I have had a compost pile that was mostly shredded (chipped) trees and leaves sitting for the last year. I went to check on it and turn it a little and noticed there are thousands of little centipede looking bugs in it. They curl up in a ball but in the morning the are straightened out or curl up when distrubed. Any ideas what they are and are they harmful to plants if I was to use some of the compost with them in there.
I can attatch a photo if need be.
Thanks.
Help with bugs in compost.
Insects in the compost pile is a good thing. It breaks down the organic matter.BUTTT--symphylans (symphillids) look like centipedes and are not good in the compost pile but I do not know how to get rid of them safely.
I use seven dust around my potted plants for those insects. Yes they are harmful to plants. They eat decaying organic matter and they eat new root tips.
I believe you are right....Here is a picture. They are tiny so it was hard to get a good shot of one.
That's him/her/it...I wonder if it's possible to get the pile hot enough to kill them
I feel that anything in my compost is good for my compost. What ever they do they die and make available nitrogen out of carbon products that they eat.
Bugs eat things, poop and either turn into a fly or moth or they die. Bug poop makes good compost. Dead bugs are eaten by other bugs making more bug poop.
bug poop makes the world go round....
New bumper sticker: I "heart" bug poop!