How potent is the worm tea that comes out of the bottom of the composter? How much water should I dilute it with before watering plants? Or do I need to dilute it at all?
The liquid that drains from a hungry bin contains concentrated nutrients, and is usually slightly alkaline. For this reason we don't recommend using it in your garden without dilution. If your hungry bin is operating normally, and the liquid is a light tea colour without any smell, it's good to use. We suggest diluting it 10:1 parts with water if you water on the soil, and 50:1 if you use it as a foliar spray. I generally water the soil around my plants, or around the drip line of trees. If you wish to add it to soil without dilution, you will need to test a small area first to ensure that your plants are not affected by the strength of the liquid. I sometimes add liquid directly to my garden if the soil is wet after rain, so I know it will be diluted. Like anything you can over-do application, particularly for plants in pots, or those that do not like the soil being too rich. We have some additional information on our website. I hope this helps, Ben.
Absolutely, just be careful not to add too much at one time, dehydrated food can heat up and become acidic as it starts to rot. I suggest adding dehydrated food scraps along with dried leaves, shredded paper or cardboard to help provide more fibre and aeration.
Is there a way to contain the liquid (like a container that’s more closed with an opening at the top where the drip would go into). I ask as have toddlers and boys with ball sports so want to avoid that. 😊
So you don't use food scraps like other vermicompost worm farms? You used compost soil for potting mix. What about manure. Those who breed worms feed them manure. I have chickens. Can chicken manure be used?
The bedding material is just used at the start when you first set the bin up, like priming a pump. The key is that if the bin is started with a full load of bedding, the larger surface area encourages the worms to breed faster as they are surface feeders. Once the system is running, you won't need to add any more bedding. Chicken manure is fine in a hungry bin, but start out with small amounts until you find the right balance, chicken manure can be very acidic, so you will also need to add some carbon rich material like shredded paper or cardboard, dried leaves, sawdust etc.
