Vermicomposting - a thing to consider

Cheshireplant.... I don't mean to sound glum...but 100 percent castings will not work. The reason why - is they are very dense (heavy) for their size. Basically, Marys roots will not be able to easily spread through them - not light / fluffy enough. They would be like clay after a few good waterings. Sorry...
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However, Worm Castings are a great amendment - just limit them to 30 percent in your soil mix and Mary will thrive.....
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Keep it Real...Organic.....
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I will attest.... I put around 40 percent worm castings and my roots ended up eaten by fungus gnats due to poor drainage....

My reccomendation: use sand in your mix if you use worm castings at all...

right on everyone.
will follow, but since i have clones coming out of my ears i am going to try a whole bunch of percentages and such

That must look kind of funny, you, with clones coming out of your ears.

yeah, it's kinda embarrassing ...

You made me giggle.

Ohsogreen, I hope i am not hijacking this thread in any way. I was curous if you could answer a couple of questions about vermicomposting for me???

I started a compost pile about 4 months ago, I used 1 large garbage bin and poured about two bags of steer manure, and a old compost pile that consisted of food scraps, rabbit droppings, and Miracle Grow (All-Purpose soil, I believe it was).

I emptied off sections of the soil, airating it by hand (clean of course), then combining food scraps in sections......dampening the soil slightly, then placing the rest in a hole dug in the center.

My question is this:

a. Am I doing this right so far?? I am trying to create the ultimate home for them (I hope)

b. What type of wormwould be best for me to use???? Red wigglers, nightcrawlers, or earth/dew worms???


Sorry if I intruded OSG,

BW

Buddy_Williams said:

Ohsogreen, I hope i am not hijacking this thread in any way. I was curous if you could answer a couple of questions about vermicomposting for me???

I started a compost pile about 4 months ago, I used 1 large garbage bin and poured about two bags of steer manure, and a old compost pile that consisted of food scraps, rabbit droppings, and Miracle Grow (All-Purpose soil, I believe it was).

I emptied off sections of the soil, airating it by hand (clean of course), then combining food scraps in sections......dampening the soil slightly, then placing the rest in a hole dug in the center.

My question is this:

a. Am I doing this right so far?? I am trying to create the ultimate home for them (I hope)

b. What type of wormwould be best for me to use???? Red wigglers, nightcrawlers, or earth/dew worms???


Sorry if I intruded OSG,

BW

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BuddyWilliams.... The the key to a good worm bin is layers & air. If you take your large trash bin & drill dozens of tiny air holes all around the outside, using the smalled drill bit you can find, that helps the worms allot. Then get some (oak, maple or similar tree) leaves or shread up some newspaper. Don't use the colored or glossy pages. Put a two inch layer (of moist paper or leaves) in the very bottom, then layer two inches of your compost/bunny manure mix on top of that, repeat this two of three times - then add worms. Redworms are the best composting worms.
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By layering you provide better air availability to your worms (which makes a healthier environment for them) and helps to prevent things from becoming too moist in your bin (overly moist bins - bred anerobic bacteria).
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By only putting a few layers in, your worms will convert it to casting faster - plus harvesting your casting is easier in smaller amounts. I'd harvest the castings every two months.
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To harvest them, just spread out a tarp or large piece of cardboard and dump out your bin. Within minutes the worms (who don't like light) will travel to the bottom of the pile or hop out of the pile & start moving around.
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I always have some moistened shreaded newspaper handy, that I can throw quickly back into my bin - so, I have a place to put the worms that go traveling from the pile. I just moisten my hands with water, pick um up and put them into the fresh bedding. Then I go to work, scooping up my worm castings and shifting them through a shifter made with plastic neting with 1/16 inch openings - to remove any worms still hanging out. Your worm castings will be very dark (almost black) and dense (very heavy) compared to soil. Put all the unprocessed materials back into the bin when your refill it.
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The other advantage of the worm bin only 6 to 12 inch deep, is as you add veggie scraps, they are not abandoning the bottom layers and only feeding/living in the penthouse (of an overly filled worm bin).
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Hope this helps...
Keep it Real...Organic....

I'm almost recalcitrant to say this, but my Ghetto Sistah has the most rockin' worm pile I've ever seen, and she puts ALL paper products in it. This was the look on my face when she told me about it ---> "Wot?!?"

Hey OSG! Just stumbled on to your thread nice job! It always helps to have someone that knows what they are doing posting good stuff here.

I had a question though I am running hydro have you ever heard of using worm tea in hydro? I have a bin in the garage and one in my room that i use for my clippings. see here https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/102249-diy-grow-room-worm-bin.html
So i have the juice just don't know what to do with it.

Thanks

SParky

That worm juice (made with freshly squeezed worms!) is black gold. You can dilute it, start out like surreyman, I think he's the one who said he dilutes 10:1 (worm juice).

Seamaiden said:

That worm juice (made with freshly squeezed worms!) is black gold. You can dilute it, start out like surreyman, I think he's the one who said he dilutes 10:1 (worm juice).

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Ah but is that used as a tea for soil or as a full on hydro set up?

That's what I used for growing hydro tomatos,now using it on my peas and they love it.

Worm Castings are great - everyone should use them in some form.

Ohsogreen How many worms can live in a ten gallon rubbermaid, half full of soil and bedding materials ? How much worm manure would they generate and how long would it take ?

OIsmoked12 said:

Ohsogreen How many worms can live in a ten gallon rubbermaid, half full of soil and bedding materials ? How much worm manure would they generate and how long would it take ?

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OIsmoked12..... 2000 redworms will comfortablely live in 5 gallons of bedding. 2000 redworms would generate 12 to 16 ounces of castings a day. You need to wait at least 20 to 30 days before harvesting them. To make it worth your time.
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The rule of thumb with worms is, they generate 50 to 75 percent of their body weight, per day, in castings. 2000 worms equals about two pounds (total weight). So, that is were the 12 to 16 ounces a day figure comes from. This is if you feed them weekly.
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Hope this helps....
Keep it Real...Organic....
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this is a really good thread

i actually had a 5 gallon bucket with compost and worms in it - in my apartment - before i started growing. i did it to help save the world one step at a time- save some space in the garbage dumps.

But now i have a good excuse to use the castings...i am going to use them when i transplant for flowering. one problem i did have was a HUGE amount of fruit flies would breed in my worm farm, even if i covered the fruit/veggie scraps with soil. so i moved the farm to my storage space.

i'd just take an old shirt and strech it over the top of the cover.. it would stop the flys or at least keep them to a minium

thats a great idea - will do it.

meanwhile i made a fruitfly trap

I cut a water bottle in half, inverted the top upside down inside the bottom half - like a funnel.

sealed the cut edge with tape, put a nail hole in the upside down lid, poured some red wine in it - caught all the fruit flies in my grow room.

so basically i can take a 5 gallon buck...buy 1000 redworms.....put them in the bucket with a bunch of wet newspaper and food scraps and they will give me worm casting in 3 months? and i should just dump the whole thing out and then collect all the worms and use the rest of the stuff on my plants.