Vermicomposting (Make your own Worm Castings)

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by OldPork, Feb 8, 2009.

  1. I may not be following correctly but this sounds like you added 6tbs of lime to 4 gallons of bedding?

    When I mentioned the worm population would breed and populate faster at temps in the 50's and produce vermicompost faster in the 70's I wasn't kidding.

    This info is in the book "Vermiculture Technologies" by Clive Edwards. It's in Gimiks library. Literally the Bible of worm/VC production.
    RD
     
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  2. Exactly what I did,and I did/do believe you.
    I may have 500-1000 worms,Idk
     
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  3. All this worm talk made me realize that I hadn't touched my worm bin in over a month or more.

    I added a rotten melon, some newspaper, cardboard, and pizza crusts. I also gave the bed 2 gallons of water.

    I'll post some pics of it 4-5 days here. I suspect we will see a swarm of them on the melon. The pizza crusts should form Santa's Beard much like MBP would. Possibly some breeders in the cardboard but it may take a little longer for that.
    RD IMG_20190204_091628831.jpg View attachment 2567636 IMG_20190204_094406847.jpg

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  4. Dang that’s a big bin! Haha. What size it that, I’m guessing it’s flow thru. Who doesn’t like pizza crust. Lol


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  5. How do you keep it uncovered like that I'd have 50000000000000000000 fungus gnats then again in So Cal doesn't get to even get freezing temps maybe that's why?
     
  6. Right on. Other than old unamended soil I've only used peat moss for a brief time one winter when I ran out of compost.

    My water is high in Ca so liming agents are something I use with caution. If the VC is going to be used in a soil mix I wonder if less lime should be used or not?
    Eventually that 4 gallons of bedding will become approximately 1.5 gallons of VC.
    Curious if @Organicsinse makes any adjustments because of this?

    It's about 150g. It's my old no till bed that I run like a static bin.

    Plenty of fungus gnats in Montana. I do keep it covered with a sheet of plastic. I normally don't put food scraps other than pizza crusts in there. Lol. Food scraps are usually composted first. Just curious what kind of activity I may see in a few days.
    RD
     
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  7. I usually see a higher number of pot worms when I add breadstuffs:confused_2: I think its a pH thing.Bread ferments from the yeast when breaking down. Potworms like a more acidic environment.
     
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  8. You were the guy that taught me what potworms are! Lol.
    I'm not worried about a few crusts. But that time I added a half loaf of moldy bread to my bin was a sight to behold!
    RD
    Edit: the activity the rotten melon will bring is what I was talking about.
     
  9. LOL! Potworms are decomposers too. I have no beef with them whatsoever. They come and go as do the other decomposers in my bin. I love seeing the flush of reds when I add melon to my bins too.

    Doug at NW Redworms has a deal going where he gets outdated cases of Naked Juice and he uses them to collect flushes of worms to sell in bulk amounts. Last time I did a Worm Bin Build class for the Master Gardeners, we bought 15# from him. He was showing me how he would pour out a case of fruit juice in an area of his windrow and come back the next day to collect the worms.

    I think the bacterial flush from the sugar in the juice is like an aphrodisiac to the worms. It's pretty amazing to see a 15# ball of worms.
     
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  10. That's awesome. I drink one of those every morning. Great tech too. I bought 18#'s from Doug awhile back and was really happy.

    I'm going to have a beat up 2 car garage this summer and slowly start my worm business back up again. I either need to find a plan or design one to mechanically remove the VC from the bottom of a flow through...any ideas on this?
    RD
     
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  11. I was looking for a plan from Oregon Soil Corporation which is the company that built the flow throughs for Worm Power in New York. That led me to this video that may be of interest to you. The poster says hes going to offer plans.



    Coot's first flow through had a similar "blade" but it needed two people to operate it.
     
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  12. I don't worry about under or over liming. I have gone pretty extreme both directions and haven't had any problems. I like to have a lot of Ca in my mixes.
    After some of the 'experiments' I have done in static bins I don't think you can go wrong with too much lime. I have added as much as 2 Tablespoons to the top of static bins (with around 10 gallons in them), every week for 6 months, and have had great results. The worms liked it, and I really liked it.
    To be even more honest, I actually started adding lime to my leaf mold and compost piles when I build them. Seems to work great there too. (A friend gave me 40#'s of lime before she moved so I was anxious to use it up).
    cheers
    os
     
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  13. Right on. Maybe I won't worry about it so much. What's your water source like? I've got around 162ppm Ca and a total ppm of 260. Envy the experiments that can be done in smaller containers!
    RD
     
  14. My tap water is 24 ppm Ca, total hardness 70 ppm. That is what I use all winter.
    In the summer I use water from my creek, I have no idea on that one, except it has a lot of rock dust floating around.
    The little containers are like 'small commitments', you can make a lot of them, and experiment till you find the one,
    cheers
    os
     
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  15. Would it be beneficial to first freeze banana peels then thaw before adding them to the bin?
     
  16. In my experience any fruit or vegetable rots much faster after being frozen and then thawed, especially bananas.
     
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  17. I have read freezing breaks down the cellular walls which is a first step in decomp.

    Does anyone know how long it takes for the peels to really become available for worms both fresh and frozen?
    And how long would this peel take to be completely consumed?
     
  18. I've never bothered to thaw anything out first, just add it to the bedding surface still frozen. It's never seemed to bother the worms any and the comfrey thaws out in a matter of minutes.

    I usually don't bother freezing banana peels as they break down so fast on their own.

    Wet
     
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  19. Thawed banana peels disappear in 2-3 days. I always freeze them, works slick!
    cheers
    os
     
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  20. OS,my 5 gallon lasagna bucket is inside next to my WF.
    After re reading your posts I saw you said to add a good layer of grounds on top of the limed CSPM (I also added some Bu’s as I said)then sprinkle the MBP on top of that to grow Santa’s beard.
    And I mistakenly mixed 50/50 the grounds and MBP,is this an issue?
    How long should I let this set and should I be hydrating or covering it at all?
    And is this a source of food,how would I best use this?

    Sorry for so many questions,I’m just too detail oriented.

    Thanx
     

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