SpicySativa's Organic Garden

[UnderMeSensi]

Hey spicysativa sorry to ask on your thread bit seems to be people here are knowledgeable on the worms. First off I love your thread, im into veggie and flower gardening and most obviously cannabis. My compost pile needs worms to break it down faster, can anyone give me a good DIY worm bin. Surprisingly google lead to me some strange ones. Thanks one love everyone

 

[smokecat]

Hey Undermesensi. Personally this is what I did and it works great and is crazy easy. I use two rubbermaid totes. Tote A has no holes. Tote B has a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom(so the worm pee etc will drip through) and around the sides at the top(so worms can breath or whatever they do). i put a couple of blocks of 2 x 4's in the bottom of Tote A. I put Tote B into Tote A and it sits up on the blocks. Then I add a 6" layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard along with some dirt/manure, then the worms, then food scraps, then a layer of cardboard/paper. then keep adding layers of food/newspaper as time goes on or pull back the top layer of paper and add the scraps under. Oh and if you use a lid makes sure you drill lots of holes in it! And every once in a while that bottom bin will need to be emptied(you can mix the liquid with water (I think 20:1) and use it on your garden. Basically I made mine like this, only with a base because it is indoors.http://www.sierra-worm-compost.com/building-a-worm-bin.html
hope this helps.
SC

 

[smokecat]

Sativa
Do you keep your bins outdoors?

 

[SpicySativa]

Welcome aboard, UnderMeSensi. Like I said in the first post, anything related to organic gardening, composting, veggies, etc is all fair game in this thread as long as we keep it positive.

I think the cheapest and easiest DIY worm bin is a simple 10-gal Rubbermaid bin with holes punched in the bottom and sides. You want the shallow ones; I think they are about 7-8 inches tall, or something like that. This should set you back less than $10, and it'll last forever. I have three of these going, and have had nothing but great results. Here's a link to a great page about worm composting:

www.redwormcomposting.com

This page is where learned much of what I know about worm composting. The author is a great guy, too. He was quick to answer a couple questions I asked him via email.

I'm curious... How were you planning to integrate the worm bin with your existing compost pile? How big is this pile, and what's it made of? I ask because you may have better (faster) luck by simply correcting the C:N ratio, moisture level, and aeration of your pile so it'll heat up to 140+ degrees F at the core. This will REALLY speed things up for you.

Either way, I HIGHLY recommend starting a worm bin for your kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, etc.

Good luck!

 

[SpicySativa]

My bins live in the basement. It's usual about 60-70 degrees down there.

 

[st0wandgrow]

Hey spicysativa sorry to ask on your thread bit seems to be people here are knowledgeable on the worms. First off I love your thread, im into veggie and flower gardening and most obviously cannabis. My compost pile needs worms to break it down faster, can anyone give me a good DIY worm bin. Surprisingly google lead to me some strange ones. Thanks one love everyone

Spicy knows his stuff ..... take notes.

As far as the compost bin and worms, here is what I would recommend. I have a couple compost bins going outside. I harvest one about every 3 months (weather permitting) and take the partially composted material and add it to my worm bins. They tear through it in less than a month and you end up with beautiful castings. Basically once the thermophilic process has subsided, you can add it to the worm bin. The only thing to keep an eye on is using manures. Even if they claim to be composted, you want to be cautious because a lot of animals will have ingested de-worming medicine which can persist in the feces for quite a while and devastate your worm colony. I found this out the hard way.

Good luck

 

[SpicySativa]

Hey Undermesensi. Personally this is what I did and it works great and is crazy easy. I use two rubbermaid totes. Tote A has no holes. Tote B has a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom(so the worm pee etc will drip through) and around the sides at the top(so worms can breath or whatever they do). i put a couple of blocks of 2 x 4's in the bottom of Tote A. I put Tote B into Tote A and it sits up on the blocks. Then I add a 6" layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard along with some dirt/manure, then the worms, then food scraps, then a layer of cardboard/paper. then keep adding layers of food/newspaper as time goes on or pull back the top layer of paper and add the scraps under. Oh and if you use a lid makes sure you drill lots of holes in it! And every once in a while that bottom bin will need to be emptied(you can mix the liquid with water (I think 20:1) and use it on your garden. Basically I made mine like this, only with a base because it is indoors.http://www.sierra-worm-compost.com/building-a-worm-bin.html
hope this helps.
SC

Just a suggestion. If your bins are wet enough that there are actually drips of leachate coming out the holes, I think you are keeping them too wet. That would mean the castings on the bottom of the bin (which should be the purest, highest quality material) are actually saturated. You may be flirting with anaerobic conditions. I like to keep my bins much drier and more aerated, so the castings are a moist, crumbly, granular material, rather than muddy muck. Not to be too graphic, but you can actually see that this stuff is made up of millions upon millions of little football shaped worm turds packed with goodness for your soil and plants. I shoot for the moisture level of a well wrung out sponge.

 

[UnderMeSensi]

Thanks Spicy! I have a ten gallon tote outside with vegetable scraps, leaf and coffee filters, and before I really I understood composting I had added soil into it and shaking it around. But if I build the worm bins it will look more clean
And will be In the shade on side of my house

 

[smokecat]

Spicy knows his stuff ..... take notes.

As far as the compost bin and worms, here is what I would recommend. I have a couple compost bins going outside. I harvest one about every 3 months (weather permitting) and take the partially composted material and add it to my worm bins. They tear through it in less than a month and you end up with beautiful castings. Basically once the thermophilic process has subsided, you can add it to the worm bin. The only thing to keep an eye on is using manures. Even if they claim to be composted, you want to be cautious because a lot of animals will have ingested de-worming medicine which can persist in the feces for quite a while and devastate your worm colony. I found this out the hard way.

Good luck

That's an interesting point about the de-worming in manure.. Hmm. Since you keep your bins outside, I will ask you. Do you have any problem with introducing outside pests when you bring it indoors? I currently keep mine in the basement, but I was thinking about doing one outside. Maybe I'll just use the outside one for my veggie garden.

 

[st0wandgrow]

That's an interesting point about the de-worming in manure.. Hmm. Since you keep your bins outside, I will ask you. Do you have any problem with introducing outside pests when you bring it indoors? I currently keep mine in the basement, but I was thinking about doing one outside. Maybe I'll just use the outside one for my veggie garden.

Just to be clear, I keep my worm bins inside in the basement, but my compost bins are outside.

I've never had a problem with bringing pests in with the compost. I have the bottom of my compost bins exposed to the soil/grass too as I want the beneficial indigenous microbes that have adapted to our climate to populate my compost and worm bins.

 

[smokecat]

Just a suggestion. If your bins are wet enough that there are actually drips of leachate coming out the holes, I think you are keeping them too wet. That would mean the castings on the bottom of the bin (which should be the purest, highest quality material) are actually saturated. You may be flirting with anaerobic conditions. I like to keep my bins much drier and more aerated, so the castings are a moist, crumbly, granular material, rather than muddy muck. Not to be too graphic, but you can actually see that this stuff is made up of millions upon millions of little football shaped worm turds packed with goodness for your soil and plants. I shoot for the moisture level of a well wrung out sponge.

I know what you're saying, and I am shooting now to make mine more like yours(crumbly). I don't have a ton of drippage(I have never actually use the "tea") but my thinking was that it allow better airflow and keeps anything that does happen to drip out from going on my basement floor, plus it insulates it and keeps it from drawing all the cold out of the floor and into the bin. I don't add water, just whatever water is in the veggie scraps. So you leave yours sitting on the floor? And no mess? I may change my strategy, and use the catch bin as my next worm bin! Thanks Spicy.

 

[SpicySativa]

Mine are on a little shelf in the basement. It's set up so crumbs from the top two fall into the third. I just put one of the unused lids under the bottom shelf to catch most of the crumbs that fall out (Shop Vac handles the rest).

Sounds like you've got it figured out. Just don't over feed (especially wet/sloppy foods) and use PLENTY of bedding, and you should be golden.

 

[UnderMeSensi]

Im going to keep mine for outside veggie gardening and hidden plants. Until I get better at it I will then do my plants inside that way

 

[SpicySativa]

Not a bad idea. I use mine for everything. House plants, veggies, cannabis; they all get some, and they all love it. I actually just top dressed each of my Vortex with about 2 cups of castings before I laid down the mulch layer last night. Watered it in with filtered tap water, and they were all extra "perky" this morning.

I'm still completely sold on mulching the tops of my pots. My strategy now is to wait one watering cycle after transplanting into the 10-gal pots before I lay down the mulch. The soil always settles a little the first time it's watered, so waiting on the mulch gives me time to top off with soil as needed, add a layer of castings, and top with mulch. Easy as that. Now my roots can enjoy every last bit of my soil without running into a dry, crusty layer on top.

 

[st0wandgrow]

Not a bad idea. I use mine for everything. House plants, veggies, cannabis; they all get some, and they all love it. I actually just top dressed each of my Vortex with about 2 cups of castings before I laid down the mulch layer last night. Watered it in with filtered tap water, and they were all extra "perky" this morning.

I'm still completely sold on mulching the tops of my pots. My strategy now is to wait one watering cycle after transplanting into the 10-gal pots before I lay down the mulch. The soil always settles a little the first time it's watered, so waiting on the mulch gives me time to top off with soil as needed, add a layer of castings, and top with mulch. Easy as that. Now my roots can enjoy every last bit of my soil without running into a dry, crusty layer on top.

I've gotta get on that too. I'm sure you've mentioned it already, but what are you using for mulch?

 

[SpicySativa]

I use "fine" orchid bark. It's basically small chunks of softwood bark. I was using the stuff sold by Black Gold (available at Home Depot, etc), but it only came in little bags. Now I've got a big ol' bag that I think is from E.B. Stone.

You might read that some people are worried about tying up nitrogen as the bark degrades (bark=carbon, so bacteria uptake nitrogen to round out their "diet"). I just don't buy that theory for indoor gardening... This may be the case outdoors in actual soil that has lower N concentrations, but I just haven't found it to be an issue whatsoever in 10-gal pots. The plants are only in those pots for about 3 months, and in that amount of time the mulch just doesn't break down much anyway.

 

[SpicySativa]

Give it a try, Stow. I bet you never look back.

 

[st0wandgrow]

I use "fine" orchid bark. It's basically small chunks of softwood bark. I was using the stuff sold by Black Gold (available at Home Depot, etc), but it only came in little bags. Now I've got a big ol' bag that I think is from E.B. Stone.

You might read that some people are worried about tying up nitrogen as the bark degrades (bark=carbon, so bacteria uptake nitrogen to round out their "diet"). I just don't buy that theory for indoor gardening... This may be the case outdoors in actual soil that has lower N concentrations, but I just haven't found it to be an issue whatsoever in 10-gal pots. The plants are only in those pots for about 3 months, and in that amount of time the mulch just doesn't break down much anyway.

Cool beans. So if I were to top-dress mid flower I would just scoop the mulch up, lay down my granules and ewc and then just spread the mulch back on top?

 

[SpicySativa]

Yup. That's how I do it. Just be gentle when you pull back the mulch. There will be lots of fresh roots growing in the soil right underneath.

 

[smokecat]

Not a bad idea. I use mine for everything. House plants, veggies, cannabis; they all get some, and they all love it. I actually just top dressed each of my Vortex with about 2 cups of castings before I laid down the mulch layer last night. Watered it in with filtered tap water, and they were all extra "perky" this morning.

I'm still completely sold on mulching the tops of my pots. My strategy now is to wait one watering cycle after transplanting into the 10-gal pots before I lay down the mulch. The soil always settles a little the first time it's watered, so waiting on the mulch gives me time to top off with soil as needed, add a layer of castings, and top with mulch. Easy as that. Now my roots can enjoy every last bit of my soil without running into a dry, crusty layer on top.

Oh man, I'm loving your thread. Great idea, I'm going to try this today!