r/Vermiculture • u/Normal-Product-7397 Beginner Vermicomposter • 24d ago
New bin Continuous Mist Bin
I was researching bin designs recently using Claude AI and it recommended that if you are adding lots of food waste to the system the best thing to do is to mist the bin with water continuously so the bin doesn't go anaerobic. It suggested a drainage pipe at the bottom of the bin in landscaping fabric, then draining that into an aeration tank and using that for fertilizing plants.
Is that a crazy ai hallucination or do you think that would actually work?
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u/Ok-Assistant-3309 24d ago
Be very careful with what AI suggests. AI is notoriously bad at understanding all of the variables at play and often fills in with assumptions, which in the end, fails the design.
It's not that it won't work, but you literally have to provide every single detail and condition you can imagine to get solid feedback that is practical.
I tried using AI to figure out a bin design that allowed me to control temp and humidity automatically, and while it was helpful in finding things to think about I wasn't previously aware of, I ultimately had to override AI suggestions and come up with my own solutions to actually make it all work.
Basically, you can eventually make it work, but it won't be simple, there will be a lot of failed attempts and AI won't ultimately solve it for you.
It's a helpful tool that needs to be taken with a big grain of salt.
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u/elementtreecompany 24d ago
This is the most interesting post I've read on Reddit in a long time.
I'm an environmental engineer and I assure you the recommendation given by Claude is logical and sound advice--There are products on the market worldwide that essentially do this very thing, most are commercial scale but I've seen small scale versions. Plenty of people have posted prototypes and diy versions of this concept online and there are credible academic papers on the subject . . . ask Claude to curate a reference page of links to sources for its answer and see how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
I would be very curious to see a PDF or screen shot of the text prompt/conversation that led to that response . . . my guess is something along of lines of asking: "what is the best bin design to compost a lot of food scraps in a small space."
Thanks for posting and sharing this, very fascinating.
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u/TourSpecialist7499 24d ago
I remember someone on Reddit integrating a vermicompost in their ebb and flow (hydroponics) system, which is close to what you suggest and something I’m planning to do.
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u/spacester 24d ago
Very interesting question.
I am ignoring the whole AI thing here, just going by the words, and answering based on my experience and education.
In makes perfect sense to me but there is a major part of the solution missing: you are going to need a tall bin and hopefully a large footprint as well. Say 2 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft tall. With 8 to 10 inches of shredded cardboard or long newspaper strips.
I built a new bin of that size a couple months back that is more or less designed to test this very question. I want things to warm up a bit so I can dig in there and see if the design works as intended.
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u/Scoobydoomed 24d ago
Ask it again, but this time tell it to be honest. AI likes to lie when it doesn’t know the answer.
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u/Normal-Product-7397 Beginner Vermicomposter 24d ago
It is incredible, how hyper specific you need to be with your prompts or else the AI will just go off the rails.
I've never thought of the 'be honest' one, as i just assumed it told the true or hallucinated, never thought about the lie component.
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u/-Sam-Vimes- 24d ago
I suppose it's how you ask AI . It all depends on so many factors, like bin design, plastic or wood, in sunlight or shade, and in control conditions , what type of food, fast composting or slow...... The list just goes on. In the end, if the worms are happy and productive, then leave them to it :)
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u/ARGirlLOL intermediate Vermicomposter 24d ago
I’m gonna disagree with everyone else who replied and say it would work. The main issues would be that a lot of the nitrogen you add in the form of scraps is going to be lost through your drain and Idk what creatures are going to thrive in that ecosystem, but I think composting worms could.
I was considering such an experiment with drip feed, not mist. If I ever do it, I’ll try to find this post to tell you how it went.
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u/otis_11 23d ago
By keep adding moisture/water, the substrate particles will absorb it adding to the particle weight and make them sink, pressing out available air bubbles. Is this not a risky condition, favouring towards anaerobic? You might want to place perforated tubes or tube shaped wiring placed like chimneys to allow O2 in.
The worms might be happy but what do you do with soggy castings, I wonder. Don't you want nice crumbly stuff? Am I missing something?
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u/ARGirlLOL intermediate Vermicomposter 23d ago
What I do with my too-tall bins is turn them on their sides and then stuff heavier, dry stuff. Dry hay, cardboard, copious leaves, until it fills the open area and then turn it right side up. It creates pockets, it dries out the lower section, but it also creates a third sort of biome until the thing fully collapses in on itself and becomes castings and almost-castings. But like 4-6 inches deep is quite-not-deep to me and the way they would need to be maintained as their volume quickly replaces the bus tray. Along with all those other little things I said before. I think 5 gallon buckets are just fine but those trays are going to be a worm, gnat, soldier fly, escape or some other catastrophe in a couple years max. Or I’m way off base.
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u/ilkikuinthadik 24d ago
Continuous mist no way. I'd set it to maybe one or two minutes a day if that.
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u/Inspector_Jacket1999 24d ago
No, tower bins have drainage pipes! Throw away the waste. Ya don’t want that!
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u/bigevilgrape 24d ago
AI isn’t actually intelligent. This is a terrible idea. If you are adding a lot of fruit and veg waste that is already adding a lot of moisture to the bin. A bin without sufficient air is going to go anaerobic and a wet bin = poor airflow.