Worm Bin Additives ??

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by wetdog, Jul 11, 2010.

  1. I've had my worms for about 10 months now and currently have 2 bins and 2 buckets.

    After separating out the first bin the first time, I quit using paper and cardboard for bedding. Picking out the chunks just didn't get it for me.:mad:

    By that time, I had read more and gained some experience and started using peat moss (limed to adjust pH), for my bedding. My mix (LC's #1), is a peat based mix, so even if it wasn't all consumed I wouldn't have to separate it out. I also added some kelp meal to the mix.

    I would mix all this up (5 gallons worth), wet it down and let it sit for a week or longer before adding it to the bins to let the lime work.

    Now, reading here and there, I see people also adding things like Azomite, Greensand, soft rock phosphate and I'm sure, other things I'm forgetting.

    What else do ya'll add to your bins? To what purpose?

    This can really help as right now I'm doing a 'batch' experiment with the 2 buckets. I can't remember where I read it, but basically it's peat moss and food (laying meal), in a 5 gallon bucket, then left alone for 3 months, then pure castings. That's the theory anyway.

    So far, the worms are thriving and reproducing, so I haven't screwed up too bad.:)

    What I'm shooting for is this. I usually make up 2cf of mix at a pop, a good wheelbarrow full. For that amount, I need ~3 gallons of WC. I'm trying for 3 gallons of WC/bucket rather than having to mess with a bin every time. Sort of pre measured, fresh WC.

    Anything that would help this be even more beneficial would be appreciated.

    Wet
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Not sure about all that other stuff ive read about it too, but I use all my kitchen scraps. They really love watermelon, pumpkin, and coffee grounds. I also add avocado leaves and rabbit manure. Worms really love the watermelon, plants seem to love the sugary shit they leave behind. I also use straight seaweed (rinsed and chopped).
     
  3. wetdog

    I add the following items to the worm bins...............

    1. Soft rock phosphate - this will NOT add any measurable amount of 'phosphorus' but it will provide anchors for the fungui to attach themselves to which will help the uptake of phosphorus once it's in a soil

    2. Organic rice hulls - provides aeration, it's organic, and will later provide a 'marker' on when a soil has been used enough times to warrant adding soil amendments, rock dusts, etc. once they're broken down which is about 5 or 6 months.

    3. Charcoal - lump charcoal is the least expensive and easiest to source. It's the type that the BBQ folks use to 'smoke hawg' meaning that it's not processed like Kingsford Charcoal (which isn't charcoal for the most part). You could also add bone charcoal (koi pond shops will often have this), activated charcoal (expensive but effective) or bamboo charcoal (bring cash. Lots of cash).

    4. Organic oyster shell powder - worms need calcium to procreate as well as the grit to use in their gizzards to break down other particles. It's cheap, cheap - under $10.00 for 50 lbs. Oyster shell products are also important to maintain the appropriate PH level in the worm bins.

    HTH

    LD
     
    • Like Like x 1

  4. Thanks to this forum I've found a place where I can get a 40# bag of Azomite delivered for under $50. There are no dealers in my state or the next closest state for Azomite. I hate paying shipping for ground up rocks!:rolleyes:

    The Guano industry used to be big here, I guess for tobacco, but now, none to be seen. I'll keep looking, but everything is like a 20+ mile drive, so it's when I happen to be in the area sort of deal. Would really like to find some of the oyster shell, and the industry isn't too far away, so the lack of it is surprising.

    Wet
     
  5. wetdog

    Limestone is probably going to be easier to source for you than oyster shell powder/flour. Limestone is Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) which is the same form of Calcium found in the specific oyster shell flour/powder from Pacific Pearl in Oxnard California.

    Limestone should be about $6.00 per 50 lbs. It is sometimes marked as 'agriculture lime'

    HTH

    LD
     
  6. #6 btc2112, Jul 28, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 6, 2010
    i add agrowinn minerals as well as pelletized rock phosphate. LD turned me on to them a couple months back, the stuff is pure gold, get it!!! you can also add it to your soil mix and as LD says it really gives the fungi something to sink their teeth into. best $40 ever spent, 30 pounds is plenty, my children's children's children will still be using my leftover aggrowinn minerals.

    btw, if you have no ewc to use while waiting for your bin to produce, the agrowinn ewc are top quality castings that will help add the beneficial bacteria we're all after as well as providing gentle nutrition to the soil and plants.
     
  7. Coir works for bedding if you really don't like cardboard. I took an 11x14 frame, stapled on some 1/4" mesh, and made a sifter. We scoop out the vermicast, rake it over gently, and voila! Most of the worms and larger pieces of paper stay on the grid, and the good stuff drops below.

    I addition to the fruits and veggies my worms get I add:

    -Ground eggshells. (save them when you cook, dry in oven or open air, and grind when you have enough)
    -'Sludge' from making organic fertilizer tea
    -Coffee grounds and tea bags with staples removed when available
    -Cardboard egg crates
    -Rabbit bedding & poo (make sure to find bedding that won't harm worms)
    -Healthy plant waste from our garden (Don't use any diseased or infested plants!)
     
  8. Update to follow.

    Wet
     
  9. I use anything and everything that is veggies/plant/organic related. Except for citrus type stuff.

    I have also used coir for bedding. I've also blended a lot of my scraps so they are easier to be decomposed and ate
     
  10. Just harvested a bin that I further amended and all I can say is WOW. Among other things, I have never had the amount of cocoons as this one had, literally hundreds per handful of castings.

    Here is the mix:

    Peat moss- slightly less than 10 gal to fill 2-5gal buckets
    ~1 1/2 cups of powdered dolomite lime
    ~1 1/2+ cups of kelp meal
    ~2 cups of Azomite
    ~1+ cup rock phosphate, pellets
    ~1- cup bone meal
    ~4- cups alfalfa meal (bokashi)
    ~4- cups wheat bran meal (bokashi)
    coffee can full of used coffee grounds
    3-4 handfuls of 'playground' bagged sand

    Mixed this up and wet it down and let sit for a week or so. Was covered in mold/bacteria/fungus/whatever by the time I was ready for it.

    Harvested the bin, keeping a bit of the old bedding for the new bin and added this mix on top of that.

    Fed mainly laying mash and coffee grounds and some of the bokashi mixes. Didn't need to feed all that much if I added more of the 'charged' bedding, since there was so much food in it. Used no food scraps at all in this bin. Did add a few banana's here and there, cause the worms love them so.

    I wanted to keep this bin sorta separate from the 'normal' stuff you add to bins and I had the other bin for that.

    It was an outstanding success! Like I mentioned, I've gotten away from the paper/cardboard bedding, but still added some chunks of cardboard since the worms seemed to love laying eggs on them.

    This one didn't have any, but the number of egg casings was easily 4-5x more tan any other bin I've harvested. I really need to get on the stick and build something to separate them out.

    This worked out to way beyond what I was expecting, in all ways. A bit more expensive in the sense I wasn't recycling anything besides the coffee grounds, but the alfalfa meal and wheat bran meal is cheap and everything else is what would go into my mix anyway. Well, so is the AM and the WBM, I use them as N sources.

    When finances allow, I'm going to start a third bin of European Night Crawlers just for fish bait and perhaps use that for food scraps and such. My wife and I don't generate all that much.

    Wet
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. wetdog,

    Congrats on your worm casts bro.......I finally got a bin built and am putting the finishing touches on it myself. I have a worm farmer not to far away and it was convenient to just buy them......up until now.

    I want to try to become more self sufficient and since we raise chickens and turkeys, it's a win/win to recycle their manure. I'll post up some pics of my bin when I get it operational.

    good vibes your way,

    chunk
     
  12. chunk

    I guess you're going to compost down the chicken and turkey poo before giving it to the worms, yes?

    IDK, just figured it would be too hot, fresh. But then again, some relatives (real piney woods crackers), had an outhouse and there was plenty of worms in that.:eek:

    Wet
     
  13. #13 FunTimeGrowHap, Apr 21, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 23, 2011
    I added a pinch of greensand, oyster shell powder, and kelp to start my bin. Things were going good. Then I fed the worms my bokashi sludge and that was the end of most of my worms. I had a couple of fish scraps in my bokashi, so I guess that could have been it. I'm not really sure. The sludge was great when I buried it in a soil tote.

    Next time I feed my worms bokashi sludge, I'm only going to use blanched, shocked, and finely diced veggy scraps. Or else I'm going to let it sit in a bedding of coco peat and newspaper for 2-3 weeks before introducing into the worm bin. What do y'all think?


    LD-
    What's the reason for the charcoal?
     

  14. Yaaaaaa!!!! Yep, bokashi sludge might not of been the best thing. LOL
    Letting it dry out some sounds like a plan. It's also very acidic, so put it to one side so they can go to it or stay away from it.

    I made the bokashi bran, both with wheat bran meal and alfalfa meal and would put it towards one end or the other. The worms would seem to ignore it for a couple of days and then dig in. What was added to the bedding mix *cooked* for a week or 2.

    Wet
     
  15. Thanks for the input. I read a post earlier today that leads me to believe my homemade EM wasn't done quite right, and that I'm producing small amounts of alcohol.:eek: For my next batch, I'll be watching the pH to be certain it's all good.
     
  16. I've heard bokashi is good for worms, but don't have a bokashi system set-up. I would do like wet says and put it to one side and let the worms go at it at there own accord. I water in some diluted EM to my worm bin every now often.

    Charcoal is good to add to worm bins because it is a good source of carbon and is essentially 'apartment housing' for microbes. It is a simple way to getting something similar to bio-char or terra preta into your compost.

    Terra preta - Wikipedia

    Biochar - Wikipedia
     
  17. Stankie

    The bokashi is easy and ghetto cheap and you probably have everything you need, EM-1 and wheat bran or alfalfa meal.

    I do the bokashi in 5 gal buckets with lids. There is a youtube vid that I'll dig up and post. The finished stuff you can either feed to the worms, or use in bokashi buckets.

    My ghetto bokashi buckets are nothing more than plastic coffee jugs. I toss a handful of the bran in and fill em up. Mostly, it's coffee grounds and whatever else the wife tosses in. When it gets full, it goes to the worms, usually less than a week. Not real soggy and the bokashi bran has got the bacteria going real good.

    No more eggshells or anything that requires a blender.:rolleyes: Did that just once and the wife *nicely* told me if I ever did it again ...... Well, let's just say I will NEVER do it again.:eek: It's easy enough to add some calcitic lime.;)

    Wet
     
  18. wetdog

    RE: Bokashi in worm bins

    I've had the best luck adding bokashi-fermented kitchen wastes in small amounts at a time and that amount would (obviously) be dependent on the size of your worm bin.

    The worm bins I'm working with now are 5' x 3' x 2' and in that volume of bedding I only add about 1 quart of finished bokashi 'compost' at a time and then I only add it to one end of the bin where the microbes can neutralize the material to a higher pH level and once that is accomplished the worms take care of business pretty quickly.

    Adding this fermented compost to thermal compost bins makes them explode and moves that process along resulting in far shorter times for that process to work correctly.

    HTH

    LD
     
  19. LD, do you have a "flow through" style or partition style bin?
     
  20. MizzaFishKilla

    I set these up with the partition design which I am pretty happy with. Sort of.

    I saw your post elsewhere on the bin you built using the plans from UC Berkeley. An interesting side note to that design is that the gentleman who first built this is from Oregon City and his company called Oregon Soil Company. He has a nice business going designing and building systems for local governmental agencies, schools, etc.

    From what I understand he donated these plans to his alma mater and authorized them to distribute it free via their web site.

    THAT is the system that I want to have built in the next couple of months. A number of small organic farmers that I know have been running these boxes and the sheer volume of castings is the highest of any system that I've witnessed other than in-ground windrow systems which carry a number of challenges themselves.

    Good choice you made on your worm bin(s). Very cost-effective and functional.

    LD
     

Share This Page