I have not posted for a while because I wanted to think about the results I have obtained. First the low temp charcoal I ground and added to my one worm bed made a big difference in that bed. When both bins were full I emptied them. It was clear that I had been adding too much nitrogen. Because the worm bin without charcoal was septic. Most of the worms were right under the cardboard layer that covered the bed mixture. As I removed the worms they were in poor health. The bin material was slimy and clumped together. It was hard to screen and when I did there was much alfalfa stems in the material. The coffee grounds were very acidic.
Now the bed with one cup of ground charcoal added to the mixture each time the bin was feed was different. First, it did not have the supper heavy septic smell. The worms were in good shape spread around the bin. When I screened the material it was loose with more of the alfalfa stems broken down. Now it is true that by adding the charcoal the mixture was diluted. But if I had added an inert material such as sand would I have had healthy worms still? It could have been the adjustment to pH. However, the charcoal was rinsed and dried before it was ground to remove the ash. I am now drying the material and saving it for use next spring. It will be interesting to compare the material from the two bins.
The takeaway from this is I now know that ground charcoal can be used with vermiculture. It would also appear that it has an impact on the final product produced. If I have this material tested it will be interesting to know if there was a difference in available nitrogen. Did the charcoal act as a buffer absorbing ammonia when levels were hign and releasing it when levels dropped?
Tags: biochar, vermiculture
