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Post by tommy2time on Nov 25, 2005 14:53:42 GMT -5
Should foods with alot of sugar be avoided? Also how does a digester work? I have been dumping my scraps and some ground up leaves and grass into an old plastic cooler and mixing them up daily. Could this be considered a digester?
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Post by Jay Blair on Nov 25, 2005 16:11:49 GMT -5
Foods with high sugar content don't necessarily need to be avoided. After all its advisable to always pre compost to avoid over heating. If the sugared food stuff is pre composted it should be fine.
A digester does the first stage of decomposition in an oxygen free, total anaerobic environment. This speeds up the first stage and increases the beneficial microbes. The sludge expelled by the pre digester is suitable for feeding with exposure to oxygen for as little as 48 hours.
Sugared foods can actually help heighten the fuel catalyst within the digester unit, much as sugar added to a sealed carboy of working wine will increase the thumping of the water filled air lock on the jug of working wine.
Yes your open pile is a pre digester, just not as microbial effective as a sealed digester unit.
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Post by tommy2time on Nov 26, 2005 11:12:02 GMT -5
Thanks, well it is kind of a sealed container because it has a lid. But like I said I've been mixing it everyday, allowing for it to be reoxygenated. Maybe I'll start mixing it without lifting the lid. I wonder how fast the oxygen is used up by all of the organisms. Does the mixture have to be exposed to the air for 48 hours or will the worms naturally stay away from it until they feel its ready? The mixture seems to be very enticing to these guys. I opened my bin and they were having a party in it while avoiding the perfectly good rotting food scraps in the rest of the bin. I am probably going to run all of thier food through the old cooler before putting it in. It seems to me that they must be telling me that they like it more that way.
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Post by Jay Blair on Nov 26, 2005 22:01:02 GMT -5
You can add the foodstuffs straight from the pre digestion unit after its cooled down. As long as your bin is large enough to allow the worms space they will avoid any foodstuffs that still need more pre composting by other bin organisms they will back off and allow the other bin residents to make the wastes suitable
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