Answer: You can add moldy food (vegetables and fruits only) to a backyard composting bin anytime. Mold cells are just one of the many different types of microorganisms that take care of decomposition and are fine in a backyard bin. If you're using a worm bin, you have to be a bit more careful.
Veggies and fruits are the quintessential compostable foods. You can compost them in any form: scraps and peels, raw or cooked, and even when rotten. Before you toss, make sure you're not wasting these completely edible food scraps.
Rotten citrus scraps are a fantastic addition to your compost pile since they are already starting to break down. As such, if your oranges are moldy, do not be afraid to add them and their peels inside the pile.
Citrus fruit, tomato products and pickled food products can do harm to your compost. High acidity can actually kill the good bacteria that helps break down the material in your compost pile.
QUESTION: Can I put fallen apples in the compost? ANSWER: Fallen apples are a good addition to the compost pile and serve as “green” materials that add nitrogen, though you should not include fallen apples that are diseased.
Small Pieces for Quicker Decomposition – If you're throwing whole fruits or large pieces of food into your compost, consider breaking them down a bit first. This will ensure that they break down quicker and reduce any potential issues. You can do this with your shovel, machete, blender, or whatever tool you want!
Don't put diseased plants, pet droppings (apart from chook manure), cooking fat, glossy paper, weeds with seeds, treated timber and large branches in your compost bin. Some gardeners say you should avoid adding meat and bones unless you have a larger compost system.
Composting Don'ts
Don't add fish, meat, dairy products, bones, baked goods, fatty foods or grease to your compost pile. These food scraps do not easily decompose and may attract animals. Don't use diseased plants or plants that are toxic to other plants.
Mold can penetrate and grow inside the soft flesh of fruit where you can't see it. Consuming moldy food can cause allergic reactions, as well as respiratory problems. When you find a few moldy pieces of fruit inside a container, throw out the moldy fruit and any pieces of fruit that are directly touching them.
The green fungus called Trichoderma, is very beneficial to the soil. The blue-green fungus is moderately beneficial. At any rate, moldy coffee is good to use directly in the garden, on your houseplants, or in the compost pile.
Egg shells are an excellent addition to a compost pile, as they provide calcium and other key nutrients. Whole eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks do not belong in the compost pile, though.
Put the right stuff in. Good things to compost include vegetable peelings, fruit waste, teabags, plant prunings and grass cuttings. These are fast to break down and provide important nitrogen as well as moisture. It's also good to include things such as cardboard egg boxes, scrunched up paper and fallen leaves.
It's fine to compost the fruit itself, but when possible, remove the pit. Additionally, certain fruits that are highly acidic, like citrus fruits and tomatoes, may harm the pH levels of vermicompost bins.
Grass clippings should not be the only compost material. As with mulches, a thick layer of grass clippings in a compost pile will lead to bad odors from anaerobic decomposition.
Banana peels are a great ingredient for your compost or worm farm, adding lots of nutrients to the organic recycling process.
Yes, you can add tea bags to your compost bin or garden — with an important caveat. Before composting your tea bags, it is important to ensure that they are made from biodegradable materials. An estimated 20-30% of tea bags on the market are composed of polypropylene, which is not compostable.
Every single part of an onion is 100% compostable!
You may have heard otherwise, and yes, there are a few things to look out for if you want to add them to a worm bin, but no worries, onions can make their way to your compost bin, just like your other kitchen scraps!
Watering Strategies
In hot, dry weather, regularly adding water to a hot compost process is often a necessity. We recommend a minimum moisture content of 50% to support a hot compost process. A hot compost pile can easily lose 1% of moisture content every day.
Blood & Bone is also useful as an additive to compost heaps to stimulate microbial activity and “speed up” the composting process. Sprinkle on in layers as compost is added.
Active microorganisms need a moist environment. Ideally, composting materials should be between 40 and 60 percent water. When conditions are too wet, water will fill the pore space needed for air movement, and anaerobic conditions can result. If conditions are too dry, the decomposition rate will slow down.
Food scraps can always be composted even when they're moldy or rotten.
“Rotten” suggests that the thing is putrid, as a result of microbial action throughout and inedible, but mould is a surface growth of yeasts which in many cases can be rubbed off and the thing, eg, fruit, cheese, etc, safely eaten. Mould is aesthetically repugnant, but seldom toxic.
You can compost fruits and vegetables even when they've spoiled and gotten moldy. (Consider it a head start on the decomposition of the compost heap.)