Used Tea Bag (UTB) Vermicomposters

Comment by Stephen McGuire on April 13, 2011 at 4:56pm

Thanks for the invite.

Comment by Sam Jones on April 13, 2011 at 8:16pm

Yep, I coulden't down the great offer to join either. Always tear off the tops of my teabags and toss them in the Can O worms. Seems like the little ones are pretty fund of those snug teabags.

Comment by Garry Hicks on April 13, 2011 at 10:46pm

Between the cafe next to my jobsite, my home use of green tea, and friends and relatives saving their used teabags, I'm fairly sure I have enough of a constant supply to feed a seperate system all on its own! I'm excited to have tea-only and coffee grounds-only systems side by side too :)

Comment by Bentley Christie on April 14, 2011 at 5:26am

Thanks for the invitation Garry!

In all honesty, I don't have all that much experience with vermicomposting tea bags myself (the odd one here and there - but that's about it). Will be interested to learn from others' experience!

 

B

Comment by Don Dillon on April 14, 2011 at 7:24am

I toss in about 3 teabags a day.  They eventually do breakdown, and it is weird to pull out a decaying bag and see a worm half in/out of the bag.  Are there any nutrients or mineral qualities specific to tea that would make them a decidedly good addition to the VC, as opposed to just any other bushy/leaf organic matter?

 

I guess one benefit is that it kinda comes packaged as a built in carbon and nitrogen source all in one.   The bag being carbon, and the tea a nitrogen source.

Comment by Garry Hicks on April 14, 2011 at 8:25am

Totally Larry! I would imagine it to be the same as adding sayyy jalapenos- nobody wants to crawl through something like that. They may take it, but they don't really have a choice, that's my thoughts on it anyway.

Comment by Lee Jolliffe on April 16, 2011 at 9:37pm

Hurray! Did someone start this with me in mind? I drink about 10 glasses of tea a day, every day, always. So they're the backbone of my worm-feed. I use Lipton or Luzianne, black+orange pekoe teas in plain old bags with the string, tag, and staples. And the worms eat everything but the teeny staples. They like it best when you a) tear the bag a little just as you put it in, so they can crawl inside to hang out, neck a little, and lay eggs, and b) bury the tea bag so the little sack stays wet. None of this dropping it in on the surface, now!

 

Don, I think the tea leaves would still have some of those great antioxidants from the tea. There's tannin for sure (stains my teeth until my dentist frowns at me).

 

But I think what the worms like most is the "pre-digested" element of tea: It's been dried, fermented, dried again, ground up nice and fine, then doused in hot water, and left nice and wet for them to set up housekeeping in. If they like their leaves & cardboard & paper shredded, well, think how "shredded" tea is!

Comment by Garry Hicks on April 18, 2011 at 2:10pm

Lee, I definitely did start this group with you in mind, and thousands of others who have a love for tea and worms, and would like to combine the two! I'm looking into different types of tea for them, and I'm eager to experiment with reproduction rates involving tea!

Comment by Paula Allen on April 29, 2011 at 5:24pm

I did not know about this group.  I have been giving my worms utb for a while they seem to love them.  We brew tea at work by the gallons.  So I can take home at least a pound of used tea leaves a day.   

Comment by Paula Allen on April 29, 2011 at 5:29pm

Larry D.  I grew up in the south and it is so true about tea in baby bottles. 

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