Felix Dzerzhinsky Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 yeah , I thought about it ,and thought ,and thought , sod it I cant be arsed A well thought out and informative post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Keye, I have kept manure/compost worms on and off for over 40 years. A few small bit of advise, for worms to do well, like plants their environment has to be right, by environment I mean their bedding and what you feed them. The bedding needs to be moist at all times but not wet, it should never be allowed to get too acidic. They will deal with food scraps, veg, flower based, meat and fish and waste uncooked veg, no problem, but don't overwhelm them, it takes time for the population to build up, as it does they are able to deal with more and more waste every day. The mistake most make, is to just bury them in a crap load of waste that they cant deal with and keep adding more like making a compost heap, it either turns into an anaerobic acidic smelly mess or it heats up indeed like a garden compost heap, both things will kill the worms. Veg scraps should be cut small, so should things like lumps of bread, it is easier for the worms to deal with small bits of waste than big lumps, best mixing veg with food waste before adding as small piles to one side of the bedding. Wait until you can see them working on it before adding more, add new piles in a new place. Things to be careful with, coffee grounds, they are acidic, its best to blend coffee grouts with a little dolomite dust or calcified seaweed. Things that never get dealt with, avocado pips and skin, potato peel if uncooked [it tends to grow] citrus peel is not good either. Like growing plants you need to watch and learn from how the worms are doing, a little dolomite lime or calcified seaweed dusted over the new food piles from time to time will keep the environment sweet and neutralise organic acid build up produced by the waste break down, always keep the liquid produced drained regularly.. Final thing I have not seen mentioned anywhere, a light dusting of rock dust over the entire surface every couple of weeks seems to be good for the whole system. Wait until the worms have burrowed away from the light first though as any dry dust be it rock, dolomite etc will irritate their skin. I hope it goes well for you and this helps Ot1. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keye Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Thanks OT1. I did think it was going to take a while to build up and tick over, so i haven't dumped all our scraps in there right now. Most are going into the regular bin while they adjust to their new home. I had some 'worm treat' with the system - not sure what it is but i will sprinkle some of it over the coffee grounds and other bits that are currently in there. I presume dolomite lime and calcified seaweed are available freely from gardening centres - i'll have a look! I'll keep this thread updated with my ventures. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utokia Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hey fellow wormers! I have a DIY worm bin on the go (4 weeks?) - as well as some 3 month-old compost in a compost bin. I got the worms from a local muck heap - there are probably billions in the well rotted mound... we took a couple of bags full and made a bin out of an old plastic dustbin (with lid) - the manure that was left over - I added to my compost, which had already done most of its heating up and had been turned a couple of times. I turned it recently and it looks like they are thriving in the compost bin too. Great tips OT1 - thanks for those - and I look forward to hearing how you get on Keye. I too dream of growing my own in my own natures own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keye Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Yey! Composters unite! I'm only 10,000 years behind everyone else! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarchild Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 just a quick question for anyone with abit more knowledge than me. the bottom tray of my worm bin (stacking jobby made from cat litter trays) is just about ready to harvest. i say nearly cos its got alot of life in it. anyway gonna do my final pot up and i really need to use the castings. i think it would be wise to nuke the castings cos theres lots of larvae, eggs,bugs etc in there. (got as many worm eggs out as poss, you really want to be stoned for that). by sterilizing the castings i will avoid turnung my grow room into a micro-zoo but i will kill lots of benificial things. can i "reawaken it with a tea made from the castings or some fresh castings that i,ve taken as much bugs out of as poss? the stuff that comes from the shop i presume is sterile cos its in a sealed bucket. how do you do yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keye Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Hello, I don't know a lot about this, so i'll be interested to hear some other replies. My first instinct is that you're only doing harm by nuking the soil. Have you tried siving the castings with a riddle or something? How many trays do you have? Perhaps the bottom layer needs more time for all the worms to progress upwards? Keye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Dzerzhinsky Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Not 100% sure on this but possibly drying it in the sun will kill a lot of the bugs but probably won't affect eggs. If it's not flash dried some of the bacteria and fungi may be able to produce spores or go into a hibernation type mode that they would normally use in drought conditions. I would have thought nuking it would kill all the beneficial bacteria which is 50% or more of the benefit from worm castings. However I'm not totally sure about this so don't quote me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarchild Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 (edited) thanks guys.i'm pretty sure that leaving the tray thats almost ready for more time will alow any bugs to bugger off, especially if left uncovered in the sun. the tray is pretty much pure castings but still had some worms in there. however cos i'm making a compost mix now i dont want to introduce anything into my growroom. i think what i'm gonna do is nuke what i'm putting in th pots and then make teas and top dress my pots with castings when there a bit more "ready" and hope that it kciks of the good bugs in the soil. think i need to work on my timing! thanks fellas on a side note theres an agricultural show going on up the road so i think i;m gonna take a bag and get me some faeces. any views? watching gardeners world tother week and the a prize winning tomato grower swears by sheep manure. if i use only a bit cos its fresh and get it well mixed in it should be good no? hopefully there will be some sheep there what with foot and mouth. Edited August 11, 2007 by solarchild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Dzerzhinsky Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Personally I steer well clear of fresh manure, it's too hot nute wise. Also you should have it in a pile so it can heat up and kill of a goodly percentage of any pathogens. Once again I'm not 100% on this but believe it to be fairly accurate. Hope it helps, Felix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarchild Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 cheers mate, no livestock there anyway. but i think i need to do some research on the subject before i head off to the moors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Jones Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Looking into this worm business apart from free castings and bacteria what other benefits does worm farming give isn't it just far easier buying the castings etc. I have searched this site but haven't come across much on why we do it does anyone have any links. PS When I was blagged into buying my bat guano I was told that worm castings also are very good for ganja plants is this true or is it the same blag as the guano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairy face Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 how do you do yours? Only just saw this post, but I wouldn't nuke it because (as others have said) you'd be killing off the beneficial bacieria. When I want to harvest some castings I put it through a 1/4" (6mm) sieve, putting any worms and material that hasn't rotted properly into another worm bin. I don't worry about any worms or eggs I've missed as the worms won't survive long in compost with a wet-dry cycle. If I'm not ready to use the castings straight away, then any worms that are still in it will help keep it sweet until it's ready to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuff and nonsense Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 hi solarchild got my worm farm about a month ago so a long way to go before I get any castings but the reason I started it was because of an article I read about worm castings being stuffed full of aerobic life including a substance from the worms themselves that can be washed out of their burrows " vermiwash" it contains beneficial fungus that when used as a spray it is apparently a superb insecticide even against the borg , If you nuke ( microwave ? ) your worm castings you might as well have bought a bag from the grow shop , I would just pick out the worms and cocoons spread it out on something flat to semi dry and then use it , the best person to ask is ot1 cause I believe he,s kept worms for a long time ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarchild Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 Yeah cheers fellas. ideally i wouldnt have nuked any of the castings but i was potting up my plants and wanted to use some castings in my soil mix to provide a bit of nutrients. i know that i was gettin rid of the micro-herd in em but theres shit loads of castings left for teas and for next time (there free ya see!). next grow i should have enough worm shit thats in no need of a nukin for my pot mix. cheers solar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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