For the most part, probably not. Castings are more granular, like coffee grounds. In fact, pure worm castings look just like coffee grounds. Also, worms spend the grand majority of their time below the soil/bedding surface. The greater part of what you're seeing is most likely bedding material that was stuck to worms bodies and came off as they frolicked on the surface of your bedding.
So I bought 250 Euro Nightcrawlers from Uncle Jim. So far I think things are going OK, i dug around and I saw a mix of smaller and larger worms...so I take this to mean they are reproducing even thought i haven't spotted any cocoons. Its only been about a month since I introduced them into my bin...do you think its to early to start picking out worms to use for fishing bait? They're not as long as I was hoping for (yet, hopefully) but they are nice and fat. They're just as fat as the canadian nightcrawler I get from walmart, but not as long. Also....about how long do your alls Euro Nightcrawlers get? Mine are just about 3 inches or so for the bigger ones Also...is it ok that I don't have much, if any leachate? the bins stayed relatively moist....but only watered it about twice and haven't had any leachate. had some today for the first time. Im keeping the bin indoors in my living room lol. really glad it doesn't smell at all....like at all, at all!
Found this cool pic at Uncle Jims. Thought I'd share. I'm gonna compare to my own to see if.i can find some eggs or pregnant worms.
When adding high quality compost material ie leaf compost + a few ammendments, are you guys using the "worms can eat half their weight per day" theory to calculate the length of time they'd need to go through a whole bin? For example, 1lb of worms eating 0.50 lb per day consume 3.5 lbs per week (1 lb x 0.50 lb/day x 7 days/week), and an estimated 2.86 weeks to go through 10 lbs of compost bedding (10 lbs of bedding/3.5 lbs per week). *Assuming Ph, humidity, temp all are ideal.*
Sooooo, im in the building. My bin will go in my veggin room with the 6 bulb t5 fixture in it. Should be perfect temps year round. I used a old picnic basket that i had laying around. I realize this will be a temporary box, because its thick enough. I put cedar in the bottom for a extra layer. This weekend ill build a box completely out of cedar. I layered it...shredded newspaper, soil, worms, soil, scraps, soil, newspaper. I alao sprinkled it all with water and covered it with more soil. Any advice is welcomed y
Nice job and quite aesthetically pleasing to boot! I'm sure you have already considered this, but I figured I'd mention it anyhow..... I would of probably searched for a shallow, cheap plastic tray/bin/tub etc that would fit tightly into the inside bottom dimensions catching any possible leachates. Looks like you have it set up with a divider, so obviously two bottom pans may work better for this style bin. Finding shallow, plastic trays to fit perfectly may be the real challenge here thereby necessitating your alternative choice of cedar. Possible moisture absorption or leak/mess potentials may not even be worthy considerations here, especially since its planned as just a temporary/lightly used bin. Obviously you already recognized cedar as a wise material choice for continually moist conditions and it can always be replaced if needed. Anyhow, it appears Im rambling on a bit here. I just never tire of viewing and admiring how others use their ingenuity, adaptability skills and resourcefulness when finding clever solutions to DIY projects for our various garden related adventures. Really just wanted to say thanks for sharing that! Very well done and quite clever dlsmokes! OC
Morning OC I've been sitting outside this place for some time now. Soaking it up, lil by lil. AWESOMENESS...i have some bins in my garage just collecting dust. I can cut it to size, and use my heat gun to seal them back up. A little measuring and bingo. I'll set the other side up before i start to collect more scraps. Perfect idae OC :YAY: Glad i can now provide our gardens with clean healthy castings. I do have a question though. Will the pumice in my notills make it too hard for the worms to dig around? I realize there are rocks, and pebbles in the earth, but not as consistent as pumice, and perilite in my bins. I added extra because, I've noticed that everyone always says I wish I would have mixed in a little more aeration because after a couple of runs they have problems with compaction. I threw some worms in each pot and in my veggie garden plot. I didn't realize the 2000 worms was a so many I just wanted to go through my scraps faster lol. Oh and you can call me Smokey y
Okey dokey Smokey Glad I could assist a lil and fresh castings are ... well ..... they are the shit! Fastest way I've found to go through scraps for use as worm food is to pile em up in a container and let them get a bit "funky". Then bag em and freeze them which greatly helps accelerate their decomposition even further via cell wall rupturing. Let em thaw completely and they will "funky" right back up then ... voila! .... worm gourmet food! This can even be accelerated further by blending scraps into a "soupy mess" before freezing, thawing and "refunkenizing" them. If I have an overabundance of scraps, then I also employ bokashi composting methods. This works well to alleviate any anxiety about scraps continually building up faster than they can be used ... or not having enough when you need them. Worms really like bokashi compost IMO, but just like with anything else .... in moderation. Bokashi is acidic and although I've never had issues (even when overdone), apparently some have. My bins are very large which allows much better tolerances for miscalculations and whimsical bone headed assumptions on my part. I'm no worm expert and have made more than my fair share of dumb mistakes, but fwiw .... my bins are very much full of various aeration aggragrates. In fact, my bins are very similar to my soil mixes being very roughly 1/3 aeration ammendments by volume. Off the top of my head this is whats used in my bins, (but its certainly not all inclusive). Scoria (red/black lava rock), pumice, rice hulls, buckwheat hulls, biochar, growstones, hydroton and coco shell hulls. Theres likely some perlite and other various stuff ..... I'm always finding smaller rocks when screening fresh vermicompost for use. Im not sure where they came from, but its likely the composted cattle manure I source from a family members organic cattle ranch. Keep in mind my bins are fairly big .... around 100 gallons or more in volume. This makes for varying microclimates/microhabitats allowing them to escape my stupidity should it raise its head. I can tell you that in spite of my abundance of aeration ammendments, I also have noticed compaction and consider it normal as the depths of my tubs are over 2 foot and thats allot of weight compressing down upon itself. I reliably can find lots of worms throughout my tubs.... from top to the very bottom and this compaction issue does not seem to deter them in any way. Very likely this is due to my heavy aeration. To shorten my answer ..... I think if you keep your aeration at or around the ratio used for soil mixing then you are just fine. I'm sure someone else here much better qualified and knowledgable will comment. Worms are amazingly resilient creatures and certainly one of mother natures most amazing examples of her fondness for symbiotic relationships amoungst her creations. Although its undoubtedly wise to observe and learn from nature and natural habitats, I feel its a mistake and arrogant to believe we can completely mimic those conditions artificially. IMHO ... one cannot perfectly mimic or duplicate that in which we truly do not fully and completely understand, or for that matter even begin to fully comprehend. Ok ..... no more coffee for me today. Im gonna get a blister on my typing finger OC
Thanks a bunch.. I love the detailed response, I hate vague answers. It leaves room for me to over think it. Cool, cause i was kinda worried thw wouldn't make it in my 20g containers, because of the extra aeration. My initial mix was a 1/3, but again i amped it up for the 20g containers. Sheeeit in that case maybe i can throw a couple more into each pot. y
OK, I'll be short and sweet since the site seems to send 1/2 of everything I type into the ether. The 18 gal rubbermaid totes and 10 gal totes have the same dimensions, just a difference in height. I only use perlite for aeration now because you can crunch it through a screen when harvesting. Not so much with pumice, lava rock, or pine bark fines. VOE there. Wet
Morning y'all, I tbh i havent even put aeration in my worm scraps. Should i be considering this a home, or a machine. I thought you fill up the thing with food, maybe throw some kelp, and neem in this mix and thats it. I didnt realize i needded tp add aeration to the sraps The pu.ice i was referring too, is in my garden containers. I put 5/7 worms in each one. I have clover growing , and today ill be breaking up some lavender for my first mulch layer. This is in my garden though, not the worm bin. While i did throw some lavender in the scraps cause i though it would start to smell lol. y
do you separate the perlite from the castings, or do you also use perlite in your soil? oh and next time your post goes AWOL click on the more reply options if you are not in the advanced editor already, then look on the editing toolbar for the first icon on the right (looks like a floppy disc) and click it. the site automatically saves a draft of your post while you type it and you can retrieve it from there.
FWIW, my bedding is practically my base soil mix (finished compost, pumice/coco shell, peat). This time of year we have a bunch of veggie and herb scraps that get alternated with bokashi scraps. I've been taking banana peels/coffee grounds/kelp meal through my nutri bullet. They work through this stuff super fast!
Do any of you cats add oatmeal to your blended paste? I guess I do this in place of the bokashi. Worms love it. I also use juice pulp mixed with ground malted barley.