Hello Blades I'm slowly making the switch to all organic and I've setup vermicomposting. What I'm wondering is: What would be the best food for my worms that would make the best castings for cannabis?
Bedding first. I choose to use my own personal compost, almost finished but already mesophilic. As a food choice I would choose the things that have nutrients that you're looking for but are easy to source (preferably for free). I use fallen fruits. Mangos, soursop, guava, passion fruit things of that sort. But the majority of my feed is seaweed. HTH SD
You will get carbon (C) from paper n stuff like that which is necessary for making sugar (also comes from CO2). Egg shells will bring in some calcium (Ca)--if you pulverize they will break down real fast. Your plants will love everything that makes the worms happy too. A good rule of thumb is obviously not too add too much of a single thing at once--like a shitload of orange peels or something like that. Keep it nice and balanced. Coffee and coffee filters, fruit peels, table scraps, anything pretty much--avoid meat and fat because they bring in too much nitrogen when they are broken down and will heat up and cook the worms. Adding some greensand (or azomite? Zeolite? Rock dust? rock phosphate?)will bring in lots of awesome micronutrients plus the worms will utilize the little pieces in their gizzards like teeth. You can also add little nugget perlite to keep it real airy. You can add a little humate and kelp meal as well. The humate will chelate nutrients making them super plant available... Alfalfa will bring in some N and triacantanol (growth hormone). I can be mo specific if ya want hah. I stole some of this from True Living Organics--I don't actually know a whole lot so anybody please correct me if I am mistaken.
rabbit manure is a worm's caviar, not to mention that most rabbit food contains alfalfa. but remember, diversity is key in organics. be sure to throw some sand or some other type of grit in there for the worms' digestive system.
Most items will not heat up in your bin if sprinkled on top and allowed to slowly break down. Even hot items like alfalfa are fine if they aren't turned under. Everything in moderation. I like my "mostly or semi composted" horse manure/black leaf mold as a base/bedding. To that sprinkle anything you like on top. J
From what I understand about rabbit poo (very little), it is one of the few manures that won't heat up when applied into or on the soil. I would assume as long as you don't overdo the amounts, like anything else, it would be very beneficial. I mean, majority of their diet consists of alfalfa...
rabbit manure will not heat up your bed. in fact, my bedding usually consist mostly of rabbit manure with granite screenings/dust and perlite. I also add a few things here and there.
Thanks for the replies guys! The guy that sold me the worms told me not to feed them onions, tomatoes and peppers, because it'll make the castings too acidic. Is that true or has he smoked himself retarded?
How about your kitchen scraps? If you eat a balanced diet, your worms will too. I've got kids, so I can feed LOTS of worms with our scraps.
Yeah I gave them some leaves, a couple root balls, orange peels, apples, tea bags, coffee grinds, egg shells and some oatmeal. I'll look into getting some rabbit poop too.
I have actually heard before that worms don't like onions. They just take a little while to break em down i think and, like anything else, too much of one thing will disturb the balance. And so if it takes several months to break down an onion then adding more and more, even gradually, can have adverse effects due to their longer presence in the bin. Just pay attention to what takes really long to compost and you'll get a good idea of what foods they like and dislike. They will annihilate food that they enjoy real quick.
Stumpie Just as Jerry and Sean do, I use compost or even pre-compost as my primary foodstock. You can put onion and tomato in your worm bin, just don't make it the main course. If you are able to compost this is really an ideal food source for worms. It will also keep the flying insects to a minimum. And you will have flying insects if you are feeding table scraps and fresh vegetables or fruit. The nice thing about using compost or pre-compost is that you don't have to worry about it being finished and ready for plant use as the worms will do that for you. Tell us what type vermicompost set-up you have?
Pretty simple setup, I just did what the guy I got the worms from told me to do 50 gal Rubbermaid bin (drilled 1/2" holes every inch on the bottom). Sitting over a tray on 2x2's. Lined the bottom with screen, then shredded newspaper and cardboard about an inch deep. Put an inch or so of promix on top of the bedding (only dirt I had on hand) then put the compostables I said in my post above evenly on top of that. Then added the worms (4lbs of them), then covered the whole thing with about 3" of pulped paper and shredded newspaper. Is this okay? Or is there better ways? I could start a compost bin I guess it's just that we have lots if raccoons and coyotes where I am and the little buggers get into everything! Usually we get our compost from a neighbour that has a huge pile of it as he farms.
Looks like you have a nice set-up, Stumpie. Just make sure your bedding (paper, cardboard) stays moist, I always soak mine before I add it. I'd get myself a yard or so of compost and then you have an excellent food source as long as the neighbor is producing a quality product. I would wait a another week or two before I feed again as they will need an 'adjustment period' in their new domicile.