Compost Bin Tomatoes
One of the potential downsides of worm composting is that you can end up with a lot of viable seeds in your finished compost (seeds that would typically be killed during thermiphilic composting).
At the end of the growing season last year I chopped up all my tomato plants and put them in my bin, along with a large heap of partially rotten fruit. It was therefore no surprise to see some tomato seedlings pop up this year - one of them literally growing out from the side of the bin!
Just for kicks and giggles I decided to let them grow! I was actually quite curious to see how well they would do without any further assistance from me.
Interestingly enough, even though they started a good month behind the tomatoes I planted in the garden, and even though they’ve received no additional fertilization (my garden tomatoes have slow release fertilizer sticks), they are going completely gangbusters!
The plant growing out of the bin actually broke when we had some high winds not too long ago - yet it still continues to thrive!
I’ve always wanted to test out a system that combines an active wormbin with some sort of vegetable bed, and this little experiment has only increased my desire to do so!
The fact is, I’m not a huge fan of separating worms from compost. I’m really happy with the cool separation method I tested out not too long ago (described in this post), BUT I tend to procrastinate when it comes to actually using all the worm compost I create.
Having an integrated composter/plant growth system might be the perfect solution for lazy composters like me!!
I can’t wait to see what sort of tomato crop these plants produce!
I’ll be sure to keep you posted!
Technorati Tags: worm bin, composter, compost bin, composting, worm composting, vermicomposting, tomato, growing tomatoes, fertilizer, vegetable gardening
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Written by Bentley on August 2nd, 2007 with
4 comments.
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Bentley
Bridget
#1. October 26th, 2007, at 4:45 PM.
My husband is convinced that tomato plants (and any other nightshade-related plant) should not be added to compost as it is toxic. I have never noticed any problems previously but have been keeping them out simply to keep him happy. Clearly you have not had any problems with this method. What should I tell him?