Been messing aroud with some "bug juice" recently (cricket shit)

[Mister Postman]

Saw master thai's post below on bug juice (bug killer), and some mentioned they thought he was making a bug tea.. well here u grow... you want Bug tea, you got bug tea enjoy

Well the title says it all... I've been searching for readily available organic nutrient sources for my garden, and been experimenting with crickets, and zophoba larva with some success recently..

I bought myself 2,000, yes 2,000 crickets which I house in a rubbermade bin, and been feeding healthy dark leafy greens, fruits, and veggies.. These things eat anything with a water content.. Throw in a bannana and in a day or 2 bye bye banana LOL... throw in alfalpha meal, kelp, they eat it all, and the return is pretty damn good... It's been about 4 weeks now, and from these bugs i get about 2 cups of roughly sifted frass weekly.

What is actually being collected is the shit, and the chitlin rich shells the crickets shed as they grow.. The shit must hold a good npk with all the healthy fresh foods I'm feeding them as my tomatoes are taking off like never before LOL. And as far as I know or have heard the chitlin does wonders for the benificial microherd in the soil (General hydro's Chi is a chitlin foliar spray)

here is a roughly sifted sample.. I've been sifting twice. Once to remove the large waste pieces, and then again with smaller diameter strainer to seperate the poop from the skin shells. This pic is after the first strain so it holds some shed pieces.

At the time being I've been adding 1 tblsp per gallon to my organic bubbled tea. In time, after I harvest enough shit LOL I'll be trying it as a soil ammendment used similar to chicken manure..

Editoing a search online I was able to find 1 source for cricket shit, so if u wanted to try, you wouldn't have to even keep the bugs like I've been... this place must make a killing on the shit seeing how much I've been harvesting from 2,000 weekly...Here is a link to the place I found that sells it.. http://www.cricketpoo.com/

 

[Relik]

Hey Mister Postman! This is quite interesting, and could bring new ideas to the community! I've checked the link you provided, they state their cricket poo NPK is roughly 4-2-2, and excellent for composting! Seems logical to me that critters feeding on plants would excrete (sp?) some good stuff, however I wonder how that compares to worm castings (structure, water retention, fast/slow release of nutrients, etc)?

Keep us posted!

 

[lilo]

This is incredible Mister Postman!

What kind of environment you prvide thm with? What's like the texture of better seperated cricket poo?
Please, keep us posted.

 

[Mister Postman]

This is incredible Mister Postman!

What kind of environment you prvide thm with? What's like the texture of better seperated cricket poo?
Please, keep us posted.

I'll take some pics tonight showing how I keep them, and the finished product after sifting the poop out... but it's pretty simple...

I have them in 95qt sterilite brand bins or similar sized rubbermaid... Anything smooth sided can be used. You Just want the sides of good hieght so they can't jump out.. I use egg flats/inside cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls as hiding places.. They do best with lots of nooks, and crannies to hide in.

As far as temps you don't want them to cold or two hot so a 100 degree garage or outside in the summer is a probably a bad idea. 60-80 would probably be ideal. I keep them on my enclosed porch. I'm cleaning them weekly so the smell isn't to bad, but if your not cleaning the binds regularly and harvesting the poop I'm sure it can smell.. they produce a lot of shit for their size thats for sure LOL...

For food like I said dark leafy greens, fruits and veggies.. Different dried grains work well too alfalpha meal, oatmeal... In my case they are getting their water from the veggies, but if your feeding dry grains a damp sponge, or piece of potatoe cut up will provide them water. pretty basic. Of course keep their cage dry, and make sure you take perishable stuff out the next day if not eaten, so it doesn't go bad obviously. Fish food too.. I got them eating fish food/meal this week and they are lovin it LOL.

After the next sift it's just the cricket poop... It's dry unlike worm castings, and almost like small pebble granuals about the size of a large sand grains. I'm still in the experimental stages with using it, so I'm not sure if it would be better grinded to a powder or left as the granuals.

Glad there is some interest in this. I'll report as I try it in differnt applications.

 

[Deft]

I used to raise crickets for my lizards, they can stink!

 

[Mister Postman]

I used to raise crickets for my lizards, they can stink!

Dreft, were u actually breeding them, or just buying them young and raising them up? My cousin keeps a few reptiles, and the fish ate them up last week on my fishing trip.. Hell if my plants do good on the poop I'd like to try and breed a couple if it's easy? They really don't have much of a life span

The worms I'm using though... The zophoba (superworm).. They seem to live much much longer, but don't shit nearly as much as the crickets.. Poop has the same consistency though. Less work involved with keeping these as well.

 

[Human target]

postman - Add a few 4" diameter plant saucers filled with damp sand to your cricket pen. Fertilized females will lay their eggs in the sand. At 78F the eggs hatch in 5-6 days.

Thats all there is to it.
Keep sand moist, keep sand warm = baby crickets.

It would be wise to add a calcium supplement to their feed 1x weekly (for their health, not the plants) and to provide a constant source of moisture. Search the web for cricket gel.

Once you have a handle on crickets, you should move up to tropical cockroaches. B. dubia are an excellent communal species, highly prolific and will make you alot of poop. They will also not survive if they get loose in your home.

For anyone who's curious - I raise insects and other various arthropods for scientific study and research. Not very profitable, but rewarding in other ways.

 

[Mister Postman]

postman - Add a few 4" diameter plant saucers filled with damp sand to your cricket pen. Fertilized females will lay their eggs in the sand. At 78F the eggs hatch in 5-6 days.

Thats all there is to it.
Keep sand moist, keep sand warm = baby crickets.

It would be wise to add a calcium supplement to their feed 1x weekly (for their health, not the plants) and to provide a constant source of moisture. Search the web for cricket gel.

Once you have a handle on crickets, you should move up to tropical cockroaches. B. dubia are an excellent communal species, highly prolific and will make you alot of poop. They will also not survive if they get loose in your home.

For anyone who's curious - I raise insects and other various arthropods for scientific study and research. Not very profitable, but rewarding in other ways.

Thank you so much.. There is nothing to it huh..

I didn't have any sand so I used a moistened vermiculite/perlite mix. I was watching them for a bit (after smoking a fat bowl of PPP ), and saw a few crickets inserting the long things on their asses in the mix already, and kinda moving back and forth. I assume that's the female depositing eggs :wink: Aint that some shit.... Smoke a bone, and watch bugs


Roaches huh... Ewww LOL.. Don't think that'll go over to well with females haha.. Hey whatcha got over there in those bins... ahhhh ahhh nothing.... Oh Come on let me see.... Ahhh :jawdrop:

That's cool though you do research, and raise them.. I guess if I had a reason like that to keep them, I may actually be considerd cool with females LOL.. I'm into stuff like that though.. Why exactly do they not survive loose in the home? I would a thought even if not domestic inside the home away from the elements they'd have a chance, no? I guess not, you know better then I, but I'm interested exactly why?

Anyway here is a sample after the second sift. Is just the poop, and the smallest foriegn matter consists of food items dried greens,fish food, alfalpha meal, small shed pieces..

I just transplanted some rooted clones, so once I their established a bit more I'm gonna go ahead and give it shot, and see how they take it.. So far the tomatoes plants I tried it on took it without any problems.

 

[Deft]

Dreft, were u actually breeding them, or just buying them young and raising them up? My cousin keeps a few reptiles, and the fish ate them up last week on my fishing trip.. Hell if my plants do good on the poop I'd like to try and breed a couple if it's easy? They really don't have much of a life span

The worms I'm using though... The zophoba (superworm).. They seem to live much much longer, but don't shit nearly as much as the crickets.. Poop has the same consistency though. Less work involved with keeping these as well.

I'd buy a bunch and keep them till I ran out, dont think they had many babies. I fed them potatos cut in half. They seem to like things with lots of surface area to climb on and hide under like those recycled paper egg cartons.

Edit: I'm thinking in order to breed they need to be very happy and have some sand or some other substrate to lay eggs in like in nature.

 

[Human target]

Thank you so much.. There is nothing to it huh..

I didn't have any sand so I used a moistened vermiculite/perlite mix. I was watching them for a bit (after smoking a fat bowl of PPP ), and saw a few crickets inserting the long things on their asses in the mix already, and kinda moving back and forth. I assume that's the female depositing eggs :wink: Aint that some shit.... Smoke a bone, and watch bugs


Roaches huh... Ewww LOL.. Don't think that'll go over to well with females haha.. Hey whatcha got over there in those bins... ahhhh ahhh nothing.... Oh Come on let me see.... Ahhh :jawdrop:

That's cool though you do research, and raise them.. I guess if I had a reason like that to keep them, I may actually be considerd cool with females LOL.. I'm into stuff like that though.. Why exactly do they not survive loose in the home? I would a thought even if not domestic inside the home away from the elements they'd have a chance, no? I guess not, you know better then I, but I'm interested exactly why?

Anyway here is a sample after the second sift. Is just the poop, and the smallest foriegn matter consists of food items dried greens,fish food, alfalpha meal, small shed pieces..

I just transplanted some rooted clones, so once I their established a bit more I'm gonna go ahead and give it shot, and see how they take it.. So far the tomatoes plants I tried it on took it without any problems.

Yes, the long things are the ovipositor. Just keep the mix moist (slightly dryer than a wrung out sponge) and warm. Crickets have a huge species survival instinct and will always lay eggs, you're just upping the odds by giving them a suitable nursery.

Tropical roaches need humidity, heat, lots and lots of fluid to drink and a space that touches both their top and bottom. They will move constantly until they find a place that meets all of the criteria. IE - they won't stop to eat or drink until they find that special warm, humid spot that they can barely squeeze into. When they find that spot, if it doesn't have suitable foods to supply both food and hydration needs, they keep on looking. Enter problem number 2 - they can't climb vertical surfaces very well, and only adult males in breeding form have wings, so all this needs to be on the floor for them. They won't find a place like that very easily indoors, and will die of dehydration in a very short time. Outdoors, they will die at about 45-48 degrees F.

As for your castings (Acheta-culture has a ring to it ), I wouldn't sift any more of those goodies out of it! the tiny scraps of foodstuffs and exoskeleton are likely very good fertilizer as well. I'll bet it would make a wonderful brewed organic tea.

Keep up the good work and prepare for a cricket explosion

 

[Mister Postman]

Yes, the long things are the ovipositor. Just keep the mix moist (slightly dryer than a wrung out sponge) and warm. Crickets have a huge species survival instinct and will always lay eggs, you're just upping the odds by giving them a suitable nursery.

Tropical roaches need humidity, heat, lots and lots of fluid to drink and a space that touches both their top and bottom. They will move constantly until they find a place that meets all of the criteria. IE - they won't stop to eat or drink until they find that special warm, humid spot that they can barely squeeze into. When they find that spot, if it doesn't have suitable foods to supply both food and hydration needs, they keep on looking. Enter problem number 2 - they can't climb vertical surfaces very well, and only adult males in breeding form have wings, so all this needs to be on the floor for them. They won't find a place like that very easily indoors, and will die of dehydration in a very short time. Outdoors, they will die at about 45-48 degrees F.

As for your castings (Acheta-culture has a ring to it ), I wouldn't sift any more of those goodies out of it! the tiny scraps of foodstuffs and exoskeleton are likely very good fertilizer as well. I'll bet it would make a wonderful brewed organic tea.

Keep up the good work and prepare for a cricket explosion

Ahh I see now. Thanks for sharing your info Human Target. Your right having their needs lined up for them behind the walls, or on the floor of a home is very unlikely. Same thing with the domestic feeder crickets it seems.. They have a real high demand for water/food sources and the inside of a home is not an ideal enviroment for them to survive and procreate. They die pretty quickly not cared for, and I'm sure would rather escape to the outdoors then hang around inside the home..

I've been making it a point to feed them a diet that would be good used as ammendments by themselves, so your right those mixed scraps greens/exoskelton/alfapha meal/fish food are probably just as nutritionaly sound as the castings themselves. I havn't been removing anything else just the second sifting as shown is all i do.. Basically just trying to remove any actual decomposing cricket parts that may have been harvested (as that I'm sure stinks more then the poop alone), and leaving behind most of the small partical food scraps, shed skins, poop etc. te god stuff

That's how I've been using it though for the time being. Adding about 1-2 tbls per gallon in my bubbling organic teas, and I tried top dressing a plant as well.

 

[bounty29]

Good stuff Mister Postman, I've learned a lot about organics from your posts, thanks!

 

[Deft]

Shed exoskeliton comp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin

"Chitin is one of many naturally occurring polymers. Its breakdown may be catalyzed by enzymes called chitinases, secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, and is also produced by some plants. Some of these microorganisms have receptors to simple sugars from the decomposition of chitin. If chitin is detected, they then produce enzymes to digest the chitin by reducing it to simple sugars and ammonia.

Chemically, chitin is closely related to chitosan (a more water-soluble derivative of chitin). It is also closely related to cellulose in that it is a long unbranched chain of glucose derivatives. Both materials contribute structure and strength, protecting the organism"

 

[PHB]

Very interesting Mr. Postman. How did you decide on crickets and zophoba? (I'm gonna need to look those up) Are there guides for raising them that you started with?

Thanks,
PHB

 

[Mister Postman]

Very interesting Mr. Postman. How did you decide on crickets and zophoba? (I'm gonna need to look those up) Are there guides for raising them that you started with?

Thanks,
PHB

Oh yeah there is lots of info on the web.. All I did was google breeding crickets- or superworms and found lots of pages of detailed info on how to keep, and breed them. The worms are lil more difficult to get to breed as they have to morph into beetles. then you breed the beetle to create the worm. They dont sell beetles though, only worms so there is an extra step involved before breeding them.

I chose these as they are available in large numbers for order, and any place that sells reptiles/pets usually carries these insects for their food. I also had some experiance with keeping them in the past, so they were just the easiest to keep, and obtain for me.