Why do apartment gardens tend to smell? This is a common dilemma for apartment gardening enthusiasts, as this unique method of apartment gardening attracts all types of microorganisms and requires careful, if not obsessive, care. Not all apartment gardening machines smell because of the composting process itself.
Many apartment plants produce a musky, musty smell similar to that of wet straw or compost. If you smell something like this after you have planted your garden, you may be concerned that your apartment building has poor air quality. You may also be worried about the condition of the apartment itself, especially in the laundry room or kitchen, where people may open clothes to dry on a line. In both of these areas, you should check the air quality before you plant.
Most apartment buildings are located close to a septic system, which means they receive sewage gas from the city. Because it is so close to the sewer, the roots of apartment plants help to breakdown the waste before it reaches your garden. What you smell when you have a garden close to a sewer line is likely to be a strong sewer smell, not like the odor from a compost pile. You should also be careful not to plant near an active septic because this too can cause unpleasant odors to linger.
The reason that apartment plants produce such musky smells is because they are trying to break down organic matter that has been stored nearby. Vegetables and fruits are constantly breaking down organic matter, and they release this organic matter into the air. Even so, this process usually does not go very far. If the apartment building is located close to a creek, there is likely to be a large amount of organic matter sitting in the water right next to the plants. When the plants break it down, they release that organic matter as well, along with any airborne particles that were airborne during their decomposition.
A garden that is located near an active septic can produce foul smells. The reason is that waste materials tend to settle at an elevated temperature, and they can often remain hot for several months, releasing ammonia and making an apartment smell very bad. This is similar to what we smell when there is rain in the area. If you want to avoid this problem while gardening in an apartment, you should consider having the soil in your apartment garden raised up on some sort of structure.
What about mulch? Mulch can sometimes act as a natural mosquito repellent, but there are drawbacks. It is difficult to apply mulch to the leaves of trees, and they will not re-grow the mulch after it rains. In other words, the tree will not benefit from the mulch.
Lastly, trees produce resin that tends to smell if it has been decaying for a long time. The smell is produced as a byproduct of organic matter rotting in the soil. This is why an apartment garden located in a city can have such terrible smells emanating from it. In the case of mulch, this organic matter can stay in the ground for years, producing a strong odor even after the tree has fallen and decayed.
There are several answers to the question of why do apartment gardens smell? The answers can be complex, depending on the type of garden you have. If you have a container garden, it probably stinks because you are adding organic matter, which turns the soil and grass to compost. This process has the effect of turning everything in the garden to a smelly dead material. If you have a raised bed garden, you might have to deal with weeds, which often take root where there was vegetation. A container garden will usually stink more than a raised bed garden, simply because the roots don’t get the oxygen and moisture they need to grow and prosper.