Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

Kind Sir

Kind Sir

Well-Known Member
How long can veggies/fruits sit in bags in the deep freeze? Its extra cold in there, could they last a month or is that rediculous. It seems long nust curious.


Whats your guys favoirite bedding
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Kind Sir said:
How long can veggies/fruits sit in bags in the deep freeze? Its extra cold in there, could they last a month or is that rediculous. It seems long nust curious.

Whats your guys favoirite bedding
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I've kept some veggies in the freezer for 3 months. Lettuce, blueberries, strawberries, avaocado. They were fine.

I use a mix of peat moss, coco, and dried shredded leaves for bedding.
 
HelpHub

HelpHub

Well-Known Member
I keep my fruits and veggies in the freezer...until I use 'em. I try to practice First In First Out but I don't sweat it.

I make my initial bedding out of coco coir, egg shells, cardboard, neem seed meal, azomite...whatever you want to end up in your final castings.

I get my worms from Uncle Jim as well and if you use coupon code "UNCLE10" at checkout you'll get 10% off your order.

Not an agent of Uncle Jim's, just a happy customer on his mailing list.
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
I just started a worm bin 2 weeks ago and have a few questions if any of you can answer.



I started reading and answered most of my questions. :P

What about old moldy ammonia smelling cannabis? Is it safe to throw in there?
 
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calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Hello ye wise vermicomposters, great to find this thread!

I have just adopted a worm bin of a friend's that had gone anaerobic and caused wiggler armagedon.
Only like 20-30 worms survived, but by the smell of it, the bin is now recovering :wink:

I peeked in today and saw these white worm/caterpillar thingies:
P1010820.JPG

They're about an inch long and can wiggle along pretty fast, diving under the bedding & also digging themselves into the more earthy parts when I open the bin.

Anyone know what they are and whether good guys or bad?
Googling "white worm/caterpillar thingie" hasn't helped any... :shock:
Cheers!
 
Javadog

Javadog

Well-Known Member
It is not the noisiest of our threads, but an imprtant one. :0)

Dude....those look like Soldier Fly Larvae.....that would be most positive.

Lets see what the consensus is....they are just so big....
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
They are good in that they help break stuff down but bad if indoors because they will eventually mature and fly out of there.
Here is a page you can find more info at.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1669281/what-is-this-in-my-compost-bin


If it is soldier fly larvae then here is what I found on wikipedia.

Black soldier fly larvae and redworms[edit]
Worm farmers often get larvae in their worm bins. Larvae are best at quickly converting "high-nutrient" waste into animal feed.[15] Redworms are better at converting high-cellulosematerials (paper, cardboard, leaves, plant materials except wood) into an excellent soil amendment.

Redworms thrive on the residue produced by the fly larvae, but larvae leachate ("tea") contains enzymes and tends to be too acidic for worms. The activity of larvae can keep temperatures around a 100°F, while redworms require cooler temperatures. Most attempts to raise large numbers of larvae with redworms in the same container, at the same time, are unsuccessful. Worms have been able to survive in/under grub bins when the bottom is the ground. Redworms can live in grub bins when a large number of larvae are not present. Worms can be added if the larval population gets low (in the cold season) and worms can be raised in grub bins while awaiting eggs from wild black soldier flies.

As a feeder species, BSFL are not known to be intermediate hosts of parasitic worms that infect poultry, while redworms are host to many.[16]
 
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calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Wow amazing, there are people who actually use them en masse for composting - the world's full of wonders, not sure I'm in on that one (I don't have poultry lol)

Yeah they do look pretty similar -- but are way larger... so maybe it's a fly, but some other, bigger one?
In any case I think I'll be opening the bin near a window in a few weeks in case these grow up and become airborne ;)
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
What I like about my worm bins is when I take some of the castings out for tea or top dressing, the worms fill in the hole left behind with more castings. Seems like they want to keep their yard all level and stuff!!!
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
I've done much reading on vermicomposting in addition to doing it. Not questioning the red wiggler's potential to host a parasite. Let's not confuse that with red wigglers automatically have anything parasitic, however Just like you have the potential for a parasite, but you probably don't

I'm not recalling any paper or case study that even describe a parasitic problem with composting red wigglers. I would therefore say it's an unlikely event statistically

Would love references to this being an issue when doing common vermicomposting
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
I've done much reading on vermicomposting in addition to doing it. Not questioning the red wiggler's potential to host a parasite. Let's not confuse that with red wigglers automatically have anything parasitic, however Just like you have the potential for a parasite, but you probably don't

I'm not recalling any paper or case study that even describe a parasitic problem with composting red wigglers. I would therefore say it's an unlikely event statistically

Would love references to this being an issue when doing common vermicomposting
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Does this help? It is the #16 footnote off of wikipedia. I just skimmed briefly and it may have the info you are looking for if you use your worms for chicken feed. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/helminthiasis/overview_of_helminthiasis_in_poultry.html
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
That article lists quite a few hosts to parasites. Cockroaches, flies, moths.

I guess regardless of what you're feeding to an animal, you would want to make sure it wasn't contaminated. That's true for anything, not just a red wiggler

Again, it would be a shame if the take away from this thread was that red wigglers host parasites
 
hempstead

hempstead

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
That article lists quite a few hosts to parasites. Cockroaches, flies, moths.

I guess regardless of what you're feeding to an animal, you would want to make sure it wasn't contaminated. That's true for anything, not just a red wiggler

Again, it would be a shame if the take away from this thread was that red wigglers host parasites
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Unless you are eating them then I do not think you have to worry. If you are eating them then just be sure to cook them. Lots of meats contain parasites and that is why we cook them. Once cooked then the parasites are just added protein.:bigjoint:
 
Rrog

Rrog

Well-Known Member
I think the concern would be a parasites ability to be passed to the vermicompost and infect whatever you are amending

This is the aspect I have not heard portrayed as a risk. Again, not saying that you can't have some issue, but it seems might rare if it happens

The goodness of the red wiggler in from a compost is unquestionably worth any extremely remote risk. You're more likely to get infected through some other host such as a beetle or bird dropping
 
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