Thanks guys, will try the citronella candles and see if it's too wet or dry.  It is the little fruit flies.  I don't grow veggies as am a terrible gardener but DH recently bought a rhubarb from the farmer's market and it's growing really well (a big acheivement for us).  I'd really like to plant a herb garden, although it's gotta be the wrong time of year.

Humph - what happened there? cut off the end of my sentence - silly machine.

do you mean little black fruit flies - or big blue-bottle types?

for small fruit flies and or flying ants just giving the pile a good turning over with a garden fork and wetting down (few watering cans worth) can really help - or adding more garden (weeds) waste on top to cover up household fruit skins and the like - if it's more proper houseflies then you might need to review what you're putting in the heap. if when you turn the heap it's already quite wet and slimy then adding more green woody waste or newspaper can help dry it out - either way, too wet or too dry, extra air and mixing often helps.

these days i always line the inside compost caddy with a couple sheets of newspaper, that seems to give about the right balance of paper to wet veggie p

ealings.

Citronella oil is a plant-based insect repellent - you can very often find citronella candles at the garden centres. Perhaps standing citronella candles on windowsills or near open doors might help stop them coming inside?

hiya

sorry no useful tips, just wanted to sympathise.

is your compost heap quite new? we had them on ours when we started then they seemed to go.

our siamese cat is our fly catcher in the house - while i wouldnt have anything killed for my benefit i can turn a blind a eye when its a result of animal instinct.

it is hard with a small garden cos i think most people get round it by putting the heap in a corner where it won't cause any trouble (with flies, smells etc).

good on you for making the most of your space tho - do you grow any veg too? we grow all sorts in gro bags.

Cx

Hi there,

I haven't posted on this forum before but have found it really useful with using washable nappies.  However, just wanted to get some advice on flies, my compost bin is full of them, and since we only have a small garden they're always in the house.  Do you have any ideas of how I can get rid of them, both from the house and the compost?

Thanks, Hana