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fakhar_sherazi

White Larvae (Meggots) Apear in seedling medium of compost+Peat Moss

7 years ago

Hi Every body

I am soil scientist and working on a project of poultry composting . i , some doubts about a thing, actully i was working on a trail to test my finshied poultry compost , i just mix it with peat moss (1 :1) as a medium for my green chilli seeds. After 4 days i found white meggots like larvae in my seedling tray. i am worried please suggest what to do?

Comments (11)

  • 7 years ago

    Hello Fakhar, welcome. How long was the poultry manure composted? You are certain it was completely composted? It smells fresh and earthy?

    Do you know what kind of larvae these are? Flies, fruit flies...?

    Fakhar sherazi thanked toxcrusadr
  • 7 years ago

    If you can, post a picture. There are some knowledgeable posters who might be able to get an identification of the larvae. Know the larvae, learn what attracted them. Learn what attracted them, alter the conditions.

    Fakhar sherazi thanked rgreen48
  • PRO
    7 years ago



  • PRO
    7 years ago

    @toxcrusadr we are dealing with poultry manure (Layer,s ) and converting it through aerobic wind row composting . It does,nt smell earthy as its source is just Nitrogen (PM) , we don,t add further material into it

  • 7 years ago

    What is the moisture level of that material? Maggots, the larva of flies, need a fairly most environment to hatch and grow.

    kimmq is kimmsr

    Fakhar sherazi thanked kimmq
  • PRO
    7 years ago

    @rgeen. Thank you for response .I am from pakistan ,we are doing this project near Islamabad (The Capital) .it is japanese technology of windrow composting. Larvae showed up after few days of tray filling. Now i did the same as you suggested , one main thing is noticed is " These white larvas are inverting /Manipulating the compost so it appears on top of trays" it splits out.

  • PRO
    7 years ago

    @kimmq , as we have to irrigate seedling trays after seed plantation so it remains moist almost whole day

  • 7 years ago

    That is a very large and organized operation!

    Is the poultry manure mixed with bedding - sawdust, wood chips, straw? If not, it is going to be very high in N and too low in C to compost well by itself. The composting process will result in losing a lot of N. And the high N manure will attract flies.

    Fakhar sherazi thanked toxcrusadr
  • PRO
    7 years ago

    yes exctly the manure is as it treated. And organic carbon is around 30-35 % and N is 1.5- 1.7 % . Suggest me what should we do?


  • 7 years ago

    The flies lay eggs in you growing medium and they hatch into those maggots in about a day, total time from egg laying to emergence of adults is 7 to 10 days. Maggots need warmth and moisture to hatch from the eggs and to grow and you provide both as well as a good food source. Perhaps this article might be of some use. http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/housefly4.htm

    Covering the medium, to keep the adult flies away, is one solution, although on that scale it may be difficult.

    kimmq is kimmsr

    Fakhar sherazi thanked kimmq