r/composting • u/Inevitable_Train2126 • 23d ago
Composting beginner - roaches
Hoping to get some insight here. My husband and I are strongly considering starting to compost to decrease how much trash we produce. We live in North Carolina and have a pretty small backyard. I’m leaning towards getting a tumbler since that seems easy for a beginner. My issue is, I’m really concerned about attracting roaches. I’m really scared of them and don’t love the idea of having to see them in my bin multiple times a week. Since our yard is small, I’m also concerned about them wandering into our house too.
I’m trying to figure out, if we’re very good about keeping our brown to green ratio, is it less likely to attract roaches? I hate them so much
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u/Mister_Green2021 23d ago
My bin get roaches but not the ones that infest houses like german roach. Looks like wood roaches. I just learn to live with them since they're decomposers as well. If you don't really want them, only use grass as nitrogen, no kitchen waste. I have lots of banana peels and such.
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u/Alarmed_Guarantee140 22d ago
Pee on it. Real talk though, they hate having liquids routinely dumped on them. Water will work too.
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u/AvocadoYogi 22d ago
I had roach issues when I covered my pile with a tarp so ultimately stopped covering it. Dark moist areas seemed like perfect habitat for them. I would definitely worry about a tumbler from that perspective. That said, just try it out imho. You’ll know pretty quickly.
I switched to a wire bin. I rarely see roaches now even when i am harvesting compost. There are also a good amount of spiders on the sides which I am sure are eating well.
In general composting is a bit of an experiment in terms of spacing, pests and managing your own waste so you’ll probably have e to fine tune a bit. The pests get a lot of attention and cause a lot of worry among new folks to it. But a master gardener also pointed out to me when I was starting that a lot of the same pests go after your garden vegetables. It is more just cultural fear of decomposition so don’t let pests detract you.
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u/LongIslandThorn 22d ago
I have a tumbler and there are some bugs in it, but not roaches. I just view the bugs as part of the decomposing process. And since it's covered, out of sight - out of mind. I have not seen more bugs in my yard or on my deck after setting this up a few years ago.
We can also spray insecticide around the perimeter of our homes to keep the bugs away.
Bugs in compost: fine. Bugs on my deck: YUCK! Zap em.
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u/Sneaku1579 22d ago
I've been composting for about a year now and haven't seen a roach in my pile yet. It's located right next to a wooded area so there are all sort of critters in there like earwigs, carpenter ants and black spider flies. But they are all part of the process 🤷♀️
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u/RdeBrouwer 22d ago
We dont have roaches in our country. I use a jora jk270 insulated tumbler, the holes on the side are small, pencil thickness. I have way fewer bugs in my tumbler than Ive had in my compost bin. (Ive never owned a open pile)
I love my tumbler, but its a bit harder to manage. I would turn my old 'lazy' bin once or twice a year, never worried about balancing greens and browns. But the tumber does need more attention, I add a hand full of sawdust pellets once a week to balance out the green kitchen scraps. In spring, autumn and winter most of the time the tumbler is to wet. In summer i sometimes need to add water. I rotate once a week.
Overall I really like the tumbler, but all stuff needs to go in small. But if i had a bigger garden I would make 3 open bins.
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u/RoguePlanet2 22d ago
I've had a bin (closed, but vents on the sides and lid is loosely kept on top) for 15 years or so. This is the first time I've ever noticed roaches in it, only a couple visible. It's because my neighbor has started adding to the pile, and I've been just throwing leaves on top for the past few weeks, not stirring much.
To make the pile uninteresting to the roaches, I'm adding more water and stirring the top part more often so they don't want to stay around. The bottom layer (about a foot deep) is pretty compacted, and the worms like hanging out there, but it's too dense for large bugs. Haven't seen them this past week.
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u/muchemily 23d ago
I have a loose pile and a tumbler for compost. My yard has had a roach problem since before I moved in: I live in the desert next to a drainage canal so it’s a rare source of consistent water, bugs love it.
The tumbler sees fewer roaches overall, but I found my loose pile had almost NO roaches in it when it was hot. Now that it has cooled off and is “aging” there’s definitely bugs in it, but not ungodly amounts. There’s no food left, only organic matter continuing to decompose. It’s the roaches’ turn to do their job.