Worms

How fast do you want them to eat through the fabric?

 

They won't eat through fabric! Depending on the size pot you are using but any amount should do because worms will self regulate the population in the pot.

my grow journal
https://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?threads/1422221/

 

Yeah should be fine.

my grow journal
https://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?threads/1422221/

 

Fabric pots are made of synthetic material, worms will not eat through it...
A handful is a good amount.

 

I agree. A handful should be plenty as mentioned they will populate depending on their size of environment. I used about half a handful for my 10 gal. Also there may be cocoons in the castings (if that's what your using) so a little less is always a good way to start. I've made soil without adding worms before and found worms in the same mix later on.


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IF you're using any kind of a decent vermicompost in your mix, chances are there is already worn cocoons scattered throughout it which will hatch and take care of things themselves.

J

 

Azon has a couple of selections. If you're a prime member no shipping costs.

 

Don't laugh, for $100 I got a Worm Factory 360. No more rubbermaid bins. 2 gal/mo perfect just the way I like it my way EWC every month on the full moon. Takes up 2x2 in my studio/office. Easiest of all my daily chores, lift the lid, set it on a 5 gal bucket (which I also use for my trashcan) take off the Kraft Paper set it on the lid, watch them all react to the light. Spray them down, sprinkle some chicken feed or oatmeal, cover them back up, say goodnight until next morning.

 

I just looked this up real quick... just curious, what makes this better than a rubbermaid, say, if I put a spout on the bottom? I just looked it up on Amazon real quick, looks like there are levels and screens to it? How does it work? Does the good EWC fall to the bottom bins while the whole food/composting material stays at the top? Why so many levels? Just curious, this looks nice, and 2'x2' is nice and small, for my tiny apartment and grow. Just curious as to how it works.. I watched the video on Amazon but didn't really explain much.
Thanks!

 

Now I have all my rubbermaid bins stacked up nice and neat with old soil, new soil, perlite etc. Use them for what they are designed for and they are really nice. Worm bins? Ah man, cold day and the worms need to be stirred so I can see how they are doing down there, it's cold today. No schedule, bottom of the I gotta do that soon list. I quit drilling drain holes, for one thing got better at only addding the right amount of moisture and half the time I ended up dumping the worms because I needed a tub with out holes in it.
Yeah, the 360 is great because you harvest once a month whether you need it or want to. And all harvesting means is dumping the bottom tray worms and all in your EWC bin. You can get the worms later if you want to or just let them live their life naturally. Then you just fill up that tray with another 2 gal of bedding and put it on top and start feeding it every day or so. There really shouldn't be too many worms left in the bottom because that bin is 4 months old and hasn't been fed for 3 months. I was surprised how much liquid comes out ( I leave the valve open 24/7) since I only give them what I was giving them in the bins with no problem, but maybe my new bedding is not as absorbent since I switched from peat to coco. I don't trust the tea and only use it to moisten my old soil. Would not put it on a plant. All the fun comes in the bedding bucket which is a 5 gal bucket filled with water and whatever you are going to use for your next tray. Mine is water from my snail aquarium which is really funky and coco and paper and now I'm getting into rocks and that is a safe place to add dust or even bigger rocks. I have the bottom of the bucket layered with lava rock and it never gets removed and the bucket is always wet, really REALLY organic, like animals living in it organic.
Every time I blow a c note all the DIY come out, so just forget I said anything, it is a totally unecessary extreme luxury item that only a man with everything but EWC would ever want.
whew, that ewc sure does grow some good talkative pot, look at all I wrote.

edit:Oh yeah, number 1 reason I switched was because my last worm bin was supposed to be only 12 gallons and I ended up dumping until it was filled and too heavy for me to lift. This way I am limited to two gallons a tray, easy to lift.

 

Ohhh I get it, so you basically just rotate the bins as they are in different composting stages - that's pretty cool. I do need EWC, but probably not at the amount this would produce. My box is small, I only have 2 plants going it once (box footprint is 1.5' x 2', 5 gallon smart pots) - think that would produce "too much" EWC for me? I know a lot of it matters what you put in, so that is definitely a big factor I'm sure. I could just source some EWC and in fact just found someone on craigslist that has some for cheap, but it's 100% dry EWC.. I'd love to have nice fresh moist worm and cocoon rifled EWC and possibly get no-tills going.
I just used the "sample" EWC the guy gave me, but it wasn't a big amount. I don't have a lot of room, though, and may have a lady friend moving in soon which is gonna be tight as HELL with her stuff in here on top of it (I seriously have no closets... I dunno how we're gonna do this haha)

Thanks for the info, though! Maybe when/if I get a bigger grow going.. although I know I can always save the EWC and pile it up... maybe grow some veggies on my back porch in the summer... mmmmm..

 

That will work. Throw in some compost too, and then mulch the whole thing so the worms can hide easily. It will stress them less. They like all the materials damp.
os