Silkworms

[Cruciform]

blah. double post.

[meow_mix450]

its worth a try, give us an answer once ur done. I have just froze the leaves and once i take them out they become all dead like, it doesnt look healthly, but i havnt tried feeding it to them

Meow

[CarlC]

The problem with freezing is you are killing the cell structure of the plant. Atleast that what I think I remember reading. I am no plant expert.
To be successful with the freezing you would have to find a way to remove the water I would think.

But then again we come back to not using just one food. There are so many differant items that can be raised with alittle effort. Stick insects, mantis, grasshoppers, houseflies, roach's, waxworms, superworms and the list could go on and one.

Carl

[DragnDrop]

I've used thawed mulberry leaves a few times over the winter. It does work, but like Carl said, the cell structure is destroyed. All that really means is the cell 'explodes' when the water inside freezes (typical of freezing water, it expands, popping the cell). Thawed leaves are mushy, but the worms ate them. Just don't put too many leaves in at one time since they do go moldy fast once thawed. I found it worth drying the leaves a bit with a paper towel to remove any water from the ice crystals.

[meow_mix450]

well would throwing leaves in a bag and vaccum out all the air work? Its one of those machine things. Or would that still break the cell structure?

Meow

[DragnDrop]

Any moisture in the cells will expand, so you'd have to pretty well dry them to a crisp. Also, dried leaves have to have some water restored since it's the only source of moisture for the worms. The easiest is to freeze them, dry them a bit before feeding so they're not soaking wet, and feed the leaves in small portions. Or use the recipe to make the artificial chow from the dried leaves. I did find the ingredient list once while doing a search, but didn't save it since it looks like too much hassle for a 'kitchen- challenged' person like me