Sunflower husks

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qwerty
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Joined:Fri May 01, 2020 7:16 pm
Sunflower husks

Post by qwerty » Fri May 01, 2020 7:22 pm

Hello fellow worm keepers :).
I am a new wormery keeper so probably will need quite a lot of advice.
My first question is: are roasted sunflower husks suitable feed? My husband tries to wean hinself off cigarettes so consume tonnes of sunflower seeds. The result is a lot of husks. Can i give them to the worms or not? The sunflower seeds are of unsalted variety.
Thanks.

WillyWorm
Senior Member
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Joined:Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:10 am

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by WillyWorm » Sat May 02, 2020 7:41 am

Hi welcome to the world of worms. This question is like so many other worm questions. The answer is “yes but”. Sunflower husks can be used as a food or bedding for your worms now the BUT it will take an age to break down. Roasted husk will take longer than fresh. The same applies to peanut and other nut shells. If you have a garden compost bin pop them in there.
Good luck to your husband with the cigs it is a painful process but well thought it.
If you have any worm questions just ask somebody will help.

Stay safe
Willy

qwerty
Junior Member
Posts:13
Joined:Fri May 01, 2020 7:16 pm

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by qwerty » Sat May 02, 2020 5:54 pm

Hi, thank you for a quick answer.
I do not have compost bin so I think I will let my local council collect and compost most of the husks. There are too many of them so will clog the wormery for ages.
What about grinding/soaking some of them and adding them as grit to aid worms' digestion, in similar way as egg shells advised in the leaflet? Would you think it is a good idea or shall I stick with crushed egg shells?

WillyWorm
Senior Member
Posts:699
Joined:Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:10 am

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by WillyWorm » Sat May 02, 2020 8:41 pm

Hi, yea you could use a coffee grinder too reduce them to fine particles. The outcome could be use instead of eggshells as a form of grit to aid your worms “digest” their food. BUT (always a BUT) your worms will only use a spoonful of this a week. If you use husks for grit what will you do with your eggshells???

WillyWorm

Barbara McGrew
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Re: Sunflower husks

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qwerty
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Joined:Fri May 01, 2020 7:16 pm

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by qwerty » Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:24 pm

OK, so it's beed a few months and everything seems to be going fine. I am about to add a third tray and start filling it (I started with double the number of worms).
I got access to lot of used coffee grinds and shredded paper. Everytime I add scraps to the bin I run them thru the blender first to break them up and mix them with coffee (1 to 1). Before adding the food to the bin I line the place with shredded paper ant then also place some on top so the food is covered. The idea is for paper to soak up the excess moisture and to stop the fruit fly getting in.
I started to wonder if I am not overfeeding the worms with coffee and paper at the expense of more nutritious food? Sort of wormy junk food? Is that the case or not?

WillyWorm
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Re: Sunflower husks

Post by WillyWorm » Sun Sep 13, 2020 12:28 pm

Hi sounds like things are going well, well done.
Used coffee grounds (UCG)are fine for worms. UNUSED coffee is very acidic and will injure your worms.

UCG are just outside of the perfect PH7 but the other scraps and paper will balance that fine.

I like to feed a diverse range of food. Worms like us can survive on a limited diet with few different sorts of food. But I believe like us they are fitter, healthier and function better if given a diverse diet.

Willy

qwerty
Junior Member
Posts:13
Joined:Fri May 01, 2020 7:16 pm

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by qwerty » Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:01 pm

Thanks for assurance :) .
I try to give them diverse food but I realised my household do not produce much of the right type of scraps. I even spoke to canteen staff at work and now they try to keep for me their scraps but, as they are quite busy and often forget, most stuff I get is the melon peels left after preparing snacks for workers.
Hopefully all that plus UCG plus paper will keep my worm healthy. They seem to be doing well, look healthy and very mobile, they are also multiplying in great numbers so I take it as a sign they are happy :). It was worrying me a bit if they will stay this way with this monotonous diet.

qwerty
Junior Member
Posts:13
Joined:Fri May 01, 2020 7:16 pm

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by qwerty » Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:12 pm

Oh, and I found perfect moisture mat if someone do not like to play with wet cardboard or such.
Poundshop does two round coco coir flower basket liners for £1. It fits perfectly in a bin, one as it is and the other cut in quaters to cover the corners. It keeps everything covered and worms love to burrow in it. It is quite tough, so far three months and still keeps whole. I am moving it from tray to tray when I add new one.

WillyWorm
Senior Member
Posts:699
Joined:Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:10 am

Re: Sunflower husks

Post by WillyWorm » Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:40 pm

Your worms will be fine on the diet you are feeding plus a few kitchen scraps. I often find worm food! Last week I collected two carrier bags of wind fall apples. Our local Tesco’s gives the children fruit, when they have eaten is many leave the peel/core in the trolly. If you can get a small amount of grass clippings you could dry them on the window sill or path, when dried they makes good worm food. Half a slice of bread, chopped up is also a good stand by.
There is an app call ShareWaste where you can ask for people’s waste veg to compost. This app allows you to say exactly what waste you will take, may be worth checking out the app is more active in some areas than others.
But remember what you are doing fine so there is no pressure to change.
Thanks for the heads up the the coco coir mats

Willy

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