Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Feeding them on a schedule does not fit. They will let you know when they need food. I typically feed my worm bins about every 8 to 10 days or so. There is some fruit pulp sitting on the counter that I took out of the freezer this morning. Gonna feed it to the worms in my living soil by putting it on the dirt then covering it up with some damp cardboard.
 
Organicgrow42

Organicgrow42

Well-Known Member
Well right about the schedule I just meant I need to look out for it about every week. They will tell you by how much food is left in the container right?
 
Grandpa GreenJeans

Grandpa GreenJeans

Well-Known Member
When it comes to feeding any worm bin, you need to know how many pounds of worms you have. Worms will eat their own weight, so adjust accordingly. This is the #1 reason bins fail from going rancid, acidic or being to wet.
When you overfeed your encouraging those unfavorable conditions. Worms can still acclimate to an acidic bin but now your providing a more suitable environment for mites, ect.... these compete with the worms and the worms will suffer. Harmony is key in a properly balanced worm farm.
 
Organicgrow42

Organicgrow42

Well-Known Member
Ok so I waited a day and then added my slurry made up of parsley, 1 banana, a few pieces of celery, carrot, egg shells, and a half tbls of karanja cake. What do you think? Just some extra food scraps I had laying so I froze them then thawed and spread em onnnnnn.

I was thinking of not checking for about 5 days...this sound about right? Wait to feed til I don't see about any slop again?
 
Moe Flo

Moe Flo

Well-Known Member
I dunno but when I re-do my bin (10 gal) I add the worms to the bottom, then like 1000 worms is like a pound so I add up to 4 lbs of rinsed egg shells, coffee grinds and banana peels, that's added to one side. Also I add my amendments/guanos. I cover with a foot of soil for like 2 mo. It's usually done by then.
 
Last edited:
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Grandpa GreenJeans said:
I'm gone for ~10 days and yall blow up 4 pages.
I tried the tote way, it held to much moisture and heat. 8 bucks per tote? I used (2) 2x4x12. Think I paid 2.50/board
And already had the plastic screen.
Been feeding avacado, kiwi and mango. They love the mango!!!!!! Must be at least 1k under that 1 mango half.
View attachment 3621409 View attachment 3621411 View attachment 3621412 View attachment 3621413
Click to expand...
Hey Grandpa, is that perlite in your pics? If so, how much do you add to your bins and what's the benefit?
 
Organicgrow42

Organicgrow42

Well-Known Member
When the worms are not really doing anything w the slop, it just needs to further decompose I assume before they will feast?
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
New to worm bins, can I feed my worms blood meal, bone meal, greensand, Alfalfa Meal, and kelp meal to create some premium castings?
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
Rrog said:
Better to use a diversity of materials to compost. You'll get all the basics from food scraps.

Mineral powders like Greensand are cool to add. Fine N-charged biochar
Click to expand...
I'm working at a level of size that I can not produce enough food scraps to compost. I need to add food, something I can buy big bags of and add.
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
Hey Rasta Roy, get your friends to start saving you their leftover fruit and veggie scraps. Then chop them up a bit and freeze them. Take them out a day before feeding. That gives the fruit and veggies time to thaw out. Worms don't eat the food, they digest the slime from the rotting food. And since you froze their food, it will break down even faster for them to do their magic. Here's a pic of a couple dishes I just made up for my 2 worm bins. Into the freezer they go. Some old spaghetti squash with banana peels chopped up over top. And some herbal camomille tea with some of my maryjane tea on the top. Just sippin the cup now. I have one every day!!!IMG_9376.JPG

This is from the Red Worm Composting site. " it is actually the microorganisms growing on waste materials that provides the main source of nutrition, not the material itself – but of course the worms do manage to slurp up the rotting material in the process."
 
Last edited:
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
kkt3 said:
Hey Rasta Roy, get your friends to start saving you their leftover fruit and veggie scraps. Then chop them up a bit and freeze them. Take them out a day before feeding. That gives the fruit and veggies time to thaw out. Worms don't eat the food, they digest the slime from the rotting food. And since you froze their food, it will break down even faster for them to do their magic. Here's a pic of a couple dishes I just made up for my 2 worm bins. Into the freezer they go. Some old spaghetti squash with banana peels chopped up over top. And some herbal camomille tea with some of my maryjane tea on the top. Just sippin the cup now. I have one every day!!!View attachment 3633810
Click to expand...
Nice! The freezer thing is a good idea. I've got a traditional worm bin set up now for food scraps and the like. Buttt I get bored real easily so I also set up two other worm bins with black peat for bedding mixed in with some of my favorite garden amendments mixed in. Trying to do my own twist on what the 14 day worm castings guy does except I'm not trying to rush them in 14 days, I'm still using red wiggler, and I'm using organic garden amendments instead of worm feed and chicken mash. I'm gonna get it lab tested afterwards to see how much of that black peat got turned into quality castings and to get the guaranteed analysis. Then I'm gonna do some test runs and some more bins and I'll let yall know how it goes.
 
kkt3

kkt3

Well-Known Member
I have some squash that's been laying around for a while and some has gotten quite rotten. At what point is it to rotten to add to my worm bins? Check out the pic and let me know if this stuff is still okay to add to the bins.IMG_9462.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top