Composting with black Soldier Flies

[mrcrabs]

Hello ladies and gents, i just want to share my composting style. Black Soldier Fly larvae is what I use to compost, they are voracious eaters, very effective decomposer of organic wastes. BSFL in a compost system can reduce volume by 50%.

BSFL Are a sustainable resource of protein for reptiles, animals and human consumption, if your into eating bugs. (One day I have to give it a try) at the pupal stage of there life cycle. Larvae also produces another valuable resource called FRASS, it’s an odorless residue that can be used as an organic fertilizer and is what saturates my soil mix, but there’s other valuable resource, Amino acids, CHITIN and LIPIDS, can be extracted from bsfl, they are (dried)32% protein, 37%lipids , 19% minerals, 9% chitin

I harvest, dry and grind my larvae at the last stage before they pupate, which has the highest % of the mentioned above.

A little goes a long way, my plants love it.

Eggs laying females are attracted to rotting fruit ,veggies and manure

Pics of eggs and fly’s

Here’s some newly hatched larvae

Hope everyone enjoyed, any questions let know, I love bug talk.
Will be posting on how to build a Bsfl bin , attract and harvest soon, Thanks everyone have a blessed day
@BudBrother @organicgrower4m @Packee there so many I forgot tag away my friends

[mrcrabs]

@zparkie2 @tdubwilly @justgrowin @txcanna @growernick. @doobienoobie @hoppiefrog @missiles @imsickkid

[imSICKkid]

That is just sick!!!

[imSICKkid]

I’m glad I get to watch you do this and learn through pictures…cause my ass damn sure ain’t

[mrcrabs]

No problem brother, there is others another option, buying insects frass , it ranges from 25$ for 2 pounds or 4 pound depending the suppliers, and depending what insects is being used , they also have different npk ratio, now the super soil I make that I haven’t seen around. Later I will also post about my roaches!!!

[mrcrabs]

All 3 clones have been feed with roach compost and insects frass, no nute burn or deficiencies, the only other thing I supplement is coconut water once a week every Monday, just feed coco water, then regular rainwater, until next Monday repeat the coconut water, insects frass and roach compost is giving very sparingly once a month

[doobienoobie]

I’ll be following along as well. I’ve thought about a compost bin of some sort for a while. And with my new room I’ll hopefully be having lots of plant material.

[hoppiefrog]

What is the top dress? Bamboo?

[mrcrabs]

It’s cattails,

works great as mulch @hoppiefrog

[hoppiefrog]

Have u ever had mold or bug issues or does it need sterilization?

[mrcrabs]

It driest fairly quickly and can’t quite answer, this is my first go with it but haven’t seen bugs or mold, it’s fairly water resistant

[txcanna]

Looks like some shit they served in a Natzi concentration camp

[mrcrabs]

Here’s what you’ll need to get a bin started. I used old pallets and up cycled

These are the tools needed, miter saw (optional) Circular saw, grinder, tape measure, drill, (air nailer: stapler optional).

Photos are self explanatory, but if any questions I’d be happy to answer any questions

I stapled my boards leaving a gap for air, once squared of I drilled deck screws fir extra support

Now I had an old piece of metal roof that became the top fir my bin and added a chain for support and the bin is ready for soil

[Growernick]

Cool setup!

[mrcrabs]

Thank u sir

[BudBrother]

On the subject of store bought frass, anybody have a favorite and why?

I have a bag of 2-2-2 beetle frass purchased from my local farm supply. No other info on bag
Thanks, I have been considering making a bsf bin outside to produce more frass more economically @mrcrabs

[mrcrabs]

Sorry can’t help you there @BudBrother I’ve never bought any before but I’ve seen black soilder fly frass with npk value of 3-2-4 . I’m guessing different insects has different npk values.

[doobienoobie]

Very nice setup. How many pallets did that take? I might need to get this started soon.

[mrcrabs]

I used on big pallet and a small one that I got donated from the food drive. Picked it the best pieces @doobienoobie. There’s a season just like growing, I’ve got a month left, probably won’t get a huge harvest, would’ve but lost most larvae to the heat wave that hits us, not all is lost tho, they all decomposed into my soil mix, so I have composted insects frass and uncomposted insect frass, which brings different fungi and bacteria to the table👍

Here’s a map where Bsfl have been located In the wild

[doobienoobie]

Looks like Texas but not here… yet lol.