Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

[giglewigle]

im just looking ultimatly to provide all the traces and stuff i figure buy the time it gets to the soil it will be more quickly available idk i just dont want 2 screw around with all these diferen amendments and stuff

 

[giglewigle]

i may just use the dolomight lime iv got as im boke as fuck atm lol i i cant waight to harvest it eather and stick it

 

[Chunky Stool]

i may just use the dolomight lime iv got as im boke as fuck atm lol i i cant waight to harvest it eather and stick it

You are on the right track, and growing shouldn't cost a lot of money. This year I grew a couple of lbs cannabis outdoors using whatever I had on hand. It turned out very nice -- and I spent zero on electricity. It might not be as good as indoor weed, but my cost was minimal.
Got two 6-footers left. Gonna chop one today because it's having "issues", and will probably bring the other one indoors to finish under a 600w halide.
If I had to pick 2 favorite amendments, I'd go with crab shell and kelp. Fairly balanced NPK + plenty of cal-mag.

 

[giglewigle]

You are on the right track, and growing shouldn't cost a lot of money. This year I grew a couple of lbs cannabis outdoors using whatever I had on hand. It turned out very nice -- and I spent zero on electricity. It might not be as good as indoor weed, but my cost was minimal.
Got two 6-footers left. Gonna chop one today because it's having "issues", and will probably bring the other one indoors to finish under a 600w halide.
If I had to pick 2 favorite amendments, I'd go with crab shell and kelp. Fairly balanced NPK + plenty of cal-mag.

i maneged to get some sour kush witch i believe was out door was way better smoke that any thing iv ever had ill probly just get the kelp meal in all honesty tho i may well just ad vegie scraps n stuff id love 2 nerd out but i think for now id be better off sticking with the basics and then ill have a decent base of what works and sutch

 

[Mohican]

You can soak the eggshells in vinegar for a week and then dilute the vinegar with water and pour that on your soil.
Use Google Chrome browser and it will spell check for you as you type.

 

[giglewigle]

You can soak the eggshells in vinegar for a week and then dilute the vinegar with water and pour that on your soil.
Use Google Chrome browser and it will spell check for you as you type.

i use google crome i only have acces 2 a tablet is this an option still thanks for the tip

 

[giglewigle]

also doas any one know any thing about eart worms i wish to attract them to my raised bed

 

[Fastslappy]

also doas any one know any thing about eart worms i wish to attract them to my raised bed

Bury half rotted food items about 6 inches or more down ,leave it alone they will come , next time it rains collect some locals.

 

[Chunky Stool]

also doas any one know any thing about eart worms i wish to attract them to my raised bed

If there's food, they will show up.
Worms really like melons...

 

[Fastslappy]

I've read that u shouldn't mix red wigglers & the locals
I Now know that to b true earthworms should b in soil not a worm farm
the red wiggles r the best , fastest at making ewc
Get them happy it's surprising how fast they will eat

 

[calliandra]

Ah but you don't actually want them for your worm bin?

also doas any one know any thing about eart worms i wish to attract them to my raised bed

A magical way to get more earthworms is to mash up food scraps / plant debris etc, like for a worm bin feeding, and then really mix that with the top layer of soil in your raised bed so there are no clumps of food. Cover it all with a good layer of mulch and let the magic happen.

I got guys like this giant digger from doing that over the last winter - just the visible part there is 30cm (that's a foot lol) In a plot that had very little earthworm activity before that



If you want to, you can read into the theory behind it and how I went about here: https://www.rollitup.org/t/callis-conundrums.936771/page-6#post-13481339

Cheers!

 

[Wetdog]

i may just use the dolomight lime iv got as im boke as fuck atm lol i i cant waight to harvest it eather and stick it

Chunky answered your question about the shell grit. Calcium carbonate is just not something that breaks down fast. That whole blurb sounds kinda bogus and really geared to you buying the OSF they also sell.

Whatever, the dolomite you DO have has you covered, so no need to fork out $$.

Take the saved $$ and search out some laying mash to get the worms cranking. I'll top dress some and it's totally consumed in three days and they're ready for more. They flat just swarm the stuff.

 

[Mazer]

Dear Gentlefolks,
I have lended one too many time my copy of Worms Eat My Garbage. I can not recall to whom. And now I am desperately seeking for a formula Mary Appelhof wrote somewhere in the book.
It is the one detailing the ratio between a healthy worm population and the size of the bin.
Would any of you, dear worm tamers, be kind enough to remind me that equation?
Scientifically yours,
M

 

[DonTesla]

has anybody ever gotten there castings tested like soil is it a thing

I'm waiting on some results.. Testing once a year is a good idea.

Here are the vegetarian castings .. Note the babies flourishing .. The root looking things are all baby worms

 

[calliandra]

I'm waiting on some results.. Testing once a year is a good idea.

Here are the vegetarian castings .. Note the babies flourishing .. The root looking things are all baby wormsView attachment 4029918

erm sorry but aren't those white worms?
friendly companions of the larger compost worms, they do contribute towards composting (helping things go faster) but don't have as evolved of a gut fauna
the compost worm babies are usually red, at least red wigglers are?

 

[Chunky Stool]

erm sorry but aren't those white worms?
friendly companions of the larger compost worms, they do contribute towards composting (helping things go faster) but don't have as evolved of a gut fauna
the compost worm babies are usually red, at least red wigglers are?

Yep, what she said ^^
When it's warm (70+) my worms have LOTS of babies. It's pretty cool.
Not sure what I'm going to do now that it's colder. I don't worry about my bin freezing solid because we don't get many deep freezes here in the NW. But worms definitely eat less when it's cold & there's a steady stream of fresh scraps. I'm thinking about just expanding and treating them like normal compost bins. The organic material won't decompose quickly so it will just accumulate until it gets warmer and the microbes & worms can catch up.
What do you think of my plan?

 

[Mohican]

Try microwaving the scraps to feed them hot food and I move my bin to a sunny spot. We don't get many freezes but this does seem to make them happier.

 

[calliandra]

Yep, what she said ^^
When it's warm (70+) my worms have LOTS of babies. It's pretty cool.
Not sure what I'm going to do now that it's colder. I don't worry about my bin freezing solid because we don't get many deep freezes here in the NW. But worms definitely eat less when it's cold & there's a steady stream of fresh scraps. I'm thinking about just expanding and treating them like normal compost bins. The organic material won't decompose quickly so it will just accumulate until it gets warmer and the microbes & worms can catch up.
What do you think of my plan?

Yeah, Mo's idea sounds pretty good, to keep them going, I guess it just depends on how cold it really does get in your parts and whether you can move your bin. haha
As for adding stuff over the winter and not getting consumed (and yes, I've even noticed my guys slowing down in my flat, now temps are falling), the only thing I'd look out for, thinking this through from a microbial perspective, is that there is enough woody material between the more nitrogen-rich scraps. Just imagining how decomposition will accelerate come spring, maybe overwhelming the worm's appetite and thus running danger of going anaerobic as it awaits processing. But with enough, say brown leaves, spent potting soil, woodchips, or anything of that kind between layers, I can see it becoming a nice few weeks of springtime celebration with some great compost at the end

 

[Mohican]

Have they started moving people put of your building complex?

 

[calliandra]

Have they started moving people put of your building complex?

actually, they're moving back in - just the housing company though: it's now moved its archives into two of the houses everyone just moved out of last Xmas (and there were casualties, there's an old lady who is all droopy now, exactly like an old tree torn out of the soil...). Demolishing has stalled on the block that was supposed to go down before ours, 2 tenants are putting up resistance (and right they are, though there won't be a productive outcome to it).
But that's reeaaaally OT here haha