Vermicomposting, worm bin, composting with worms community and forums
Hello everyone!Do you know any herbs that are not good for worms? I heard that cinnamon is harmful to them. I just got tea bags with a bit of cinnamon blended in and was wondering if I could put them…Continue
Started by Sung Mar 21, 2013.
What type of tea do you all throw in to your worms, and what do you find they like the best?
Started by Garry Hicks. Last reply by Vermiganic Sam Feb 9, 2012.
We find a thin layer of "ghost" teabag stays behind in the compost, apparently used to heat seal the bags. Only a few brands don't have this. Yet another source of pollution building up in the soil!
Started by WormWeaver. Last reply by Garry Hicks May 15, 2011.
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
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.
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!
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