Here are a couple pics of my continuous flow reactor worm bin. Such a big name for a wooden box.
The technology and science behind it are sound; it basically takes advantage of compost worms being
epigeic , that is, they like being in the superficial layers of soil, where rotting matter is more common.
So you put food on it, the worms eat it, then you add a layer of wet shredded cardboard and then another layer of food. Worms will go up where food is, living in the new layer of food/cardboard until this layer is exhausted too.
Then you add a layer on top and they migrate upwards; when there is no space for more food on top, you scrape the bottom and harvest the rich compost layer, gravity forces the whole contents downward toward the grid of ropes and leaves some space on top for new food.
This unit, roughly 150 cm by 40 cm (if im not wrong) can produce around 5 gallons of finished compost, with the added benefit of having finished compost free of worms (normally a limitation in other bins, as worms have to be removed by hand or sifting for the compost to be usable)
I feed with fruits and vegetables only, along with cardboard for Carbon; I get the food scraps from a local fruit store owned by a friend.
The cardboard comes from local businesses that happily
donate the waste once I tell them how it will be disposed of!
In the last two years, these worms may have processed over two metric tons of waste; they have a voracious appetite.
This unit may not be a beauty to behold, but it produces top-notch compost and requires no maintenance.
Notice all the food scraps on top, those will last no longer than 24 hrs; the bin needs to be loaded again soon.
Worms love hanging in that corner. See all the black stuff in the inner walls? Scrape that and you get 100% pure castings, ideal for topping pots; unfortunately there are very little wall-poopers, most of them leave their castings where they should.
Here you can see the synthetic rope used for the ¨floor¨ of the reactor.
Any other organic material wouldn't last long, as the leachate of the bin degrades stuff very quickly.
I stapled some sturdy plastic to the planks, as I knew they wouldn't last long enough by themselves against the fungal and bacterial micro-life of the compost. The impermeable lining keep the planks from rotting and also help the compost ¨flow¨ downwards
Look at how this plank looks. I didn't line it with plastic and now it has been colonized by fungi. I take it and put it under the sun to keep it from rotting: fungi and bacteria are very sensitive to the searing UV rays of the sun!
and this is the ugliest part of the bin. bottom view of the compost. All stuff that is not promptly consumed by the worms will end up here, as impurities in the finished compost. I have mostly pieces of stem from my cherry tomato, cucumber and pumpkin plants: I have found that only high lignin stems will endure the journey.
I pick up the larger pieces and just put them on the top of the bin. Not even the thick stems of a cannabis plant will endure the trip twice.
I hope this comes handy for any of you guys! (specially you WeaselCracker, Cracker of weasels wherever they raise their furry heads)
Thank you for watching
reps
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