Vermicompost- Worm Farm

[BudAbbott]

Hmmmm. Currently only ever used hydroponics, but wondering whether to step over to the muck & magic side. Needs to be indoor though.

A friend got a worm farm recently from WormCity including worms, and it seems to be going well, producing leachate and vermicompost- apparently 10000 more microbes/bacteria than compost.

Has anyone got one of these- they seem to be cheap but I bet you would need a big one to make enough for a reasonable grow.

Could you use a base compost and this as the only added fertiliser? And would it be organic? You add lots of paper and cooked and raw kitchen waste. I bet dried leaves would go well too?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Bud

[ripthedrift]

hello bud ... very easy to make one your self ....

you need a black dustbin with clip on lid (if your looking for a large one that is ,just scale it down to what ever size you want )

plastic tap with plastic nut ...

strip of 1 or two inch draft excluder

strong glue

dry play sand (not beach or builder to much salt in in )

very fine net curtain .

bag of charcoal (not brickets they fall apart massive surface area on it for build up of microbe 1 gram of charcoal can have the surface of 500 sqm and depending on how its produced can be up to 1500 sqm)

small bag of composted tree bark fines .

to make it .....

drill a hole up through under the bin to take your tap ... cut any thread of that sticks over the nut .use plumbers tape or what ever you want to use to seal.

sit the bin on 2 concrete blocks ...making sure to tilt it forwards a little .

cut a small sq of the net curtain to cover the hole as a filter and glue in place

fill the bottom of the bin with sand and half the charcoal to about 8/10 inches or so

then use the rest of the curtain to cover your mix on the bottom ..glue if you want to .cut and fit to shape

then fill 15 inches of the tree bark

cut draft excluder to fit on the lip of the bin and inside the bin lid ... glue in place ...when the glue is dry just make sure you can clip the lid tight nice and tight on the bin (keeps the worms in place when they want to walkie's near a full moon i kid you not... )

get your self a mixed kilo of composting worms drop them in to the bin (making sure thats its nice and moist in there)

done jobs a good en ... in twenty mins or so .... your on the way to making worm casts and leachate (tea)

plenty of stuff on line about worms .. but if your not sure just ask me or pm .... not a bother on me ......

hope it helps .....

easy as 1 2 3 ..................

note

you can not use the worm casts alone to strong in most case's mix at about 30/to what ever else you are using

another note ... for fecks sake don't leave it in the sun esle you will have stewed worms and a fecking smell that will kill ya

leave it alone for a week before you start to feed it ... this give it time to develop a micro herd which is needed to feed and sustain the whole process

Edited June 18, 2009 by ripthedrift

[Flowery Haze]

I have a worm farm and use coco coir mixed with the casts for my plant mix. Working really well with biobizz nutes. The veg in the garden is thriving in it this year.

Think mines 100 ltr capacity or bit bigger, has a tap at the bottom for the liquid. Its so good that im thinking of getting another one. Plus they lay eggs so you get more and more worms as it goes along.

You can feed the worms your kitchen scraps, ie news paper, tea bags, coffe grinds, egg shells, fruit, veg, just no meat bones, dairy, pasta, rice or citrus fruit. There is loads of info on the net about what they will and wont eat, thats just a few examples. Had mine up and running for several years now. You can also feed them fan leaves, stalks, root balls aswell so great to get rid of the unwanted stuff.

Yup its 100% organic

[O.G.]

I thought you needed two bins (one on top of the other) if you wanted to have actual wormcasts as well as tea?

Or am I missing something ?

If you're up to it rtd...fancy doing a pictorial?....

[ripthedrift]

ok guys will update it in the am when my head is a fresher and my brain will engage .....

slanta .... B)

[O.G.]

No worries.

[ripthedrift]

ok guys will update it in the am when my head is a fresher and my brain will engage .....

slanta .... B)

thanks mate.

hello dude your more than welcome ..... I will work on redoing the worm composter post today and make it much more in depth for you all to

and if I can get pictures I will do that to ........ leave it to me ............... B)

as long as you understand the process then kool ......if not just ask me ..............if you go to here to carbon thread you will see why we use the charcoal and composted tree bark to

Edited June 19, 2009 by ripthedrift

[ripthedrift]

The basic principles of composting and vermi-composting.

Composting is a controlled process in which micro-organisms break down organic materials under aerobic conditions.

It is an aerobic process, which means it occurs in the presence of oxygen. The composted material must contain the correct proportions of nitrogen, e.g. soft or cooked food wastes, and carbon, e.g. paper, cardboard, wood chip, sawdust, dead leaves etc. Most wastes can be composted successfully.

Different communities of micro-organisms predominate during the composting process.

The micro-organisms that break down the organic material have a few basic requirements, such as air, water, the right food and temperature. Combined in the right way these create a good composting environment.

If any one of these conditions should go out of balance during the composting process, it can result in the pile turning anaerobic and thus starting to smell.

The carbon source in the compost pile serves as food for the micro-organisms, while the nitrogen source serves population growth.

Too much supply of either kind of material will bring the composting process out of balance. While the bacteria break down the components of the compost pile, they generate heat. If too much heat is generated, the bacteria will die, so constant monitoring of the conditions within a composting pile is essential.

The composting process progresses through three distinct phases:

1. Mesophilic phase

2. Thermophilic phase

3. Maturation (curing) phase

After mixing carbon and nitrogen sources mesophilic bacteria, carrying out decomposition and bringing the temperature within the compost to rise initiate the start of the composting process.

Once the temperature rises above 40-45°C these mesophilic bacteria become less active and are replaced by Thermophilic (heat loving) bacteria. Under the higher temperatures, the breakdown of fats, proteins and complex carbohydrates is accelerated.

Mid-temperature loving (<40°C)

Once most of the decomposable waste has been consumed by the micro-organisms,

The heat will drop and the composting process will slow down, leading to the final stage of the composting process.

The material has to be cured, i.e. it has to be rested until it is inactive and ready for use as a final product.

During all three stages of the composting process, fungi also play an important role.

These include moulds and yeasts, which are responsible for the decomposition of tough debris, organic residues that are too dry, acidic or low in nitrogen for bacterial decomposition, such as paper, bark or woody stems.

Compost fungi are aerobic and can form grey or white fuzzy colonies or spider web structures.

VERMI-COMPOSTING PROCESS

In vermi-composting, the traditional composting process is amended with worms.

Therefore, vermi-composting is an attempt at a more accurate simulation of the physical and chemical activities taking place in the soil environment than is composting alone.

The worm is an intestinal tract with a grinding tool wrapped in muscle. Tiny pebbles and pieces of grit in the thick- walled gizzard grind up food passing through the worm body.

Digestive enzymes secreted by the wall of the intestine chemically break down the food.

That which is soluble is absorbed into the blood, while undigested food passes along the intestine and is digested.

The common perception of vermi-composting is that worms feed on decaying organic matter.

In fact, worms have only a limited ability to digest organic matter.

They derive most of their nutrition from the digestion of micro-organisms and, in particular, fungi, protozoa and algae.

Most organic matter and many bacteria pass through the worm gut Unharmed.

During the process, nutrients are released and converted into plant- available forms.

Worm excreta are known as vermicast.

Vermicast is a light, friable material which is high in microbial activity and which generally does not require curing after decomposition.

There are two groups of earthworms: humus formers and humus feeders. The first group are used for vermi-composting.

They are called epegic detritivorous worms, dwell on the surface and feed on nearly 90% organic matter and 10% soil.

They have a flat tail and are generally red in colour. The ingested organic material undergoes chemical changes within the earthworm, which then excretes castings that are very high in nutrients.

Their structure promotes soil aeration, through this process the original substance is compacted, thus reducing the overall volume. Earthworms also

Stimulate microbial populations, compost plant residue and reduce harmful Nematode counts.

The most common types of earthworms used for vermi-composting are:

• Brandling worms (Eisenia foetida),

• Red worms or red wigglers (Lumbricus rubellus).

These are not to be confused with the common garden or field earthworm (Allolobophora caliginosa and other species), which prefers ordinary soil

Though sometimes can be found to feed on the bottom of a compost pile.

Red worms and brandling worms, however, prefer the compost or manure Environment.

Passing through the gut of the earthworm, recycled organic wastes are excreted as castings (worm manure). This organic material is rich in nutrients, often much more than ordinary garden compost, and looks like fine-textured soil.

Earthworms produce no toxins and carry no diseases; in fact, there is evidence to suggest they are capable of destroying harmful bacteria. Earthworms can reduce waste volume by up to 90% and neutralise soil pH.

Earthworms will eat almost any organic waste and on a larger scale are capable of feeding on 70% of all material currently being sent to landfill sites. They can feed on most food processing waste as well as farmyard manure; neutralising the odour, reducing volume and producing a high grade finished product for use in the garden

How the filters works (taken from another post but is the same thing really)

Charcoal is carbon. Activated charcoal is charcoal that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms.

The use of special manufacturing techniques results in highly porous charcoals that have surface areas of 300-2,000 square metres per gram depending on how it was produce .These so-called active, or activated, charcoals are widely used to adsorb odorous or coloured substances from gases or liquids. ­

­The word adsorb is important here. When a material adsorbs something, it attaches to it by chemical attraction. The huge surface area of activated charcoal gives it countless bonding sites. When certain chemicals pass next to the carbon surface, they attach to the surface and are trapped.

Activated charcoal is good at trapping other carbon-based impurities ("organic" compounds ), as well as things like chlorine. Many other chemicals are not attracted to carbon at all -- sodium, nitrates, etc. -- so they pass right through. This means that an activated charcoal filter will remove certain impurities while ignoring others. It also means that, once all of the bonding sites are filled, an activated charcoal filter stops working. At that point you must replace the filter.

So the carbon is basically blocked with organic solids , to release this organic fraction we need to introduce the carbon to something that will eat the organics so it becomes unblocked freeing up the blocked pores.

To do this we need to make the carbon part of a bio filter to utilise beneficial microbes as in worm composter , anaerobic digestion or in bokashi

Digester (which is anaerobic digestion) so during all of the above process’s there is a liquid (lechate run of ) that is the bi-product of the over all reduction in volume , chemical and biological actions of the above .

The filter is made up of just two things dry clean sand (not beach sand as to salty) and or a mixture of composted tree bark fines (smaller size that’s be graded ) this is how the layers are constructed.

The basic filter is 4/5 inches in depth of sand mixed with your used charcoal at a ratio of 50/50 , on top of this you place a layer of tree bark fines (does not matter how wide it is just scale up or down depending on the size of your worm composter/digester/bokashi unit ) .

And using this filter to clean up the liquid as it filters through the medium ,it takes about a week for it to become biologically active with anaerobic bacteria , the microbes feed on the suspended solids as the lechate filters through and with in a few weeks the charcoal is clean and working efficiently again.

There are a few other benefits to using this in so much as the bod (A measure of the amount of oxygen consumed by micro-organisms in breaking down organic matter in effluent during a certain period) is reduced ,the lower the figure the better (water has a low bod of 4/5 while raw sewage sludge or land fill lechate can be has high as 2/3000) the lower it is the better for your plants when used as a tea type feed.

So as you are going to be replacing you filter every 9/12 months depending on the type (approx) , this will then allow the reuse of the charcoal as you bio-filter .

To use your charcoal again just dismantle your bio-filter by first removing your tree bark layer and tipping the sand charcoal mix out , screening of the sand , allowing the charcoal the air dry and finally stick it in the oven on a medium heat for an hour or so , and there you go clean fresh charcoal.

The liquid run off or tea is in a much more beneficial state than just using the unfiltered liquid that in some case may have undesirables in it , you could use a small pump to oxygenate the liquid to really clean it up and encourage an aerobic bloom .

Especially with the worm tea as this will have lots of dormant beneficial microbes , fungi spores (from the tree bark composting process) that will bloom when oxygenated .

Anaerobic digestion

Unlike composting AD is carried out in an oxygen-free environment (known as anaerobic conditions) to allow the presence of bacteria adjusted to these conditions which then multiply and grow, and by so doing achieve the process aims of:

* sanitisation of the feed material and of any liquid discharged;

* a net positive surplus generation of energy as a biofuel to allow power production from methane gas (biogas) produced by the organisms.

Bokashi the basic's

In a nutshell, Bokashi involves the use of a bucket (or other sealed container) and a special microbial concoction - using what are known as “Effective Micro-organisms”, or EM for short. This term is actually a trademarked brand name, not simply a description.

The “Effective Micro-organisms” concept was developed in the 80’s by a Japanese scientist, Dr. Teruo Higa, and as stated on the EM America Website these beneficial microbes are “non-pathogenic micro-organisms that secrete compounds that are useful, or beneficial, to other life.” If the list of EM uses on this website is any indication, it is pretty clear that these “Effective Micro-organism” mixes are used for far more than just waste management!

All that being said, I should probably point out that these terms (”EM” and “Effective Micro-organisms”) are widely used, and don’t always necessarily refer to specific products of Dr. Higa’s company (much to their chagrin, I would imagine!)

The EM mixture used for this process is combined with some sort of “carrier” material - typically bran mixed with molasses and water. You have the choice of purchasing this mix ready-made, or you can make it yourself (of course, you’ll still need to buy EM, bran, and molasses). Aside from the overall process itself, it is this mixture that is called Bokashi.

The actual process of filling a Bokashi bucket is quite straight-forward. You simply add your organic waste materials you can even add meats and dairy, then cover with a layer of Bokashi. Repeat this process until your bucket is full. At this point you let it sit undisturbed for a period of time ranging from several days up to a couple of weeks. As such, it is probably not a bad idea to have at least a couple Bokashi buckets going at one time.

Once this ’sitting’ period is over, it is then suggested that you dig the materials directly into your garden, or simply add them to your outdoor compost bin.

pros and cons of Bokashi:

PROS

1) It is VERY easy

2) Can be accomplished on a small scale (so well-suited for home owners)

3) It is apparently odour-free (or at least does not create nasty rotting smells)

4) Produces a material that will act as a ’slow-release’ fertilizer in your garden

5) works well as a partner strategy with composting/vermicomposting

6) It will use any waste from the kitchen ,meat, fish, and dairy.

CONS

1) You’ll need to have a constant supply of Bokashi mix on-hand

2) Need at least a couple buckets (assuming no other waste management strategies used) for continual Bokashi action

3) ‘Finished’ material is not really finished - still needs to be aged in soil or compost bin before beneficial for plants.

4) Even though it can be done on a small-scale, the end product needs to be put somewhere (ie. potential winter limitations).

Buying bokashi is fairly costly thing It is, however, perfectly possible to make EM bokashi bran

Why? This is why I write about “practical minimum volumes” instead of simply minimums: sometimes, while smaller is possible, it doesn’t make much sense. You could make EM bokashi bran a pint at a time, but why bother? It takes the same amount of time and effort. Cost? Bran is cheap! And bokashi bucket fermentation is far more likely to be successful if you’re generous, even profligate, with your EM bokashi bran.

By all means, go ahead and ferment EM bokashi bran in smaller containers if you can’t spare a big bucket for the month or haven’t anywhere to put one; but you might as well mix up as large a batch as you’re likely to need. The make-at-home instructions include drying the post-ferment bran for storage; assuming you have the space for that, you could make enough EM bokashi bran for the year, all at once.

Me, I’m not so into the drying, and it’s not actually required if the EM bokashi bran will be used soon. Sources differ about just how long the undried product can be held without spoiling or losing effectiveness, and I’ll post about it if/when I manage to spoil some, but it won’t be a baby batch that happens to! One pound of EM bokashi bran at a time is right for my needs: it’s enough for at least two apartment-sized buckets, can be mixed up in the kitchen in a single container, without fuss or any need for odd utensils, and gets used quickly enough that there’s no need to worry about drying it.

(we had them at home and they work well , as soon as I make one for under my kitchen sink I will post picture of it )

To make one baby batch of EM bokashi bran:

Mix 1 tablespoon molasses into

1 cup warm water. When thoroughly blended, add

1 tablespoon EM-1 inoculant fluid.

Pour into 1 pound wheat bran or other inert carrier and mix well. Seal container and set aside three to four weeks before using; ready when coated with an even layer of white mycelium. DO NOT OPEN TO CHECK ON EM BOKASHI BRAN until at least two weeks have passed *Note: for my bulk bran, 1 pound = 7.2 cups dry. I’m not that precise, seven to seven and a quarter cups works just fine. Mix it in a container that looks about a third again too large for the dry bran, as it will expand as it absorbs water.

EM

EM™ is an acronym coined by its developer, Dr. Teruo Higa, consisting of the initial letters of "Effective Microorganisms™". As a commercial product, it is marketed and sold as "EM•1®" by our authorized licensees around the globe.

EM•1® is a liquid containing many co-existing microorganisms. The major groups of microorganisms in EM•1® are lactic acid bacteria, yeast and phototrophic bacteria. EM™ was first developed in 1982 as an alternative to chemicals in the field of agriculture. Through extensive research and experiments over time, EM™ became recognized as effective in various fields, including environmental remediation, composting organic waste, reducing odor in livestock operations, treating wastewater and many more. We call the technology that utilizes EM•1®, EM Technology™.

making your bin ...just scale it to what ever size fits your needs ....

you need a black dustbin with clip on lid (if your looking for a large one that is ,just scale it down to what ever size you want )

plastic tap with plastic nut ...

strip of 1 or two inch draft excluder

strong glue

dry play sand (not beach or builder to much salt in in )

very fine net curtain .

bag of charcoal (not brickets they fall apart massive surface area on it for build up of microbe 1 gram of charcoal can have the surface of 500 sqm and depending on how its produced can be up to 1500 sqm)

small bag of composted tree bark fines .

to make it .....

drill a hole up through under the bin to take your tap ... cut any thread of that sticks over the nut .use plumbers tape or what ever you want to use to seal.

sit the bin on 2 concrete blocks ...making sure to tilt it forwards a little .

cut a small sq of the net curtain to cover the hole as a filter and glue in place

fill the bottom of the bin with sand and half the charcoal to about 8/10 inches or so

then use the rest of the curtain to cover your mix on the bottom ..glue if you want to .cut and fit to shape

then fill 15 inches of the tree bark

cut draft excluder to fit on the lip of the bin and inside the bin lid ... glue in place ...when the glue is dry just make sure you can clip the lid tight nice and tight on the bin (keeps the worms in place when they want to walkie's near a full moon i kid you not... rofl.gif )

get your self a mixed kilo of composting worms drop them in to the bin (making sure thats its nice and moist in there)

done jobs a good en ... in twenty mins or so .... your on the way to making worm casts and leachate (tea)

plenty of stuff on line about worms .. but if your not sure just ask me or pm .... not a bother on me ......

please excuse my grammar and spelling I'm dyslexic and even with the spell checker stuff stills get through ... and what I see on the page will not always be the same as you ....

hope it helps you

ps speedman

.. try to get organic tree barks fines if you can ... they have a better selection of microbes and fungi....or failing that you can use part composted compost...

I will add a fact sheet on how to use the composter and remove the compost from the bin later on ... but for now a quick and easy way to remove your worm casts is to feed on one side of the bin only ....... leave it for 2/4 days and the worms will migrate over to the feed source ..then you can take out how ever much you need for use .......

Og

your right in a way with your thoughts on a layered tray type bin .. but I have found these to be less useful and problematic in use ... this is a tried, tested and much more forgiving system to use and yes you can have 2 on the go and use them in rotation .

you can also scale it down to a size that will fit under a kitchen sink for use as a bokashi and worm composter (one stop solution for all you organic waste in house with no garden) for those that don't have a garden and live in a flat .

there are probs a few things I have left out but i will keep going back to and adding more info as and when I remember them ......

I have left this open in edit mode in a new tab in fire fox so I can edit during the day so as to keep it tidy like .... as was pointed out to me by a mod .. my posts were untidy .............. so no sweat mod just for you a tidy post ..............you know who you are ............. ...................

Edited June 19, 2009 by ripthedrift

[O.G.]

Thanks rip

ps

Can't see the stuff in yellow though

[ripthedrift]

Thanks rip

ps

Can't see the stuff in yellow though

sorry im in black background so will sort it out now ........... thanks for telling me ..............

what colour would look best as I'M colour blind to ......sorted

Edited June 19, 2009 by ripthedrift

[ripthedrift]

high ... I know I'm being thick here ....... :wink: but for the life of me ...what does pinned mean ..........

and is it possible to edit that post to finish it of ..?

Edited June 19, 2009 by ripthedrift

[Bert]

high ... I know I'm being thick here ....... but for the life of me ...what does pinned mean ..........

and is it possible to edit that post to finish it of ..?

Pinned as in stuck to the notice board for all to see. It'll be right at the top of the forum it belongs in.

Yes should be able to edit it I think? cant see why not.

Great post ript Got a little time on my hands atm and need a solution to this.

Bert...

Go on mods Pinnit :-)

eta

Doh! nice one.

Edited June 19, 2009 by Bert

[Stonehenge]

high ... I know I'm being thick here ....... but for the life of me ...what does pinned mean ..........

and is it possible to edit that post to finish it of ..?

Hey Rip.. top post mate..

Think you can only edit for 45 mins after the initial post mate....

Thanks for the info too... just need to talk the Mrs round to another facet of this hobby now...

Think it'll just be the one bin to start with...

[ripthedrift]

............ Thanks bert ............ and yes I was being very thick , that I did not see that mate ..............

must be all the microbes breeding in me head after years of working with the little feckers...

[ripthedrift]

Environment

Worms like their environment to be cool, dark and moist. If they are too cold they will become inactive and if they get too warm they might start trying to climb out. (Above 50º, Below 85º) If their home becomes too dry they will die. So site the bin in the shadows or in a shed or garage

It will take a little time for the bin to get fully established as your waiting for a whole Micro system to develop, they all work together to form a symbiotic partnership with other organisms (especially of different species) which are all beneficial to each other and your worms.

it may seem to take ages to fill the bin, but this is normal because of the reduction in volume by a factor of 70/80% so to add 1000 litres of food waste will become 200 litres of fine worm casts (approx)

Getting your worm bin started...

The most important thing is to give them a nice bed , and can be made from the following;

-composted tree bark fines

-shredded newspaper

-shredded cardboard

-leaf mould/dry leaves

-well-rotted sawdust or wood chip

-Coir (coconut fiber) block

-finished compost (sieve it first)

-or a mixture of all or some of the above together

Make sure that the bedding is thoroughly watered (avoid over watering) and feels spongy and moist to the touch.

When the worms arrive, put them in their new home and leave them for a couple of days.

They can eat the bedding to start with. Then start adding food to the container in one corner.

The next time you will add waste will be in another few days next to the last waste you added. You should continually add waste every couple of days or so until the worms have processed it. If you put too much in at a time, the food waste will start to compost and which will produce a lot of heat which they don’t like. Some people have had their worms jumping out of their bins when this happens.

They will eat about their own weight in food each day so the more worms you have the more food you can put in. depending on the size of your worm bin(s), you will probably need to empty it between 3-6 months.

It will be about a 3/6 months to get the worm compost working to its full capacity.

In that time your worms will have produced at least another lot of worms and will reach there own saturation level

Stacking worm bin systems tend to work best if you are adding smaller amounts of food each time. The worms won’t be able to cope with large amounts of raw fruits and vegetables or peelings in these types of systems, so it is better to chop big chunks of food

To make and use the tea

The lechate or tea is full of beneficial microbes to include bacteria, fungi (many types) and many others .... to make best use of this tea and to make it much more efficient and better for your soil , I would recommend that you oxygenate the tea to dilute and further enhance its already wonderful property's

To do this you will need to make a microbe teapot ...

follow the same route as above for the compost bin but exclude all the inner workings (tap and just the bin with lid) or any container you can get your hands on .

Method

take a pair of tights or anything to make a big teabag out of as long as its strong and wont rot or break down on you

drain of any tea in the vermi-comp and pour in to the bin or what ever you have made it from

take about 5/6 litres of worm cast (you can add the bokashi tea and compost mix to)

push in down inside your tights tie a knot in it and hang over the edge of the bin

put your pump in side the bin and fill about half way up

turn on the pump and let the magic begin to bubble away for about 24 hours or so (from 12 hours is ok )

the longer you leave it the better it is (max two days)

to use just dilute at a ratio of 10/1 and use any where you want to .......

and can be used a foiler feed to (but at a ratio of 30/1)