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thch91

Frozen Fruit/food

thch91
14 years ago

Do I need to thaw this out before adding to my indoor plastic tote box/worm bin? or do I just dig down into bin and place this in and cover with dry paper?

What do you think is the best way to go about this. trying to cut down on fruit fly population so froze food for the first time.

Thanks

Tammy

Comments (15)

  • steamyb
    14 years ago

    Thaw it.
    Remember "Christmas Story"? " I triple dog dare ya!"
    The worms will stick to it.

  • shermthewerm
    14 years ago

    Definitely thaw it & drain it first. There's an amazing amount of liquid in frozen fruits & veggies that would create a very wet bin.

  • mndtrp
    14 years ago

    If you have enough bedding, you don't need to drain it first. I never thawed anything out, didn't see the point in doing more work than necessary.

  • sbryce_gw
    14 years ago

    I just stick it in the bin frozen. I often like to grind up the food first. Frozen food goes through the grinder better. I don't drain it. I don't thaw it. It just goes in the bin.

  • Jasdip
    14 years ago

    Since I don't have any drainage holes in my bins I always thaw and drain the food prior to feeding.

    I've frozen my food right from day one and have never had fruit flies. Thank heavens! My bins are in the spare bedroom of my apartment.

  • Jasdip
    14 years ago

    I think putting frozen food in would be good to cool your bin down in extreme heat. If your bin is indoors and not hot, no need to put it in frozen. Poor little guys all stuck to the frozen block of food....

  • steamyb
    14 years ago

    Do what ever you want to do.

  • rom.calgary.ab
    14 years ago

    I'm with steamyb, do whatever you wish. I've read of people who thaw, some who don't, but nothing from anyone who did either and had a catastrophic event from it. Keep in mind the basics about too wet, too much food etc. and the worms will likely be fine. One caveat to that though, a small bin plus lots of ice may harm them. Assuming that there is enough surface area that they can crawl away from a cold spot they should be fine.

  • mndtrp
    14 years ago

    If someone is concerned about having too much cold from the food in their bin, they are putting in too much food altogether.

  • Jasdip
    14 years ago

    I don't know about that mndtrp. Suppose someone has a lot of worms in the bin, and a clump of frozen food goes in. They wouldn't necessarily be putting too much food in. But it still could be cold for them, if there was a large population.

  • 11otis
    14 years ago

    **If someone is concerned about having too much cold from the food in their bin........**
    I am more concerned about the the liquid I wouldn't be draining.
    So when I put frozen food in the bin instead of the usual frozen bottle during the really hot days, I wrapped the frozen stuff in several layers of newspaper and added shredded cardboard in the package for good measure. I could remove the newspaper and use it as top cover afterwards.

  • eric30
    14 years ago

    I like otis' idea. Put it in frozen with some dry bedding and don't fuss about it.

  • metqa
    10 years ago

    I put frozen food in my flow through tube. I find it has a lot of benefits. Firstly, because all fresh scraps give me fruit flies and I'm sick it that, I freeze the scraps to kill the fly eggs. Secondly, it destroys the cell wall so it breaks down faster, which means the worms can work it faster , which means that any free flying fruit flies will have less chance to find it on their own, and it also means less chance of smell, I've never had bad smells from my mesh tube. Thirdly, because my bin is mesh, it gets drier than a box bin. As the frozen items thaw, it slowly drips it's moisture into the bedding and it is absorbed better than if I try to sprinkle in water. The frozen food is on top of the bedding and the worms are never right on top, so there is no direct contact. In the summer, I assume the cold food cools down the bin and reduces evaporation and keeps the bin cooler and moister. I always end up with super fine crumbly castings, and the only bits still in the bottom are hard shells like avocado or fruit pips. And I just toss those back in for a nother go through. I've never had center rot or putrid situation, and I don't extra chop the food before freezing it, the freezing does the work of breaking apart the food on a cellular level. the bacteria break it down more and finally the worms work it into dust, literally! LOL

  • pcindc
    10 years ago

    I've always (ten years) frozen my worm food, and have never thawed it out. If someone could show a benefit to the extra work I'd consider changing my ways.

  • Jasdip
    10 years ago

    I'm not sure what extra work there is in thawing food. As I type, my food is in a colander in the sink. It will soon be dumped into the bin. Certainly not much "hands on" at all or time consuming.

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