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Composting is a process that breaks down organic materials to create nutrient-rich soil. Worms are often used in the composting process because they help break down the material and produce castings (a type of worm poop) added to your garden or flower bed as fertilizer. If you want to know if worm composting is safe for all plants, then this article will answer that question and many more!

What Is Worm Composting?

A composting is worm composting. This process involves using worms to break down organic materials into fertilizer for plants and other purposes (like making soil lighter, adding nutrients). Worms are often used in this form because they can eat their weight every day! They also produce castings — a type of worm poop high in nitrogen — which can be added to your garden or flower bed as fertilizer. By the way, if you don't know what worm tea is, find out here.

What Plants Is Composting Not Safe With?

Some popular plants that are not safe with worm compost include strawberries, citrus fruits, and roses. These types of vegetation either have shallow roots or low tolerance levels for some bacteria from meat products. Castings rich in ammonium may also cause hazardous fumes when put around these plants.

Why Composting Is Bad For Strawberries

Worm composting is particularly bad for strawberries. These plants are sensitive to the type of bacteria that is produced during the decomposing process. It is also not a good idea to put castings in your strawberry garden because they can create hazardous fumes.

Why Composting Is Bad For Citrus Fruits

Worm composting is not wise when it comes to citrus fruit plants. These plants are mainly sensitive to the type of bacteria that is produced during the decomposing process. Castings can also cause hazardous fumes and be a fire hazard around these plants.

Why Composting Is Bad For Roses

Roses are not safe for worm composting because they have shallow roots or low tolerance levels for bacteria from meat products, such as ammonium. Also, castings may produce hazardous fumes when put near roses, making it a poor choice next to this plant in your garden.

What Plants Is Composting Safe With?

The best types of vegetation for composting include vegetables, herbs, and flowers. These plants can handle ammonium or nitrogen-rich nutrients very well due to their deep roots (castings), which will likely be used as fertilizer anyway!

Safe Vegetables To Compost With

Some of the safest vegetables to compost with would be green beans, squash, and green peppers. They have nitrogen-rich leaves that don't need to be composted for long periods to decompose correctly, so they are perfect for worm bins!

Safe Herbs To Compost With

Some safe herbs include chives, ginger root, parsley, or dill since these types of plants can withstand a little more heat than other vegetables. If you're looking for a plant with deeper roots (castings), try mint as it is very tolerant when exposed to ammonium levels, making the process go faster rather than slower down below ground level type of vegetable life most times.

Safe Flowers To Compost With

Some of the safest flowers to compost with would be marigolds, zinnias, and asters which are all annual plants that don't grow too deep.

Safe Trees To Compost With

It is safe to compost with trees such as cedar or pine since they decompose relatively quickly. However, avoid evergreens like spruce because their needles stay on the tree for up two years, so there is no way it would be suitable for worm bins!

Safe Weeds To Compost With

Some weeds can also be placed in your worm bin; however, make sure none of them has seeds if you're going to add these types of plants into your system. The best option when looking at this type of plant is dandelions since they have pretty yellow flowers, and it's easy to tell they won't produce any seeds.

Seeds To Compost With

Certain types of seed heads are safe to compost within your worm bin, for example, lilac and lavender flowers. You can also place seeds from plants such as daffodils into the system because they will not grow back after being picked! Just make sure that you get all plant matter off your flowers before adding them because this could cause some issues when it comes time to harvest the worms every month.

Seeds To Avoid

This is a great question! There are lots of plants that you should avoid adding to your worm bin, and some include all types of beans, including the shell variety, as well as peas and strawberries.

8 Tips To Successful Composting

  1. Tip one for successful composting would be to cover your food scraps with a layer of newspaper before adding any other material to the bin. This will keep fruit flies away in addition to retaining all the materials moist and ready for "digestion."
  2. Tip two is to make sure that you don't put cooked or animal waste into your composting system as this can promote bacteria growth which is not good when it comes time to harvest!
  3. Tip three would be not to allow pets inside your worm bin at ANY point during the process because they may carry diseases, such as roundworm eggs, that could contaminate everything in there. Pets should also never come into contact with soil from outside either - again because of disease risks!
  4. Tip four would be to make sure that your worm bin is always kept in a cool place. Worms can't produce heat themselves, so they need to take it from the environment around them, and you want to create an ideal environment for their digestion!
  5. Tip five would be not to put any waterlogged or wet materials into your composting system as this will promote bacterial growth, which could lead to mold growth, disease, etc.
  6. Tip six would be to make sure always to have some bedding in your composting system. This is because the worms need a place to rest, and it's also essential for their digestion!
  7. Tip seven would be not to put any citrus fruits, tomatoes, or other vegetables that release acidic fluids into your worm bin as this will compromise the pH balance of your soil.
  8. Tip eight would be to avoid putting meat scraps into your worm bin at all costs - these can attract pests like rats who could contaminate everything in there!

In Conclusion:

When it comes to the question is worm composting safely for all plants. The answer is, unfortunately, no. It's important to know which plants you can and can't worm compost with before starting your new compost! Be sure to reference the plants discussed in this blog post as a guide when you start your new adventure of worm composting!

Grow Bigger Plants with Simple Grow

Do you wish your plants would grow bigger? Was your garden less than it should've been last year?

If you're tired of growing puny vegetables and fruits, it's time for an upgrade...Simple Grow Worm Castings!

What are worm castings? Another term for worm manure. Why would you want to use it in your garden, raised beds, and house plants? Because it makes them grow bigger, faster and healthier...with no chemicals!

How do worm castings do this? It's like giving your plants a powerful multivitamin with everything they need to grow. Trace minerals, nutrients, and most importantly...worm castings are chock full of beneficial microbes. Why does that make a difference?

In recent years, we've learned the importance of gut bacteria for humans and know that it impacts so many different parts of our health. The same thing applies with worms. Gut bacteria from the worm's digestive tract gets into the soil from the worm castings and promotes plant health. Plants have a symbiotic relationship with the microbes from the worm's digestive tract. Plants respond to it and grow really big...really fast!

If you've never tried worm castings before, you owe it to yourself to give them a try. Instead of using traditional chemical fertilizers from the big box store, why not try fresh, certified organic worm castings this year? You'll be able to grow bigger, healthier plants that you actually can feel good about eating. 

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