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kcb_1983

bedding question

kcb_1983
11 years ago

Hi,

Things a great forum and the community knowledge here is fantastic.

I've just finished a flow through bin and have added 1 tray from my cow to start things off. I feed my worms composed manure without bedding. My question is would bedding be needed in a flow through bin?

I understand the benefits of aeration that bedding promotes but I'm concerned about compression at the depths a flow through operates under. I would use corrugated cardboard as bedding if needed.

Am i worrying about nothing?

Comments (3)

  • Celbrise
    11 years ago

    no. bedding i believe helps just to aerate the bin and also provides food as well as recycling materials. i have seen many people using cow/chicken manure in their worm bins alone on youtube they have no problems. of course it is already composted manure so it doesn't heat up and kill your worms. but they will eat the manure and thrive in it just as good. ontop of that worms can dig tunnels which is the main reason their is no turning involved the worms should be aerating your bin for you with air holes as well.

    all i do suggest is you don't compact down the manure and pile it high as gravity will compact the stuff at the bottom making it prone to stink also depending on what worms you use majority of composting worms if not all stay at the top portion building a deep bin is wasteful. build a shallow bin and simply top it off when they finish up.

    like i said i know many people just on youtube who use manure both as bedding and as food their piles are doing just as good. i am not sure if they still feed them food scraps but i assume it is possible i do know the worms will eat the manure though/thrive on it alone.

  • sbryce_gw
    11 years ago

    Whatever you put in your bin, you need a balance of carbon and nitrogen. High carbon materials we call bedding. High nitrogen materials we call food. Composted manures tend to have a proper balance, and no additional high carbon materials are needed. Generally, though, no matter what type of bin you have, you need to maintain the balance of carbon to nitrogen. If you are adding food scraps to the bin, then you will also need to add bedding.

  • kcb_1983
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you.

    Any food I've been feeding my worms has been pre composed. I just let compost finish the hot phase and then feed it to the worms. Just for the hell of it i put some cardboard into the left over tray from my cow. There is now some type of larvae all over it. In the 2 days it's been in there its starting to break down so I'll continue to monitor things.