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Thread: Compost

  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by mom2manyboyz View Post
    I don't know about the laws in Phoenix, but I do know that worm tea smells bad. I bought some online to use and had it in my kitchen cupboard. After a month or so, I had to take it outside. It is a horrid smell. I assume that the same odor would come from homemade "worm tea." Once I had it outside, I didn't notice the smell.


    I'm not surprised that it smelt bad if you had it in your kitchen cupboard for a month!! Worm tea is basically just the liquid that runs out of your worm bin, so that's the liquid produced when a pile of organic matter decomposes.

    Zoning requirements aside, a worm bin should be OK in pretty much any climate so long as it is not allowed to get unduly hot or cold.

  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Green-Moo View Post
    I'm not surprised that it smelt bad if you had it in your kitchen cupboard for a month!! Worm tea is basically just the liquid that runs out of your worm bin, so that's the liquid produced when a pile of organic matter decomposes.

    Zoning requirements aside, a worm bin should be OK in pretty much any climate so long as it is not allowed to get unduly hot or cold.

    Unduly cold is no problem here in Phoenix. But unduly hot is the problem. Here in Phoenix the temperature, in the shade, has reached 120 degrees. I guess that means that a worm bin is out of the question.
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  3. #13

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    Yes, I know what worm tea is. Like I said, I ordered it online. It came in a nicely sealed plastic bottle. I just set it in the cupboard above the trash closet and forgot about it, until it began to smell.

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by mom2manyboyz View Post
    I don't know about the laws in Phoenix, but I do know that worm tea smells bad. I bought some online to use and had it in my kitchen cupboard. After a month or so, I had to take it outside. It is a horrid smell. I assume that the same odor would come from homemade "worm tea." Once I had it outside, I didn't notice the smell.

    a month or so was likely your problem.... it fermented on you......mine did fine outside until the temps got to be in the high 90's the week it hit 100 the adult worms died. same thing happened in the winter they froze in a lump in the middle tray so it lives in the garage. and it has no smell Mine has a drain we leave open with a bucket to catch the liquid.. that bucket of liquid usually does not smell even when it has been a few months. If I do smell something when I dump it on the garde there will be dead worms in it. So it is the decomposing worms not the compost. They should have just stayed in the bin....I also make compost tea buy putting some finished compost in a 5 gal bucket of water just about a cup and then let it sit 24 hours.

    I was so lucky and found mine for $25 a lady was moving.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by mom2manyboyz View Post
    Yes, it reduces my trash and it is great for my garden!

    My garden is organic. I save every scrap of organic fruit and veggie that leaves my kitchen. I don't have a compost bin set up. I save it up and bury it in my garden when I have time. In the warm months that works well. In the winter I have a barrel of dirt near the back door that I bury the scraps in. There are worms in it so, I guess it is sort of a compost bin.

    Has anyone seen the "worm factories" advertised? I've been thinking about getting one.
    That is an excellent idea. I hadn't considered just burying the scraps in the garden rather than setting aside a specific place for compost. Thanks for the tip!

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by mamabear05 View Post
    That is an excellent idea. I hadn't considered just burying the scraps in the garden rather than setting aside a specific place for compost. Thanks for the tip!
    I actually read this before I started doing it. I was reading about large scale organic farms that didn't have time to compost saving up organic scraps and dumping them back on the fields. I'm always looking for short-cuts, so it sounded like a good plan. I bury them because I don't want to upset the neighbors.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Roguegal View Post
    I've been thinking about doing a worm bin myself. But I've don't have a garage and it would have to sit outside. I would like to use the "worm tea" for my plants. Does anybody know if I would be able to have one in Phoenix sitting outside?
    Heat normally helps compost, but vermiculture may be a different issue. Personally, I'm of the opinion to let the worms live in the garden. I don't see how vermicomposting is better than just encouraging worms to live in your soil and composting normally.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by mamabear05 View Post
    That is an excellent idea. I hadn't considered just burying the scraps in the garden rather than setting aside a specific place for compost. Thanks for the tip!
    One reason not to do that is that composting generates heat and takes time, which kills weed seeds, pathogens, etc. Something to keep in mind.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    One reason not to do that is that composting generates heat and takes time, which kills weed seeds, pathogens, etc. Something to keep in mind.
    That is true and certainly something to keep in mind when composting this way. I don't compost weeds that have seeds and you have to be careful about what you compost. I never, ever, use animal products. Most of my composted waste is organic fruit and veggie scraps and organic coffee grounds. Oh, also any carrots and potatoes that I forgot to dig up last year.

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    Heat normally helps compost, but vermiculture may be a different issue. Personally, I'm of the opinion to let the worms live in the garden. I don't see how vermicomposting is better than just encouraging worms to live in your soil and composting normally.
    because it is two different end products.. one is worm castings.... they are used more like fertilizer not in as large amounts as you would use compost.

    Two different kinds of worms also. I use red wigglers in my worm bin and in the compost pile earth worms live.

    my bil used to bury the fish stuff all year from cleaning his fish about a ft deep in the garden area.. he would dig a trench and just fill with dirt as he went all winter...He could grow the best garden I ever saw.

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