Things to Avoid Putting in Composters

Some materials are more agreeable to composters than others. Although just about anything organic to begin with can go into a composter there are some things that will disagree with it.

In general you should avoid meat, fish, dairy products grease and oil. These have fats in them that attract odors and also rodents. However eggshells are okay as they biodegrade nicely.

Another thing to avoid feeding your composters is pet droppings or animal droppings. These can carry disease. Also avoid throwing infected plants or weeds with diseases into your composter as you will simply transplant the disease right back into your flowerbeds.

If your composter seems to be “digesting” the materials that you feed it too slowly then you might want to stop adding sawdust or wood chips to your compost. Yet another reason to be careful is that sawdust is thought to carry the Hosta X virus.

Yet another substance that can slow down the composting process is ashes.

Meat, bones, fish, dairy products, grease, and oil: cause odors and attract rodents. Pet droppings: contain disease. Weeds with seeds and runners: grow when you spread your compost. Diseased and insect-infested plants: spread if not well composted. Shavings and sawdust from treated wood, and other materials containing strong preservatives or other toxins. Ashes and pieces of burnt wood are also not good to put into a composter as it can affect the composition of the compost in a negative way. Ashes also smell and slow down the degradation of the materials in composters as well.