Composting with maggots (soldier fly larvae)
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Haven't thrown away any raw waste in 5 years, thanks to composting with maggots. Also have a very nice veranda garden going that is fertilized with the composted material the maggots make.
Skip to minute 5:42 to see actual maggot composting.
I started composting for the first time recently and at first, not much was really happening. Then the black soldier fly maggots found my bin. At first I was worried because all the composting videos talk about vermicomposting, getting the balance of green and brown right, blah blah blah. Plus, I was a little grossed out at the sight of writhing and wriggling maggots. But, then I saw just how fast they chew through the scraps and I was amazed. Now, I am kind of proud of my maggot bin.
Wow👍
I made one too.. Dumped fish wastes along with kitchen waste... Soon there was more houseflies all around and few bs flies.. What could have gone wrong?
@@amalanzar9689 Now that the weather is cooling since I live in the northern hemisphere, I have noticed that the BSF activity in my bin has decreased significantly. Where they used to sit on the surface, they now burrow underneath, and food doesn't disappear as fast. They clearly prefer hot climates, not just warm. During the hot summer months though, houseflies didn't stand a chance because any food I threw in literally disappeared in just a few hours. So if you are struggling to grow your BSF colony, it could be too cold. Also, one tip to attract them: I first noticed the BSF larva in my bin when I added watermelon rind. They seem to really love that, and I would avoid addng things like fish, meat, or dairy until your BSF is quite large. But once your BSF colony is large enough, you can literally dump anything in there. The only things I have noticed that they don't eat are citrus and the skins of certain fruits like apples and avocados, but those just compost normally anyway.
@@billclinton6040 Now this is really really helpful... Thanks a lot ❤️
your method definitely worked. I made myself a bin.. it was a success.. wild bsf came by everyday to lay eggs.. but I got really grossed out.. so I added soil to change it to cold compost.. haha.. after 4 days, I went to turn the bin.. the maggots are still alive and chonky.. and the wastes are pretty much gone to be honest.. I can barely see scraps.. I added dry leaves while turning to absorb the excess moisture..
@@LinLinLin11 Awesome! I'm happy to hear it worked for you. If I may offer some advice, maybe just use dry leaves on top instead of soil. That will give the maggots more air and they'll be able to work faster.
I feed the homeless over in Yokosuka using food that normally would be discarded. While we strive to use everything, occasionally we'll be left with stuff that we can't use, so I toss it into a composter so we don't waste anything.
We accidentally had maggots get into a batch of our compost, but man am I glad we did; they ended up composting faster than literally anything we tried, so I HIGHLY suggest the maggot method.
Those grubs you’re throwing over the railing are the end product that most people are after with BSFs. You can sell the pupa (the black ones) to anyone who raises backyard chickens, and get big bucks for them.
You know, I had been thinking about that. It would be sweet to ramp up the scale and start a feed business on the side.
When the maggots turn into fly, they will get inside your A/C vents & inside your house.
@@TamFor1234phone That does happen sometimes. A couple will get in. But they are fairly slow flies and easy to catch. I just put them back outside.
5:04 when you eat school lunch and you make it home from school the juice on the table wasn’t grape juice
wonderful!
I guess your neighbor's down there catch those maggots through windows and ducts and wonder where are those maggots comming from.
great to fish with,,,crappie love them,,,brim & sun fish also
They are leathery enough that they wouldn't come off the hook, too.
I looked in my rotating bin by Miracle Gro and I saw a bunch of maggots for the 1st time. I have grass and have shredded brown paper as well as paper towels and toilet tissue and paper towel rolls that I shredded. I have a lot of grass and a little dirt in it yet I still have some maggots. It looks VERY gross so that is the reason why searched UA-cam for a video regarding them. Thanks for letting us know that it's a good thing, but I'm not looking forward to any maggots hanging around and I'll be glad when they fly away. I have two compost bins going at the same time. One is probably ready because it is dryer but moist like crumbled soil so I'm ready to use it. I don't know if I want to continue to see and what I saw today in the bin with the majority of the new foods. I have been juicing so I dumped my pulp into that the bin and I think that's when I attracted so many pesty maggots. I will cover them again with more paper and grass, so hopefully that will deteriorate them in stop the stinche. Thanks for your video. I hope I'm doing the right thing. I'm just trying to get a better quality of vegetables with more nutrients.
you can minimize the maggots with lyme
will the maggots cause problems in the garden beds?
Nope. Maggots don't eat living plants, so they aren't a problem in garden beds.
Love this. Thank you 😊
Let’s all get back to basics the best thing that I could of done was to introduce them to my compost my tumbler is so hot and breaking it all down within 3-4 weeks for those that are concerned keep moisture to a minimum and add lots more dry matter such as shredded paper and dry leaves.
Just remember when we are getting back to basics nature calls if a animal dies in the unknown first the wild life will eat then the rest decomposing is organic matter that falls upon it then maggots, you just can’t stop nature.
I love maggots
Don't you add brown (carbon) to your compost to balance the green (nitrogen)?
I don't, but that is just because of space constraints. And I am just doing this as a way to deal with kitchen waste. If I had a big yard, though, then I would add grass clipping and leaves to it.
Nice sharing Like 👍
thanks for the video. Very informative.
That's really gross! But... I discovered maggots in my compost bin yesterday and I panicked, which led me here. In my research, I learned that maggots are ok --- but still gross. I live in the suburbs and we have a pretty big yard. Our compost bin is on the side of the house, out of sight, next to our rain barrel. I can't imagine having that right on my patio! Since you don't have a yard, where do you get your "brown?"
Brown?
Chris Ott dead leaves, etc.
@@etownump still curious!
Paper,tissue,cardboard,woodchips,hamster bedding are also considered brown
Nice video btw
10:30 where did all the maggots go from this bin? how do you remove them? What about their eggs?
Maggots become flies when they become adults, and then fly away.
Also lol I have the same composting bins; scored them at Homes.
While adding the composted soil to plant, should we kill the maggots with any chemical, arent they harmful for plants?
I don't think the maggots eat living material.
how about the smell, how can you fix it?
Hey man im making a compost bin. It rain and didn't cover it now is very moist and theres thousands of flies and maggots. Did i ruin it ? Is very black. Since it was wet and moist i went ahead and added brown leaf waste with two bags of coffee grind
I am by no means a compost expert, but in my experience maggots don't seem to indicate a problem with the compost, aside from it being unsightly. They will help break stuff down, and surely their waste becomes compost. However, the compost you get will probably not look or act like soil. It might be a gloopy mess, unlike compost that microbes and worms produce, which is fluffier and drier. But the gloppy mess can still go in the ground. Just cover it with dirt.
Regardless of how things get broken down, I think that as long as they are broken down they will make a good amendment to soil.
What do you do with the compost water from the bins?
I pour it into my planter boxes.
@@etownump why did you murder the larvae by throwing them down the building before they hav wings ?
u can always crash them or just bury into planter to be extra fertilizer.. those were ur compost... the energy goes into the larvae.. and u throw them away ? effectively u throw part of your compost away. lol
@@andrewyek kill them? The larvae seek out a dry places, and then eventually flies emerge out of the larvae shell. If you put them back in the compost, that might kill them.
Fishing bait.
I wonder how fish would find these leathery things.
Wouldn't they eat each other? I heard someone saying they eat themselves. Thanks ks for answering last comment.
They don't seem to eat live stuff, so no problem.
you said that they produce the compost mostly in liquid, do they also produce like a mud compost? and if so, how you get them out?
You don't take the maggots out. They act as bird food when you add the mud compost to the plants.
Yuck
Wouldn't it have helped to put them back inside the bucket? They looked like they were too cold. Thanks for the video, spread out the compost into the bottom of the entire tote. Spread soil over. It helps.
Once they've left the bucket it seems to mean it's time for them to pupate into files, and it seems like they like dry places, so I toss them and let them find a spot to do their thing.
That's Right 👍 they don't want to be in the bucket (s). Their on to the next life stage.😊 Probably some birds have noticed your offerings too. Lol. Everything needs to eat. Also If You have some farmers/nabiors near by that have chickens they might buy those from you or give you some fresh eggs in return❤ Great farm. Excellent video. And that lettuce looked 😋 yummy too.. love from Mississippi
Those are soldier fly larvae
does your bin stink while it's in the process of composting ?
It varies, but for the most part yes, though It's not very noticeable when the lid is down.
I too having the same problem,iam scared,plz how can i get rid of ?
How they will? How much days they are going to stay here? :| (my compost also have these; they are in their very first stage)
It seems the maggots take about a month or so to leave the compost bin, though I can't be sure.
If there is no more compost, will they start attacking red wriggler worms? How do I get rid of them in my red wriggler worm farm?
Maggots don't eat other living creatures. They won't eat your worms.
Those are black soilder fly larva
I mean yep not yet
Aren't you scared of them that they would multiply and would get inside your home? I thought that no insect or worm would be able to get inside my compost pit because I kept it inside my kitchen and I have never ever seen any insect there I always keep it clean and still after that there were worms in it ewwww! I wouldn't even think to make another one again. I love plants but that shit is nasty.
Maleeha Muhammad , over the years maybe 10 to 20 maggots have found their way into my place, presumably when the sliding door was open. All that happened was they hid somewhere, turned into a fly, and then the flies flew outside.
Not a big issue.
how bsf survive winter?
They just stop moving and eating in the winter. It's like they go into hibernation. But then in the spring, when things warm up, they start moving again.
Ahhhh! the smell...
Uhmmm... do you add some water to the compost???
Orrr it's just their byproduct??
No water added. All the liquid is a byproduct of the food waste.
@@etownump Ohhh😧 Interesting! Is it good for liquid compost for plants? or it might cause diseases to plants?
I might add this to my composting project aside from using red wigglers.
@@ScarletJannaStaAna Well, I'm not sure. I had the liquid tested for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, but unfortunately the levels were low. So the liquid isn't really a fertilizer. So even though I do put the liquid in the soil, I don't know if it's actually good or bad for the plants.
@@etownump But what I'm gonna do with the excess water? Is there any uses?
Don’t house flies also come?
The Water you got from the bucket of the compost, can it be used to water the plants?
Yes. Well, I do. But you should dilute the liquid with water first.
when you add/put the compost in the ground , do you do it with the maggots and all? ?
Yeah, if there are still maggots in the newly made soil, I'll put them in the ground, too. They seem to be able to crawl out.
thank you very much... i have some maggots in my compost bin and dont think its from the black soldier fly, does it make any difference? i dont add meat to my bin mostly greens and some coffee grinds?
@@ameliajordaan3438 I don't think it matters if you have different maggots. However, typical house fly maggots are kind of gross. Lol. The soldier fly maggots, since they are dry and leathery, they don't gross me out.
What to do with the maguts so that it will not turn into fly?
They DO turn into flies. And then the flies come back and lay more eggs and make more maggots and the maggots eat the food. A full cycle.
And what about other houseflies, which get attracted?
Interestingly, I've never seen maggots from normal houseflies, which I think is a good thing since those kind of maggots are gross - in my opinion.
Perhaps those kind of flies prefer to lay eggs on meat and feces, and not decomposing plant matter.
@@etownump i have heard that there is no problem in dumping meat and fish wastes also...Maybe we should restrain dumping those in the initial stages
yet fastest way...
What could be faster? 24 hrs from food to "dirt" is pretty good.
We've had a few of these maggots and they fly by our compost heaps 🧐😳😂. My two roosters were there so often and were very happy to eat them😋. I still don't know where they came from 🤔. I would like to build such a breeding facility myself at some point 🤔🤔🤔
Those maggots are definitely a great source of free food for chickens.
Oh, that smell.
no no no
Isn't it smelly
It smells when you open the lid, but when the lid is down the smell isn't bad.
O_o
Ewwwww!
Yuck🤢🤮