Natural Solutions Thread
Recently ordered some black soldier fly larvae to be used in composting. I've researched them and have become fascinated in using them to convert organic materials into a food source.
Anyone else do this type of stuff? I also have some red wigglers to create some high quality compost and tea. Looking for some other species to do useful things with.
>>2116866
Here are some of the juvenile larvae that are at a life stage able to be fed to livestock like fish, reptiles, chickens, etc.
>>2116869
And the red wiggler worms that i'll soon have for my composting. they produce high quality microbe fertilizer and "worm tea"
>>2116893
Soldier flies are more or less harmless and red wigglers have already been introduced to nearly every garden decades, if not centuries ago.
>>2116893
Black soldier flies are an improvement to the ecosystem actually. the adults do not have mouth parts and only exist to mate and lay eggs, they do not congregate around trash or land on skin in order to eat skin cells.
The juveniles excrete a scent that is repulsive to other fly species and attracts the females to lay eggs nearby. They are a very attractive species to have for those reducing organic waste.
>>2116908
>Black soldier flies are an improvement to the ecosystem actually.
you're a legit retarded person.
>>2116909
>pervasive throughout much of the united states
>does not predate on any other species, just helps decompose
>very valuable ability to transform not only waste fecal matter but animal flesh into protein usable for human goals
>reduces pest species that congregate around human habitation
suck my dick senpai
Never heard of these for composting, they are cute.
Kinda on the topic of composting, im starting a vivarium setup for a gecko and got isopods and springtails to help break down the soil. Probably could use them in your compost bin too OP.
>>2116866
I raised them one year. The hard part is getting them established (adults hatching from the pupae, them mating and returning back to the bin to lay eggs in the corrugated). At the initial stage I got a lot of fruit flies and nematodes, but all it takes is a couple of egg masses and it gets easier. More maggots, more pheromones to attract the adults back. Once they get established and if you have enough food scraps they explode to several thousands of hungry maggots in the bin and it's very cool to behold if you like horror movies.
After that, when the quantity of compost gets to max capacity the tricky part is separating and retaining the maggots from the compost; this was kind of a mess for me, but the forums probably have better ideas now.
Someday I hope to get back into it, because I found them very cute after a while. The plan was to use them for feeding someone else's chickens but I got so attached to them I mostly let them alone to live their life cycle. They're the best, cleanest insects to have around in massive quantities. They're already native in most parts of the world, can't crowd out other native species, and birds go apeshit for them. Holding a handful of them is also the weirdest feeling, there's nothing like it.
>>2117562
Anyone know of anything else really cool and useful to grow? Vermiculture using compost worms are super useful if you have flora to be fertilized, and bees are really cool for pollination and honey.
>>2117646
At a local shop here in Nevada you have the option of buying large petri dishes full of adult lady bugs to spread around your garden and on your fruit trees.
Apparently lady bugs are super useful because they eat aphids and other shit that destroy plants.
