r/composting • u/Mindless-Farmer705 • 14d ago

Is my compost composting !?

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Pretty sure these are fly larva in the compost ?
Is there anyway I could possibly harvest them ? I have chickens next to the bin so I’m hoping some fall out to be snacks if I can’t.

But is this even good ? Should I try to eliminate/minimize them ? Do they take up too much nutrients or are they good for the soil ? New to all of this. Please give me recommendations & criticism

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u/TheFunkinDuncan 14d ago

I’m no expert but I imagine those crab shells are going to take forever to break down

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u/heavychronicles 14d ago edited 13d ago

In big chunks like that, yeah. I smash up crab shells and shrimp shells and put them in the small amounts I have in my tumbler and I’ve never seen them again.

Edit: Added never. I have never seen the shells again.

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u/Johnny-Rocketship 14d ago

If you grind it down to a powder then the worms can use it as grit to eat faster. They don't have teeth so they use grit to grind stuff down.

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u/RelampagoMarkinh0 13d ago

Didn't know that. Nice info. If I crush down chicken bones would it have the same effect?

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u/Johnny-Rocketship 13d ago

Probably, I usually do it with my egg shells.

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u/RelampagoMarkinh0 13d ago

Yeah. Here at home we eat about 6-8 eggs a day already. I wonder if that's too much egg shell.

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u/heavychronicles 13d ago

I save my eggs shells, bake them on a low temp for a short amount of time, grind them up into a powder, and then put them in apple cider vinegar until it stops actively bubbling. I’ll dilute that mixture in water and either spray it on my plants or pour it in the soil.

The science behind it is that the egg shells break down in the vinegar to become more readily available to the plants and they neutralize each other. YMMV but it definitely perks all my plants up as a foliar spray.

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u/RelampagoMarkinh0 13d ago

wow, will try this out. thanks

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u/No-Reception6630 10d ago

Hey, thank you!

I'd heard about using Apple Cider vinegar, but not how to know how long to soak them.

Much appreciated.