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You're going to need aeration AND drainage holes in those totes. The bacteria the soil needs is aerobic and must have O2 & moisture to do it's work. Anerobic bacteria needs no oxygen and is what gives you those septic tank smells. If it's gone anerobic a slight whiff will let you know. What...

@Gumdrawp Going to hit a couple of things real quick that may, or may not, help. Don't worry about the eggshells AFA digging them out. They won't hurt anything and over time you'll see for yourself just how they do or don't break down. AFA the Euros and RWs, I've run both for years with no...

Yeah, worms don't care for acidic conditions, liking it more towards neutral pH, or at least close. I use a peat based bedding similar to a base soil mix (Peat moss, perlite, lime), along with a little kelp meal and neem to jump start the microbes and make ~15 gallons at a pop. This not only...

Really! After using dolo for more years than I care to think about, then reading about the dire consequences of using it (usually from someone who has NEVER used it), it's a wonder that my gardens, both soil and containers, are alive, much less thriving. So it takes 2 years to break down. So...

Yes, go to redwormcomposting.com and pick the subject that interest you. Not only does he supply worms, he also experiments and blogs about it. Big bins, little bins, inside, outside, different food sources, methods, whatever. If you have a question, it's likely been asked and answered, or at...

I don't use RO water, but my tap is close to it @28ppm. The dolomite added for pH, along with the added gypsum seems to take care of any cal/mag issues and I've never used any sort of cal/mag additive. Just never saw a need.

You can get longer than 2 years, but 5 years or more is very doubtful. The most *I've* ever managed is 4 years. No till is basically a outdoor soil concept where organic material is added. Container mixes, aside from the perlite, are pretty much ALL organic material (even the peat moss), and...

Similar to vostok, chopped into 1" pieces then added to the worm bins. No drying or grinding or extra effort.

I would strongly suggest you adding bone meal to the mix that is cooking or risk a P shortage come flower time. *I* use it @1cup/cf of mix. And no, you won't need to add to the 'cook' time. Yes, I see there is crustacean meal in there and it's good stuff, but really doesn't replace bone meal...

As do I. There's a 50lb bag in the back of the truck as I type. The cubes are for like a 'alfalfa Lite' application, when "A little dab will do ya".. Not even a reamend but a light bump for used mix, Sometimes, a few added when I'm making worm bedding. A 50lb bag lasted 3 years+. The pellets...

Chunky, a couple things I've found helpful: Comfrey leaves; about 5-6" of soil, a layer of comfrey leaves and keep repeating. I'm guessing you have a comfrey patch since you have soil garden. If not, start one. Comfrey also makes superior worm food. Alfalfa Cubes; Basically alfalfa hay formed...

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...

You're wasting your time with shell grit, it's entirely too large to be of ANY use in a worm bin. Same as crunched up eggshells. I've tried both and both were still chunks years later, not broken down in the least. Google *mesh size* + lime for a better explanation. In short, for minerals, rock...

Got schooled a bit yesterday after visiting 3 different feed stores. Apparently, "mash" is no longer available as a grind size. It used to be mash, crumbles, and pellets, in ascending size. From observation, crumbles are slightly more coarse than what mash used to be, but nothing like the size...

Lime goes way beyond 'okay' to pretty much a necessity. It is the second thing added when making a mix. The first being the peat moss. Then, it gets dry mixed before proceding. Lime has to be in contact, or in very close proximity to what it's buffering. Besides the peat being the most acidic...

Are you sure that probe is dead? Mine was locked in a safe for over 2 years and totally dried out. I thought it was totally dead, but let it sit overnight in some distilled water. When checked against calibration solutions (7.1 and 4.5 IIRC), it needed slight calibration, but otherwise was spot...

Gypsum in no way is any sort of a pH balancer, it is the wrong form of Ca for that purpose, being Ca sulfate. For pH you need Ca carbonate. This is found in dolomite lime, Ag lime (calcitic lime), or oyster shell flour. These are just 3 sources of Ca carbonate, there are others. Dolomite is...

You may not need to check pH very often, but you most certainly need to buffer the soil when making a fresh mix and checking pH after a few runs and reamending. The calcium carbonate does get depleted over time and pH will drop, especially in peat based mixes. The plants themselves consume a...

Only if you have one handy. I've found, over the years, that 2 weeks is enough cycle time for the mix to cool enough for planting in. Especially if you weren't real heavy with the N inputs. This was also used for fairly established plants, not seeds, seedlings, or real young and tender stuff.

It's been over 7 years since I bought my Milwaukee SM-101, but a few things from back then. A decent entry level meter is going to run ~$100. Cheaper ones are usually in the "junk" catagory. The very accurate one we use at the shop was a bit over $650 Nice, but that level of accuracy just isn't...