Last summer I made two batches of twice fermented flake soil using this process:
Starting with 20 lbs of oak pellets, I added water and 5 lbs of whole wheat flour and fermented outside in my composter turning/mixing each day for 4 weeks. Then I added another 5 lbs of whole wheat flour and followed the same process for another 4 weeks. This process created 1 batch of flake soil suitable for raising my rhino beetles through pupation. I created two batches following this process and attempted to start a third at the end of the summer, but by week 3-4 of the third batch it started getting colder at night in August here in northern USA so I wasn't able to really get it heated up like it needed. So basically I got lazy and always intended to remove it and maybe use it for stag beetles but it stayed out there all year long, through the fall, winter and spring until now (mid-June).
Now to my question... Based on how it looks to you, is it possibly even better for rhino beetle larvae than my regular twice-fermented process? Or is it possibly too "digested"? It is very dark but it passes the smell test, no funkyness other than a slight hint of feet like I am used to with flake soil. At the very least I can keep it for breeder boxes rather than for raising larvae. Just curious to get y'alls thoughts. Thanks in advance!
Starting with 20 lbs of oak pellets, I added water and 5 lbs of whole wheat flour and fermented outside in my composter turning/mixing each day for 4 weeks. Then I added another 5 lbs of whole wheat flour and followed the same process for another 4 weeks. This process created 1 batch of flake soil suitable for raising my rhino beetles through pupation. I created two batches following this process and attempted to start a third at the end of the summer, but by week 3-4 of the third batch it started getting colder at night in August here in northern USA so I wasn't able to really get it heated up like it needed. So basically I got lazy and always intended to remove it and maybe use it for stag beetles but it stayed out there all year long, through the fall, winter and spring until now (mid-June).
Now to my question... Based on how it looks to you, is it possibly even better for rhino beetle larvae than my regular twice-fermented process? Or is it possibly too "digested"? It is very dark but it passes the smell test, no funkyness other than a slight hint of feet like I am used to with flake soil. At the very least I can keep it for breeder boxes rather than for raising larvae. Just curious to get y'alls thoughts. Thanks in advance!