[emmy75]

oh Marali i just saw your link. gonna take a look at it after i finish this post.

just doing some research on vermicomposting i came across the holy material of jouney to forever. this link from that source goes on the discuss various aspects of vermicomposting and has many more multiple links.

https://journeytoforever.org/compost_worm.html

[emmy75]

Marali I saw that website one time. however i dont want to use plastic afterall. wood allows for greater ventilation, is better for the environment. also i can compost the bin after many years of use. thanks though

[marali]

yea good idea. I also don't have any indoor bins, everything happens outside for me. I had a plastic one though, and now it's used for planting and stuff. And yes, it's important what we do with materials. reduce! reuse! recycle! First for buying, second for home material and potential trash, third one for things which really don't have other chance.

[emmy75]

well although many make their own worm bins i decided to purchase mine first one and then make my own afterwards based on the one i purchased. alittle mesh wire, wood, glue and some staples make a nice wood worm composter. thought id show u all what i bought.








i have two more stackable trays. cant wait to get started.

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Hey that looks like a v.tidy bin emmy!

Someone at work told me onion are bad for worms... true?

[C21H30O2]

i believe that is because it is antibacterial alone with garlic. Why does the worm bin need a mesh screen?

[quadracer]

Worms will not decompose onions or garlic, and they will not decompose by themselves. They hold very well in the worm bin. Oftentimes, I find them sprouting in the bin, so I will transplant them somewhere else. Same with avocado seeds and potatoes. Even when I cut them into little bits, the little bits will sprout.

Those damn plants are so determined!

Lemon peels and orange peels though will kill worms.

[emmy75]

Thanks OG. I saw this one and fancied it so much that i payed a ridulous amount to ship it to my house, literally half of the cost of the bin.

and yah worms dont compost onions, garlic which says C21H3002 is because of their antibacterial properties which makes perfect sense. However Quad thanks for mentioning the potatoes. I have a whole bunch and was gonna feed them to my worms but not I think otherwise.

C21H3002 my bin has a mesh screen instead of a bottom with holes drilled into it. Through the mesh the worms can get to the next upward bin and downward through the mesh will spill out all the liquid.

[MrFista]

Worms love citrus fruit, but do not like the rind so much, same as us. So I throw in bananas and melons and eggshells and greens and lemon skins and onions. What would you rather eat?

Now, as we know worms do not directly eat foodstuffs, but the bacteria and fungi that break them down. Onion and garlic are resistant to bacteria yes, but they are not resistant to fungi, which will eventuially make them palatable. Even if they weren't antibacterial the only thing that will break the lignin in their skins down is fungal enzymes.

The citrus oil from the rind could pose a problem. But there are enzymes to break this down too, if you want to assist by adding lignin cellulose protein and fat degrading enzymes, add alfalfa to your worms.

You need to 'train' a worm bin to take foodstuffs that are seemingly undesirable. The continued presense of small amounts of onion garlic and citrus will bring about the presense of the microbiology required to break these things down.

There are however other creatures in the worm bin, and what role they play in the composting of these foodstuffs I do not know.

I do know that composting all of the above in worm bins is possible, and something I now take for granted. I am cautious as to amounts of any of the above, but prefer having it in there than not.

Why?

So my worm castings can assist with undigested onions potatoes etc in my soil when I apply them there.

[P-NUT]

could I mix mulch hay 50/50 with chicken shit and use that as feed/bedding? how about oak leaves? would I possibly have to compost it first?