Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
After sifting the tea bag only worm bin bedding three times, I removed the sum total of 27 - yes! - 27 cocoons. This would seem to confirm that there was a lot of die off of adult worms after they had reached maturity and laid cocoons because most of the 316 worms in the tea bag only worm bin were not mature.
However this is in stark contrast to the number of cocoons in the cardboard only bedding as we can see, and there are at least 100 very young worms still remaining.
Starting with 30 worms, after 23 weeks, all being well, I would expect something in the region of 600 worms in the bin - and that's pretty much what we had in the cardboard only bin: 500 I removed yesterday and at least 100 remaining plus tons of cocoons!
So what can we conclude?
Worms thrive in a cardboard only worm bin. They grow to maturity, reproduce like crazy and are healthy and agile. I'm not sure of the quality of the casts compared to a mixed bedding and food stock bin.
Worms do not do well in a tea bag only worm bin - but why? The ph of both beds was 7 so that wouldn't be an issue - and yet when the worms were fed only tea bags they seems to experience a high amount of die off and the population of the bin was only about half of what I would have expected to see after 23 weeks.
Could it be that the bedding is just too nitrogen rich for the worms as tea bags are 'green' and there isn't enough carbon in the bed for them? But then nitrogen dominated material is richer in bacteria and the worms should be happy with that!
Some tea bags did remain in the bedding, which we know contains a form of plastic and glue - but most of the tea leafs were removed from the bags before being added to the bin so I doubt the small number of bags actually in the bin caused an issue. It doesn't seem to in any of the other bins!
So where does that leave us? I'm not sure to be honest - but this is two for two with tea bag only worm bins where the worms failed to thrive. So there is definitely something going on there - but what?
Could it be the process that the tea leaves are put through - something in the blending process - bleaching - some additives to the blend - that in small amounts don't affect the worms but in large amounts create an environment that, while not exactly toxic for the worms, certainly isn't conducive to them flourishing?
Have you had similar experiences? Different results? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
After sifting the tea bag only worm bin bedding three times, I removed the sum total of 27 - yes! - 27 cocoons. This would seem to confirm that there was a lot of die off of adult worms after they had reached maturity and laid cocoons because most of the 316 worms in the tea bag only worm bin were not mature.
However this is in stark contrast to the number of cocoons in the cardboard only bedding as we can see, and there are at least 100 very young worms still remaining.
Starting with 30 worms, after 23 weeks, all being well, I would expect something in the region of 600 worms in the bin - and that's pretty much what we had in the cardboard only bin: 500 I removed yesterday and at least 100 remaining plus tons of cocoons!
So what can we conclude?
Worms thrive in a cardboard only worm bin. They grow to maturity, reproduce like crazy and are healthy and agile. I'm not sure of the quality of the casts compared to a mixed bedding and food stock bin.
Worms do not do well in a tea bag only worm bin - but why? The ph of both beds was 7 so that wouldn't be an issue - and yet when the worms were fed only tea bags they seems to experience a high amount of die off and the population of the bin was only about half of what I would have expected to see after 23 weeks.
Could it be that the bedding is just too nitrogen rich for the worms as tea bags are 'green' and there isn't enough carbon in the bed for them? But then nitrogen dominated material is richer in bacteria and the worms should be happy with that!
Some tea bags did remain in the bedding, which we know contains a form of plastic and glue - but most of the tea leafs were removed from the bags before being added to the bin so I doubt the small number of bags actually in the bin caused an issue. It doesn't seem to in any of the other bins!
So where does that leave us? I'm not sure to be honest - but this is two for two with tea bag only worm bins where the worms failed to thrive. So there is definitely something going on there - but what?
Could it be the process that the tea leaves are put through - something in the blending process - bleaching - some additives to the blend - that in small amounts don't affect the worms but in large amounts create an environment that, while not exactly toxic for the worms, certainly isn't conducive to them flourishing?
Have you had similar experiences? Different results? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
