Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
Yeah you can top dress it but mix it into your initial soil mix. Don't over complicate shit... and don't worry about the npk....
Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread
- Thread starter Rising Moon
- Start date
Should be no problem. I make my own peat based bedding and it includes perlite. Mainly, it's the beginnings of a soil mix and everything is what would be going into the mix anyway. Old soil should work just as well if not better.
But the perlite has never been an issue when harvesting. My screen is 1/4", but I use it less and less, mainly just baiting as many as I can with melon rinds and using the VC "as is", worms and all.
Wet
Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
Thanks wet. I find mangos work the best to lure my worms.
ACitizenofColorado
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone.
I hope to include pictures at some point. For now, the following is my attempt at vermicomposting, which I humbly expose to your unrelenting, merciless critique!
The current system uses smart pots: 20, 25 and 50 gallon. (I think the first two are 20 and 25; they may be 15 and 20.)
The base in the smaller pots are pure coco.
For aeration, rice hulls were added at an unknown rate.
For nutrition, the two pots were given a mix of the following added in both dry and compost tea forms: kelp tea, fish hydrolysate (liquid), fish compost (solid), bat guano, oyster shell, rock dust, bokashi, aged earth-worm-compost, some build-a-soil flower mix (maybe will attach later), langbenite, bone meal. They are also routinely given kitchen scrapes from a relatively unhealthy household that may include rice, avocado, greens, fruit waste. Everything is organic.
To create an optimal environment, the two pots have thick layers of rice hulls that are brushed away to add food, then added back once the food has been added, and soil replaced. A thin-thick layer of hay (inoculated in a compost tea) sits atop the rice hulls. Plastic is placed atop that; the sides are folded in.
The base in the larger pot (50 available gallons approximately 65% - 80% full) is apx 50% - 50% coco to peat. All omri.
For aeration, bio-char, rice hulls and pumice were added at an apx ratio of 2:2:1. Total aeration made up approximately 5%-15% of the mix; it's difficult to know for sure.
For nutrition, assume the same previous mix plus a 50% - 50% neem/karanja mix. (This was also later added to the smaller pots. I may pick up some chicken starter mash; will also attach later.)
The worms LOVE chilling in the thick hay layer beneath the plastic. I casually infer level of activity from the rate of compost deposition on the plastic. The thicker and darker the layer of compost that's stuck to the plastic, the more heavily the worms are feeding. Or something like that. I know almost next to nothing academic about this process.
I haven't read any of the pertinent texts yet. Please attach any books or articles you think could benefit the thread or my endeavors.
I'm so grateful to everyone here for this community of information!
I hope to include pictures at some point. For now, the following is my attempt at vermicomposting, which I humbly expose to your unrelenting, merciless critique!
The current system uses smart pots: 20, 25 and 50 gallon. (I think the first two are 20 and 25; they may be 15 and 20.)
The base in the smaller pots are pure coco.
For aeration, rice hulls were added at an unknown rate.
For nutrition, the two pots were given a mix of the following added in both dry and compost tea forms: kelp tea, fish hydrolysate (liquid), fish compost (solid), bat guano, oyster shell, rock dust, bokashi, aged earth-worm-compost, some build-a-soil flower mix (maybe will attach later), langbenite, bone meal. They are also routinely given kitchen scrapes from a relatively unhealthy household that may include rice, avocado, greens, fruit waste. Everything is organic.
To create an optimal environment, the two pots have thick layers of rice hulls that are brushed away to add food, then added back once the food has been added, and soil replaced. A thin-thick layer of hay (inoculated in a compost tea) sits atop the rice hulls. Plastic is placed atop that; the sides are folded in.
The base in the larger pot (50 available gallons approximately 65% - 80% full) is apx 50% - 50% coco to peat. All omri.
For aeration, bio-char, rice hulls and pumice were added at an apx ratio of 2:2:1. Total aeration made up approximately 5%-15% of the mix; it's difficult to know for sure.
For nutrition, assume the same previous mix plus a 50% - 50% neem/karanja mix. (This was also later added to the smaller pots. I may pick up some chicken starter mash; will also attach later.)
The worms LOVE chilling in the thick hay layer beneath the plastic. I casually infer level of activity from the rate of compost deposition on the plastic. The thicker and darker the layer of compost that's stuck to the plastic, the more heavily the worms are feeding. Or something like that. I know almost next to nothing academic about this process.
I haven't read any of the pertinent texts yet. Please attach any books or articles you think could benefit the thread or my endeavors.
I'm so grateful to everyone here for this community of information!
Last edited:
Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
Why are you using coco as a bedding? To me organic gardening should be based around free and local resources as much as possible. My worm bins in Thailand are coco bedding but that's a free and local resource.
hillbill
Well-Known Member
Free and local resources vary greatly. So do gardeners' space and conditions. Some feel using coco takes a load off Spagnum Peat Moss. But I am not a purist nor a Puritan.
ACitizenofColorado
Well-Known Member
I'm in the same boat.
Can anyone add their thoughts about the following? It's a local store with check starter mash. I've heard starter mash is a good option for worm feed. Thoughts?
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed/easy-feed-organic-chick-starter-granules-40-lb-bag
Thai_Lights
Well-Known Member
Heard ts good shit too.. I just use a bit of grinded grain once in awhile. (Free and local) just kidding hahaha
organitron
Well-Known Member
Can anyone add their thoughts about the following? It's a local store with check starter mash. I've heard starter mash is a good option for worm feed. Thoughts?
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed/easy-feed-organic-chick-starter-granules-40-lb-bag[/QUOTE]
Check out pellets or crumbles for layer hens, has 3 times the calcium. Worms dig it!
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed
http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed/easy-feed-organic-chick-starter-granules-40-lb-bag[/QUOTE]
Check out pellets or crumbles for layer hens, has 3 times the calcium. Worms dig it!
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
Check out pellets or crumbles for layer hens, has 3 times the calcium. Worms dig it![/QUOTE]
There is no way I’d spend extra money on worm feed. There are virtually limitless FREE ways to give worms all the organic material they need.
Feed your chickens the crumbles and give the worms the chicken shit
ACitizenofColorado
Well-Known Member
There is no way I’d spend extra money on worm feed. There are virtually limitless FREE ways to give worms all the organic material they need.
Feed your chickens the crumbles and give the worms the chicken shit[/QUOTE]
Prior to yesterday, I didn't know I was allowed to raise chickens. I'm still not sure. But it looks like my neighbor has a coop in their postage-stamp sized yard. I am not opposed to getting worm food this way; of course, that means buying the stuff for a coop.
For now, I could buy the feed, which is necessary either way, and maybe add the chickens later if possible.
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
Prior to yesterday, I didn't know I was allowed to raise chickens. I'm still not sure. But it looks like my neighbor has a coop in their postage-stamp sized yard. I am not opposed to getting worm food this way; of course, that means buying the stuff for a coop.
For now, I could buy the feed, which is necessary either way, and maybe add the chickens later if possible.[/QUOTE]
Give them a bedding of shredded newspaper, shredded leaves and some moist peat moss. Save all your kitchen waste. Ask your neighbors for their kitchen waste. Give them a small tote bin for their kitchen and collect it weekly. Go to local markets or visit local farmers or growers and ask for their unsellable compostable material.
You shouldn’t really need to buy anything for your worms as far as food goes. If you want to improve quality of castings, feed them some digestive aids like greensand OSF and eggshells.
Should have to buy them food tho that’s kinda silly.
ACitizenofColorado
Well-Known Member
I'm here on a friday night looking for the dirt on worms...
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
Hey guys.
The plot next to me is vacant and was getting overgrown. Snakes, bugs and other wild tropical animals were living all up in it and coming into my yard and fucking my life up.
So I’ve started clearing it with my push mower and machete. My wife thinks I’m crazy and I don’t argue. Nevertheless, I’ve got like 80% of it done.
There’s palm trees over there but the bottom of the trunks are rotting? I noticed how easily the trunk just falls and peels away from the tree like rotted wood.
I’m new to the tropics and idk shit about palm trees, but the material that makes up this tree trunk seems really fibrous and strong.
I’m about to knock this bitch over.
Is the trunk of one of those notched-style palm trees beneficial for soil in any way?.... I’m thinking about busting up the trunk and giving it all to my worms....
The plot next to me is vacant and was getting overgrown. Snakes, bugs and other wild tropical animals were living all up in it and coming into my yard and fucking my life up.
So I’ve started clearing it with my push mower and machete. My wife thinks I’m crazy and I don’t argue. Nevertheless, I’ve got like 80% of it done.
There’s palm trees over there but the bottom of the trunks are rotting? I noticed how easily the trunk just falls and peels away from the tree like rotted wood.
I’m new to the tropics and idk shit about palm trees, but the material that makes up this tree trunk seems really fibrous and strong.
I’m about to knock this bitch over.
Is the trunk of one of those notched-style palm trees beneficial for soil in any way?.... I’m thinking about busting up the trunk and giving it all to my worms....
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
if this old shitty tree has any benefit to me that fallen leaves don’t, I’d like to make use of it. It’s tall dead and ugly and will probably fall on my lawn if I don’t push it the other way lol
DonTesla
Well-Known Member
You're a beast!
I think I may know of a company who makes biochar from coconut shells and palm trees.
I would dig a trench and burn that bitch, but after cutting it down and drying it out.. then add the biochar to the worm farm and soil!
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
“Just burn the fucking tree, make some fucking charcoal, and let your fucking worms inoculate it before you add it to your soil mix. Not everything is rocket science.”
-Altre E. Geau
-Altre E. Geau
TheBeardedBudzman
Well-Known Member
So after a half day of studying while slightly manic I learned that :
The product of burning “woody”, organic materials with the absence of oxygen is charcoal. Charcoal is like a unique super-hotel for beneficial micro life, in that it can hold a whole lot more for a very long time. This also makes for excellent nutrient (and water) retention. It raises carbon content in soil exponentially.
But it’s just charcoal until it’s inoculated and filled up with all that micro life, otherwise it’s just burnt fucking useless woody shit.
As far as palm trees go, the only reason they’re used specifically to make charcoals is because there is typically an abundance of fronds, coconut husks and trees in places where the ground is nothing but sand. They’re a pain in the ass for counties to dispose of.
Microorganisms would literally have to evolve to be able to break down that carbon material so it’s no wonder it’s so valuable.
Some Ways to inoculate biochar:
1. Mix it with castings and let it alone a while
2. Add to compost pile, 2-6 months
3. Add to worm bin
4. Mix with fresh hot green grass clippings (this way is for bitches)
5. Let your chickens scratch and piss and shit all over it for a while
The product of burning “woody”, organic materials with the absence of oxygen is charcoal. Charcoal is like a unique super-hotel for beneficial micro life, in that it can hold a whole lot more for a very long time. This also makes for excellent nutrient (and water) retention. It raises carbon content in soil exponentially.
But it’s just charcoal until it’s inoculated and filled up with all that micro life, otherwise it’s just burnt fucking useless woody shit.
As far as palm trees go, the only reason they’re used specifically to make charcoals is because there is typically an abundance of fronds, coconut husks and trees in places where the ground is nothing but sand. They’re a pain in the ass for counties to dispose of.
Microorganisms would literally have to evolve to be able to break down that carbon material so it’s no wonder it’s so valuable.
Some Ways to inoculate biochar:
1. Mix it with castings and let it alone a while
2. Add to compost pile, 2-6 months
3. Add to worm bin
4. Mix with fresh hot green grass clippings (this way is for bitches)
5. Let your chickens scratch and piss and shit all over it for a while
ACitizenofColorado
Well-Known Member
Bump... This thread needs more love. I love the EWC my worms produce. It's a beautiful thing to see and be a part of.