I've had tons of butternut squash seeds germinate in my worm bin (about 50 of them) and I'm still picking them out, but butternut squash might be infinitely easier to germinate than the fruits you mentioned.

I'm also experimenting with avocado, as well as bird chile peppers, pear trees, and orange seeds. So far I haven't seen much yet

Thanks for sharing your experience, takadi.

I haven't had anything sprout in my bins yet, but I decided to try it. If butternut squash seeds work, maybe...

In order to justify my purchase of limes, I first made a key lime pie for the family (hoping to discourage their teasing about my obsession with my worm bin). Juicing those little limes was quite a challenge!

I cut up toilet paper rolls into little 1" rounds, then placed 9 of them in the bottom layer of my worm factory. I then put three seeds in each round & covered them with vermicompost.

Now, I just have to be patient. From all that I read, it should take about 3 weeks for the seeds to sprout.

How long ago did you attempt to start your seeds?

Keep me posted.

Lots of stuff germinate in my bins. It almost seems like I have a higher success rate than the seeds I intentionally germinate outside the bin. :)

Well I remember I "threw away" the squash seeds around mid to late January, and then the first ones started sprouting around early March/late February, so it took around a month. But then again, the stuff in the worm bin had to take some time to get digested by the worms so it would be surrounded by worm casts, and the seeds are also in complete darkness, so I bet if you used pure worm casts in some seedlings flats, you might get quicker results. I find that the seeds start sprouting like crazy once my worms start running out of food

sherm,

I have managed to germinate two acorns in my bin. as well as lots of pumpkin and butternut seeds. The small oak trees I planted but my tenant's dogs ate them up ;-(

Alex

So, my crazy plan just might work?!

Pyropunk, I think I remember reading about the acorns in one of your old posts (I've been reading a lot on this forum, and learning very much from everyone's experiences). Didn't you say that you threw the acorns in the bin during a cleaning frenzy? I remember reading it because I can totally relate.

Kioni, were you trying to grow a mango, or you were just composting?

Thanks, I appreciate your comments. My family think I've lost it--my husband calls me the worm whisperer.

sherm,

yea the DW gets these cleaning frenzies quite a lot ;-) She thinks I'm slightly obsessed with my worms and the kids think earthworms are my favourite animal ;-) But at least she sees the point in the recycling part of it - she's a geography teacher after all. She'll even feed them but doesn't like it when they "wave" at her ;-) That was when the old stack bin was going anaerobic and the poor worms were trying to escape. With my new flow through I have not had one escapee. (At least none that I know of)

On the germinating idea: in my experience you can throw pretty much any seed into a worm-bin and if it is viable it will germinate. I think the wet tissue paper or glass of water germination method is totally overrated and the resultant seedlings are generally too weak to plant out.

But maybe you can run an experiment for us. Take two avo-pips germinate one in a glass with water (the traditional way) and one in a container with VC and maybe even some worms (not so traditional). Then see which seedling survives the replanting better. If you are lucky you will have two avo trees!

Oh and let us know how it went.

Pyropunk

I would love to try that experiment, but I've already tried the "tradional way" with the avocado pit...I always end up with a very unappealing mess in my kitchen; not once did one germinate.

Now I wish that I would've tried some of my key lime seeds in a seed starting mix, so I could compare the results to the seeds that are currently in the bin. A little at-home science experiment.

It's been 5 days since I put the seeds in there, am fighting the urge to check on their progress. I hope it works, I'd love to have a key lime tree to add to my citrus tree collection, but they're very pricey.

Fingers crossed.

A great way to germinate seeds in a worm bin is to expose the top to light.
Use an old washtub or slop bucket, place some bedding and worms.
Put a drain in the bottom. Throw your heirloom tomatoes, citrus seeds, avocados, pineapple tops or almost any seed you wish to propagate. Keep in the shade and feed regularly, using foods that won't sprout and a light cover of shredded cardboard.
Almost every seed you throw in will propagate. Let the avocados grow to provide more shade and cooling. Pull when they get overcrowded. Works great with mangos as well.

I throw avocado pits in my bin all of the time and they constantly germinate. I threw in a peach pit that refused to germinate with toothpicks and a glass of water but last time i checked it was being invaded by a ton of babies. I'll have to check again soon.

Every time I throw a pepper core in the bin I get tons of seedlings. I pull them and throw them back down. I actually get beans that have been cooked for hours to germinate when I put the left overs in the bin. That amazes me. I made the mistake of putting potatoes in a bin and they rooted so well I actually considered making it a potato bin. I decided against it and now won't put the potatoes in there. Unfortunately, no key lime experience on my end.

"I actually get beans that have been cooked for hours to germinate when I put the left overs in the bin."

Wow

I find seeds germinate all the time but not pits(in my experience) they will stay put for years.

I think "pits" or stone fruit need to be chilled or frozen before they are viable for germination, but don't quote me on that

I'm enjoying this thread, esp because I've been noticing many unlikely sproutings lately. About six years ago, I nuked to total mush and froze some post-Halloween pumpkins. Put them in the bin last month and now they're sprouted.

What gets me is that fresh, un-mature seeds from stuff like pepper cores will sprout within days whereas saved/dried seeds I coddle on the windowsill come to nothing. From now on, the bin is germination central.

My germination/seedling mix is equal parts vermicompost, perlite, and peat moss. Sometimes I just replace the peat with all vermicompost. Success rate has been 100% so far (with the exception of tough germinaters like rosemary, which have been about 40 to 50 %)