There are five problems that can arise when you are composting. All of the issues are relatively easy to troubleshoot and fix. During your routine monitoring of your composting pile, keep a look out for signs of a problem and try some of the suggested solutions listed below.

If you see a swarm of flies around your compost bin, the chances are that you have not put enough brown food, such as leaves, twigs and hay on top of your kitchen scraps. The kitchen scraps are very inviting to fruit and house flies so make sure that you don't leave them exposed.

Woodlice, however, are beneficial to the composting process and indicate that the material is breaking down into compost. More often than not, the woodlouse will feed on decaying vegetable matter. They are not a problem, since they do not usually attack growing plants.

If you find that your compost bin has a bad smell, the most likely cause is that not enough air is getting through to all parts of the compost. Give the compost a good turning and add a bulky substance such as woodchips or sawdust. These are bulky and will create pockets where the air can move freely.

If you find that your compost pile is very dry, add some moisture in the form of water. You should not soak the pile but add just enough to get it wet. If your compost pile is continually drying out, look at other factors such as location and what you are adding. You may need to move the bin to another location with less sun, or add more wet scraps such as fruit and vegetable waste.

Your compost pile seems to be working (it is moist and warm) but only in spots. Either your pile is not large enough or you are not rotating it enough. Make sure you are regularly adding new scraps and are rotating the pile every second day.

Like the problem of flies, if you have pests visiting your pile you need to make sure you are covering all kitchen scraps thoroughly. However, do not add any animal products such as meat or bones.