Greasemonkey's Compost Pile

I checked the pile today and took some temp readings in two places. One read 100, and the other side 110, so I guess it's doing something. I know temps are not the only indicator of composting taking place, I'm just not seeing the same results as others. I don't need it right away, so it still has time to do its thang.

As far as vermicomposting goes, no onions at all in the worm bin.

Greasemonkeymann, is it ok to ask vermicomposting questions here? I don't want to jack up your thread.Thanks for the reply MustangStudFarm.

shaft09 said:

I checked the pile today and took some temp readings in two places. One read 100, and the other side 110, so I guess it's doing something. I know temps are not the only indicator of composting taking place, I'm just not seeing the same results as others. I don't need it right away, so it still has time to do its thang.

As far as vermicomposting goes, no onions at all in the worm bin.

Greasemonkeymann, is it ok to ask vermicomposting questions here? I don't want to jack up your thread.Thanks for the reply MustangStudFarm.

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Grease is only on during weekdays, so dont think that he is ignoring you or anything! Hell, we talk about cars, dogs, and just whatever. I seriously doubt that he cares if you ask a growing question. Most of the "New Members" are very rude and just want to argue. I am glad that there are still intelligent people joining RIU! Thank you!!!

Dude, my worm bin was hot and my compost was cold! It will take trial and error to figure out some of this stuff. From what I understand, leaf mold is a great bedding for worms! My compost pile outside is full of native worms, the same composting worms that I spent $ on...

shaft09 said:

One read 100, and the other side 110, so I guess it's doing something.

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I was told to add more nitrogen(greens) to heat up the pile. Alflafa meal or equivalent. Here is a pic of my DIY worm bin. I have a couple of worm factory 360's and they are a waste of money. The trays are just too small. I bet that I can get more castings out of this one bin than an entire worm farm 360! I used coco coir and rabbit bedding for the worm bedding. Composting worms CANNOT live in straight soil, I tried lol. They need a good bedding...

I turned the pile this morning, it was smoking' hot. I guess my temp gage didn't reach down to the core. I once had a chick that told me she wanted me in her core, but that's another story!

Anyway, I did add some grass clippings and the rest of the Timmothy Hay I had left,added more water, so that should get me more heat. Not worried about it anymore, I think it will be ok. Now on to vermicomposting.

I think we use the same worm bins. I have three, but only two in use now. Only have one pound of worms at present. They did make some babies though. I put some leftover bought worm castings in the bottom and shredded cardboard for the bedding.

I see people write I feed them this or that, but am I correct in thinking they can't anything solid? Anything they eat has to be broken down to be consumed, correct?

I had some of the stuff my wife brought home from work in a bucket outside, veggie scraps. I waited until it got juicy/ decomposed and put some in the bin. Noticed after a couple days some of the little bastages started to try and beat feet out of the bin. So the next day used an old juice machine to juice some of that stuff. Didn't use the pulp, just the juice. None tried to escape after I put just the juice in there. I could hear them slurping that stuff up. I save the juice and pulp in separate Mason jars and put it in the fridge.

I waited about a week until some of them tried to escape again and added more of the juice. Same result, the little suck cockers stayed in and ate their veggies.

So how do you guys feed your worms? Do you put scraps in the bin and wait for it to decompose for them to eat, or do you use some other method? Until I learn a better way, I'm gonna keep giving them the juice. They seem to like it better than just scraps put in the bin. I may even try the juice from the bucket to see if they like that also. It is from the veggies that are breaking down. Can't hurt to try it.

shaft09 said:

I checked the pile today and took some temp readings in two places. One read 100, and the other side 110, so I guess it's doing something. I know temps are not the only indicator of composting taking place, I'm just not seeing the same results as others. I don't need it right away, so it still has time to do its thang.

As far as vermicomposting goes, no onions at all in the worm bin.

Greasemonkeymann, is it ok to ask vermicomposting questions here? I don't want to jack up your thread.Thanks for the reply MustangStudFarm.

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Nah man, I don't have any rules, you can ask away, whatever you'd like.
Well, ok.. I do have some rules.
don't mention ppm, or flushing, and we'll be best of friends

shaft09 said:

So how do you guys feed your worms? Do you put scraps in the bin and wait for it to decompose for them to eat, or do you use some other method? Until I learn a better way, I'm gonna keep giving them the juice. They seem to like it better than just scraps put in the bin. I may even try the juice from the bucket to see if they like that also. It is from the veggies that are breaking down. Can't hurt to try it.

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Best way to feed is this, put the rotting fruit inside the freezer overnight (or longer, doenst matter)
then pull them out, throw them in a heavy duty plastic bag, then defrost for a day, then squish it all up inside the bag to make a slimey, sloppy, half rotted mess, then dig a hole in the worm bin, at least 4" deep, plop the fruit mash in the bin, then cover it back up.
I like to spread the food out in a layer to make it edible quicker.
they have favorites
pear, pumpkins, zucchini, peaches, cantalopes, bananas (not skins, those go in compost), grapes, avocados (not the skins, those take forever)
they do eat cardboard, leaves, paper, coffee grinds, and such also, but at MUCH slower rates.

Cool. I already have some of that veggie mash in the freezer. Just found a Kabocha squash that my wife forgot about that is just about ready. So I will scrape all the pulp out of it and get it ready too!

Thanks for the explanation on how to feed, that will be a great help on the feeding ritual. Just got some hay today at the feed store to use as bedding too. Now all I need is another couple pounds of worms.

Hey, if mushrooms are growing in the bin is that a bad thing?

shaft09 said:

Hey, if mushrooms are growing in the bin is that a bad thing?

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The exact opposite! Its a great thing, that is what we are after with a living soil!

shaft09 said:

Just got some hay today at the feed store to use as bedding too.

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See if they have alfalfa hay next time!

If I keep hangin' around here I might get smart, lol.

shaft09 said:

If I keep hangin' around here I might get smart, lol.

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Did I mention coco coir as a bedding? I probably took it for granted that you knew about it! It is what they send you with a worm farm and it is supposed to be good...

shaft09 said:

Cool. I already have some of that veggie mash in the freezer. Just found a Kabocha squash that my wife forgot about that is just about ready. So I will scrape all the pulp out of it and get it ready too!

Thanks for the explanation on how to feed, that will be a great help on the feeding ritual. Just got some hay today at the feed store to use as bedding too. Now all I need is another couple pounds of worms.

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another thing to mention is that I don't water my bin at all, I rely on the fruit and veggie juices to do that.
and don't worry about your worms, they'll make a TON of babies soon enough

MustangStudFarm said:

I was told to add more nitrogen(greens) to heat up the pile. Alflafa meal or equivalent. Here is a pic of my DIY worm bin. I have a couple of worm factory 360's and they are a waste of money. The trays are just too small. I bet that I can get more castings out of this one bin than an entire worm farm 360! I used coco coir and rabbit bedding for the worm bedding. Composting worms CANNOT live in straight soil, I tried lol. They need a good bedding...View attachment 3636660 View attachment 3636661 View attachment 3636663

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Pot worms can, I got an infestation if you would call it that, they help digest and break down the organic material. I have no clue how I got them in my soil but my soil is alive, it moves around when disturbed all kinds of little critters living in there sometimes I see little predatory mites they are really tiny, the little worms are awesome they just move around eating and eating.

I saw a bunch of little wihite critters crawling around in the bin, but I didn't freak out about it.I thought it had something to do with the rotten food, so I just took a wait and see attitude.

I did spray some water on the hay I just put in there, will put a stop to that now. I have some coir from a old hempy bucket grow, but I need to clean it up a bit first. Do they eat that too?

Got a bale of alfalfa and a 50# bag of oyster shells so I can now make homemade meals. Now all I need is crab, lobster and shrimp. Might have to go dumpster diving at Red Lobster lol.

shaft09 said:

Got a bale of alfalfa and a 50# bag of oyster shells so I can now make homemade meals. Now all I need is crab, lobster and shrimp. Might have to go dumpster diving at Red Lobster lol.

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If you want a mix of that kind of stuff, there is a crustacean meal that has several things like that mixed.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crustacean-Meal-4-Pounds-Shrimp-Crab-Shellfish-Blend-Organic-Fertilizer-/161955415183?hash=item25b54b848f:g:~qkAAOSwbdpWYyM7

shaft09 said:

Got a bale of alfalfa and a 50# bag of oyster shells so I can now make homemade meals. Now all I need is crab, lobster and shrimp. Might have to go dumpster diving at Red Lobster lol.

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alfalfa is good shit, just remember the stems take a LONG time to break down, best thing is to de-stem it prior to adding to your compost pile, if you want it to go fast..
If you have 8 months or so, just toss them in whole, and remember it's relatively high in nitrogen, so you'll need to layer about an inch of alfalfa to about 4-5 inches of leaves or carbon inputs, unless your leaves are shredded, then i'd go 2 inches of it
alos it's crucial to get some minerals in there too, I like to sprinkle it thinly in between them.
granite dust, basalt, soft rock phosphates, etc
try not to use azomite

greasemonkeymann said:

alfalfa is good shit, just remember the stems take a LONG time to break down

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The alfalfa that I bought during the winter months was VERY stemmy. I might wait until the grass starts growing before I buy more, maybe it will have more plant material and less stem. The rabbits usually eat more alfalfa hay than their pellets, but not this time, it was not even green... Here is my alfalfa shredders!!!