I wouldn't add that stuff to a worm bin. I'd stick to the usual things: vegetable matter, newspaper, the odd bit of egg shell.

Cheers,
Marshall

any ash is not a desireable addition to worm bins due to it's alkalinity - charcoal also contains a variety of unfriendly chemical byproducts that are not desireable in any compost - certain soils do exhibit improved structural properties from the addition of charcoal and experience a freeing up of some nutrients, but it's unlikely you have tropical soil
activated charcoal is used for a filtering medium, but no use for it in composting

Bill

Okay, thanks all. I also spoke to a friend of mine on sunday, and the information I came away with was "Harm or no, there is no benefit to putting it in the compost. Save it for the flower pots where it may improve drainage."

As for the ashes, when I have enough to do anything with they go in the outhouse or the harden.

Thanks for the posting such an interesting question. I enjoy considering alternate ways to do things. I looked at the web site you mentioned and read about their suggested uses. I've used regular charcoal briquettes for most of the uses they suggest (other than absorbing electro-magnetic waves. Interesting.) The bag of briquettes I bought at the grocery worked without a hitch.

But I don't think I would use their charcoal or any other for my worms.

Their chart with the improved harvest of soybeans was interesting, but hype. They said nothing about the quality or consistency of the soil before they amended it. They did not compare using charcoal with other soil amendments such as just plain old ordinary silica sand, for example. The aeration put into the soil by using coarse sand as 1/3 of the total volume benefits the roots of the plant with aeration, and thus the overall health and productivity of the plant is improved dramatically. Use of granite sand that typically contains more than 50 trace minerals might produce even better results. An ideal soil has equal parts of silt, loam, and sand. Silt holds nutrients, loam holds moisture, and coarse sand prevents compaction, holding air in its crevices and between particles.

They didn't compare what the soybean plants would have done if they used compost, worm tea or castings, either. I wonder why. I wonder what the chemical fertilizer was.

They claim their charcoal has minerals, but fail to say which ones. I can't help but wonder if those minerals are available in leaves, also. If so, the minerals will be available to your plants much sooner from the leaves.

They forgot to say that some people swallow charcoal to purify their digestive track, but there are other products such as bran, psyllium husks, or any food with roughage that are superior for those purposes also.

All in all, I think they did a rather effective sales pitch. But as in all sales pitches, they only gave their side of the claims and omitted the information that would indicate that there are better and more cost-effective ways to achieve many of their suggested uses.

If you want to use charcoal in flower pots as a light-weight amendment instead of perlite, that would be a good use. You could also consider pine bark mini-nuggets or composted milled pine bark soil conditioner. It would last as long, has neutral color, and would be more economical.

John