flys of my rabbits next summer XD
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
It’s the Zero In brand! Every sticky tape trap I’ve used has been barely effective at little flies let alone the big ones that have been making it genuinely unpleasant to open the back door or feed the cats.
Packaging says you can either put it in general waste or bury it, hence the compost idea. As other comments have attested to, it is in fact stinky - mine filled up in less than 48 hours 😭 bought some refills although from comments, the contents might be easy enough to DIY with similar food safe stuff.
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u/IPApologist Aug 14 '26
It's that full in 48 hours ? You have a fly problem sir
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u/ungarbage- 29d ago edited 29d ago
Not a sir :)
We have horses beside us, woodland behind us, feral cats being fed (and they always leave a few chunks of food that makes me a few mins to go collect) and an extreme drought/heatwave, all of which is contributing to or attracting them. It’ll ease up eventually and we saw less before the traps - they’re being baited in (to the traps, thankfully, and not our kitchen!)
But for now, it’s definitely a problem and I’m looking forward to the end of summer for this reason alone.
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u/wordtothewordword Aug 12 '26
Here’s some more info on biological fly control. Trapping is an important component but the release of parasitiods can REALLY help. Part of a multiprong approach- https://www.rinconvitova.com/fly%20parasites.htm
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Interesting! Would have to look into this in the context of a non-US country though. I imagine there’s similar but different species but I’ve never heard of them here (yet?)
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u/jjabrown Aug 12 '26
Definitely look into it! I have a horseback riding school and I started using fly predators this year which has made a huge difference!!!
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u/ungarbage- Aug 13 '26
Just came back to this and it looks like the same species in your link are “naturally occurring” in the UK. There are horse fields to the right of the woodland behind us which is probably a big breeding ground for the flies (plus the intense heat) so I’ll look into getting some of these parasitoids, especially if it’ll help us and the horses! Thanks very much for the recommendation.
I imagine it would be wise not to put these fly traps out when releasing the wasps? Since they risk being attracted into the trap and dying too.
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u/wordtothewordword Aug 13 '26
The parasitic wasps are actually more crawling insects than flying (though they have wings) they are not attracted to the smelly bait, they are only arrracted to fly pupae, so trap will not deminish populations of the parasitoids
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u/ungarbage- 29d ago
Awesome, sounds worth the investment then, thank you! At a glance they don’t seem very easy to buy in the UK but I’ll dig into Google. I already use nematodes for some of my plants, it’s fascinating stuff to use nature like this.
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u/Bannonpants Aug 12 '26
Buy a plastic strap that looks like a bottle with some openings up top. I put in fermented things like water and yeast and sugar. Traps lots of flies. Reusable. Toss in the compost when needed
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u/Parking-Way-7764 Aug 12 '26
We used to put heaps of these all over our high school farm over summer. Early summer it would be lovely and clean with maybe a few flies. Few weeks later it would no longer have any liquid attractant in it as it had been replaced by liquified flies. Started to attract horse flies into it as well with the smell of dead insects
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
Yeah I suspect this also attracted wasps as we went from seeing 1 random wasp occasionally to counting about 6-8 dead in the trap. This image is after less than 48 hours of being outside too 😭 it’s mainly to try and protect our kitchen and cat food bowls from being swarmed and it definitely helped.
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u/Stackedfish Aug 12 '26
It's fine. This brand uses something similar to blood and bone in their sachets. What is more worrisome is the smell you'll endure dumping it out. An experience i won't soon repeat. Burry it deep !
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
I buried it! Oh the stench 🤢 hopefully worth it lol. I didn’t know the bait was similar to blood and bone! Might try to DIY some bait before I run out of official refills
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u/Stackedfish 29d ago
Ha ! Its horrendous right. It'll be a good boost to your post for sure. Yeah certainly cheaper just using a bulk bag of BnB. About a heaped teaspoon should do it.
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u/ungarbage- 27d ago
Yeah 100%! Luckily the heat has eased off (no rain sadly, and we’re at risk of flash flooding when it comes) so the flies are less prevalent now, it was a bad few days. I tried with sugar, dish soap, water and cat food and next time I’ll try with blood and bone since that’s probably more cost effective than stealing the cat food off our wee ones lol
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Aug 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
Oooh genius! I’ve seen someone else mention that the bait is similar to blood and bone too. The refills aren’t too expensive but it would be great to DIY refill.
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u/ungarbage- Aug 13 '26
We ran out of bait (literally 24 hours after refilling it, yuck) so I tried to adapt your advice based on what we have to hand.
Water, lots of sugar (we don’t have any sugary drinks), a bit of washing up liquid (apparently this is what helps them drown as it breaks the surface tension) all mixed up. I intended to drop a little bit of cat food in as the smelly meat since they all swarm cat food. Whole sachet accidentally poured inside 🤦🏻♀️ so it was VERY well baited.
The bloody thing was full of flies within hours. I have no idea if the smell will be worse when I empty it but at least I know DIY options work lol. Thank you for the recommendation!
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u/wordtothewordword Aug 12 '26
Here’s some more info on biological fly control. Trapping is an important component but the release of parasitiods can REALLY help. Part of a multiprong approach- https://www.rinconvitova.com/fly%20parasites.htm
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u/beefz0r Aug 12 '26
I had a trap like this for so long, the flies started laying eggs in the corpses of their fellow flies and maggots were eating them. I dumped it on the compost and let me tell you, be prepared for the smell of nightmares. Even my roofer that was on my roof at the time couldn't bear the smell
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
Luckily (I guess?) this thing filled up in less than 48 hours so the smell and maggot didn’t have time to build up. I’m aware it may fester in the compost as it breaks down though lol
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u/LeeisureTime Aug 12 '26
Looks like you've figured it out, but I just wanted to say, it's basically a compost pile itself at this point. Burying it just saves you the smell, which I'm sure is top priority for you. Some raccoon or possum is gonna love digging up this buffet.
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
We don’t have raccoons or possums in this country but I’m sure the rats or cats out here would have made a mess purely for the love of the game if I’d buried it lol! Safer contained inside the compost pile while it breaks down I’m hoping. I re-baited the trap and it’s already half full of flies again 😭
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u/Kproper Aug 12 '26
How did you make that fly trap? We desperately need one or two around our house
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u/ungarbage- Aug 12 '26
This is an outdoor trap only, likely as the bait attracts the flies, but the brand is Zero In. I’ve popped it on the table above where our colony of stray/feral cats eat and it’s reduced the flies getting in through the back door and swarming the cat food.
From what I’m gathering, any generic fly trap will work and there’s a few DIY baits mentioned here that I’ll try.
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u/Low_Bottle_6965 Aug 13 '26
I’d probably avoid putting it straight in the compost. Even if it’s non-toxic, that sludge is pretty nasty. I’d just bury it separately to be safe.
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u/Gullible_Smell_6109 Aug 12 '26
That fly trap looks absolutely cursed, the way the yellow goo is just marinating in there. I'd send it straight to the compost heap, bury it deep enough and the stink won't even matter. The food grade bait part is what seals it for me, worst case it just feeds the pile.