DIY worm/compost bin with pics...

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
hah.. I grew with alpaca manure for a couple yrs, reaaally good stuff, but actually the best is rabbit
alpaca is good too, but it's not as good as rabbit, rabbit is KING when it comes to manure...
VERY high phosphorus and the fact that they mostly eat alfalfa pellets...
Good shit man.. literally
I drive by an alpaca farm/wool harvesting farm, every day in fact
my dog LOVES alpacas, it's hilarious
just be aware of the typical llama that protects them..
those fuckers are MEAN... and they can spit a friggin kilometer
alpacas are sweethearts though, they come running up to see us when they see my dog, and she's a 50 lb pitbull
buuuut that's why they usually have a llama there.. cuz those fuckers are territorial and mean as hell
Thats funny. My dog likes cows. He does not chase them, but he whimpers when we pass a cow field...
Hey, what you were saying about kelp. I have a freshwater lake close by and I was trying to find the actual names of the plants, no luck. The best thing that I could find is composting pond scum. I dont know how this could compare to kelp?

I found the name, Eurasian watermilfoil.


http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/pond-scum-garden-fertilizer.htm
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting that link, good info. That would be a nice addition to the compost pile.
I think that most of these plants are invasive and we would be doing lakes a favor by collecting it! I know that every time that I go swimming, we come across this stuff in bulk... I think that Grease said that he tried to compost kelp once and it smelled like fish carcass? I think that it was bad enough that he don't want to talk about it lol...
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Thats funny. My dog likes cows. He does not chase them, but he whimpers when we pass a cow field...
Hey, what you were saying about kelp. I have a freshwater lake close by and I was trying to find the actual names of the plants, no luck. The best thing that I could find is composting pond scum. I dont know how this could compare to kelp?

I found the name, Eurasian watermilfoil.


http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/pond-scum-garden-fertilizer.htm
i'd imagine it to be not nearly as loaded with micros and such, the reason is because the ocean is so loaded with nutrients, but I don't know man, I have NO idea
side note, I used to grow aquatic plants in my aquarium, waaay back in the early 2000s, I would sell anubias, and different types of rhizome based slow growing plants, they sell for quite a lot online.
had a lil ebay thing going on
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
I think that most of these plants are invasive and we would be doing lakes a favor by collecting it! I know that every time that I go swimming, we come across this stuff in bulk... I think that Grease said that he tried to compost kelp once and it smelled like fish carcass? I think that it was bad enough that he don't want to talk about it lol...
yeaa bull kelp and kale... those are the WORST things to compost..
even fish carcasses on their own didn't smell as bad.
the friggin kale smells EXACTLY like a rotting deer carcass
ugh....
nothing smells as bad as kale decomposing
the other thing is the bull kelp took forever to breakdown
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
It would be great if I could source most of my soil amendment for free! I think that I am almost there.
you can always mix in your compost to your old soil later man
it's not picky
and that rabbit poo is PERFECT... you can use that with a lil kelp meal for the entire grow if you wanted to.
I know a dude that does just that, either alpaca or rabbit manure he uses.
if you got a good leaf compost going, along with your wormbin and the rabbit compost?
you'd literally need NOTHING else minus maybe kelp meal
What would it mean if my old soil is heating up underneath my worm bedding? The 1st stall that I made was 1/2 old soil on bottom and the top 1/2 was pre-made worm bedding(coco coir) with living worms... I have a steaming worm bin again and the food scraps feel like they have been cooked lol.
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
i'd imagine it to be not nearly as loaded with micros and such, the reason is because the ocean is so loaded with nutrients, but I don't know man, I have NO idea
side note, I used to grow aquatic plants in my aquarium, waaay back in the early 2000s, I would sell anubias, and different types of rhizome based slow growing plants, they sell for quite a lot online.
had a lil ebay thing going on
My friend from Santa Cruz was BIG into salt water aquariums, he was the one that helped me build my air-lift compost tea brewer. He said that it is the perfect environment for certain type of shrimp and he might build himself something similar. He was always selling different types of coral, just cut a chunk off and it would grow. I am picturing something similar to cloning.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
It would be great if I could source most of my soil amendment for free! I think that I am almost there.

What would it mean if my old soil is heating up underneath my worm bedding? The 1st stall that I made was 1/2 old soil on bottom and the top 1/2 was pre-made worm bedding(coco coir) with living worms... I have a steaming worm bin again and the food scraps feel like they have been cooked lol.
how hot?
and is it tarped? how deep?
anything organic and wet will sorta create heat on it's own
I imagine your old soil still has nutrients in it
probably the nitrogen that's doing it
i'd personally prefer a mix of your old soil and the bedding as the wormbin base, I like it that way because the castings stay a lil looser, instead of all claylike and packed
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
how hot?
and is it tarped? how deep?
anything organic and wet will sorta create heat on it's own
I imagine your old soil still has nutrients in it
probably the nitrogen that's doing it
i'd personally prefer a mix of your old soil and the bedding as the wormbin base, I like it that way because the castings stay a lil looser, instead of all claylike and packed
130F... You told me before that I didnt have enough compost in my soil. I thought that this was an indicator that I still had amendments in my soil that have not broken down?
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
I have been trying to turn the pile everyday since it is getting hot. The rabbit manure only bins are only 85F-90F and ambient temp is 79F today.
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
i'd personally prefer a mix of your old soil and the bedding as the wormbin base, I like it that way because the castings stay a lil looser, instead of all claylike and packed
Should I go ahead and add my old soil to the rabbit bedding if I want it to be a worm bin? I have about 100gal left.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
130F... You told me before that I didnt have enough compost in my soil. I thought that this was an indicator that I still had amendments in my soil that have not broken down?
that's pretty hot
maybe it's piled too high?
or maybe the sides don't breathe enough?
it's hard to say, it's not bad, really, I imagine the worms will migrate away from it, remember they are composter, they are accustomed to things creating heat.
my pile is steaming hot, and I have TONS of reds in there, they just stick to the edges, but I don't have my pile enclosed like yours, so maybe that's why it's getting hot
weird that the rabbitshit isn't getting hot must be WELL composted
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Should I go ahead and add my old soil to the rabbit bedding if I want it to be a worm bin? I have about 100gal left.
yea you could do that, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything
just remember whats in what, that way when you re-assemble your soil after the compost pile is done, it won't be too rich
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
well i'm sober enough for the two of us, so you are good there
i'm NEVER high on this site, always at work
sorta sucks really
I tried to get a job at the post office last year starting at $25/hr and I was getting 70% from the VA at the time $1,400/mo. I could have got the job and still have 70%... They found me unemployable instead and gave me 100%. I get $4k a month to do nothing now, kind of a blow because I thought that I was going to do more with my life lol... I do have plenty of time for my kids. This is how my daughter drives her power wheel.

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