Sounds good. I'll raise 'em up too and see. Is it good to put a computer fan blowing outward to get oxygen in or would that dry it out too much?
honestly, i just let mine air dry til they get nice and crispy, and then i mortar and pestle them.
I crush and dry toast 5 or 10 mins in a fry pan till they turn brown then grind. someone on RIT said it makes the calcium break down faster and the parts that turn brown are calcium and the other parts I think said are K.
I've heard that too, but I'm pretty sure eggshells will still provide plenty of calcium without being charred, maybe will just take longer to break down.
i would think it would make some of them available. probably a great long term release, i'm sure it takes a good bit of time before even they break it down.
I dont see why they'd find it warmer outside the bin than in. Mine are in my basement with no problems.
Thanks for the thoughts CanadaD. It's like they're looking for warmth so they go down through the holes and then theres no going back then so they either sit and wait for me to scoop them back in the top bin or they try whatever they can in a bit of a panic and start huddling or climbing. I somewhat wish I hadn't drilled drain holes at all. Lot's of people mention too wet is a problem but I actually think it may be on the dry side. For one I have no leachate. I don't think pH is way off, but I felt my used soil I use might have salt build up in it. When they calm down I think it's either when it warms up outside or when I feed, I'm not sure which.
Do y’all know if earwigs will outcompete worms for food? It seems like my worm population really dipped. I see a lot of very fat and full earwigs like at least an inch long, and I’m wondering if that’s the case. It started when I gave them a lot of leaf mold. There were not worms escaping it. pH of the castings is around 7 so I don’t think the soil got out of balance. I did feed them a lot of fruit (strawberries, avocado, and cucumbers) but would give spinach and kale as well. What do y’all think?
Copy and Past:
They told us in boy scouts that ear wigs crawl in your ears and eat your brains. Hence their name.
i thought you were doing that like two weeks ago lol. what happened? Glad to hear they are responding
@MustangStudFarm, do you ever take a temp measurement in the pile? My basement worms seem less than happy when my guestimate is it's 65F. I heat them up a bit and their much happier.
That was the plan but I decided to try a change a few more variables first and wait a few days between each change. Then it got cold as shit and I said aha, time to move it by the heat!i thought you were doing that like two weeks ago lol. what happened? Glad to hear they are responding
No what they do is crawl in your ear deep enough where it's dark and warm, then they scratch away at the surface of your skin inside your ear canal. Once they scratch enough away they lay their eggs in the wound and exit the ear. Your body then heals over the eggs and acts as an incubator by keeping them warm and moist until they hatch. When they do hatch they scratch their way out of the wound and are free to go about their lives. You ever get a bit of an itch on your ear.. deeper then you can reach?
Jesus Aitch! Come to think of it I have! So I thought it was bullshit, but it was half way true.
