earth worms in soil?

S

Srt4LOL

Member
So im watching a youtube video of the mendo dope boys and this guy was earth worms in the soil, now I know worm castings are good for the soil but is it safe to actually put worms in the soil? I would be worried about the messing up the roots. Another thing what does hay do on the top of the soil? Thanks for the help guys and gals8-)
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
They surely would be beneficial if you could keep them in the bucket. Im going to do it sometime. I was thinking of putting a metal window type screen material on the bottom of the bucket and and piece on top so they cant get out. Not only the worm castings but they burrow holes and the soil would have better drainage and more oxygen to the roots. If you try it let me know how it worked.
 
S

Srt4LOL

Member
Cpappa27 said:
They surely would be beneficial if you could keep them in the bucket. Im going to do it sometime. I was thinking of putting a metal window type screen material on the bottom of the bucket and and piece on top so they cant get out. Not only the worm castings but they burrow holes and the soil would have better drainage and more oxygen to the roots. If you try it let me know how it worked.
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I mean I'm not worries about them getting out or anything but would they eat at the roots ya think? I feel like the worms would be aioer beneficial to the girls lol. I may go grab some worms and throw them in my flowering ladies tomorrow
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
i went to the bait store down the street a couple times when they were open and bought a few tubs of worms, threw em in my buckets, in my garden beds,etc. It's a constant supply of worm casings as long as they are in there eating and breaking down the organic matter to something the plants can use..just be careful with over watering, you'll drown em easy in a pot
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
WeedFreak78 said:
i went to the bait store down the street a couple times when they were open and bought a few tubs of worms, threw em in my buckets, in my garden beds,etc. It's a constant supply of worm casings as long as they are in there eating and breaking down the organic matter to something the plants can use..just be careful with over watering, you'll drown em easy in a pot
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Or over drying
 
S

Srt4LOL

Member
WeedFreak78 said:
i went to the bait store down the street a couple times when they were open and bought a few tubs of worms, threw em in my buckets, in my garden beds,etc. It's a constant supply of worm casings as long as they are in there eating and breaking down the organic matter to something the plants can use..just be careful with over watering, you'll drown em easy in a pot
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So would you suggest using a different type of pot? I just have square 3 gallon buckets right now. And use like a tub of works per pot? Just trying to get a feel for what to do.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Srt4LOL said:
So would you suggest using a different type of pot? I just have square 3 gallon buckets right now. And use like a tub of works per pot? Just trying to get a feel for what to do.
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I've done it in 5gal buckets, storage totes, air pots,clay pots..doesn't really matter. i usually put at least 5 worms per gal of dirt, I didn't do any research on it, just seemed like a reasonable number to put in. One thing is you need to put some type of fabric cover on the drain holes or they will find their way out, i line the bottom of my pots with landscape fabric before planting, it also slows the runoff when watering allowing the soil to absorb it a little better.
 
S

Srt4LOL

Member
WeedFreak78 said:
I've done it in 5gal buckets, storage totes, air pots,clay pots..doesn't really matter. i usually put at least 5 worms per gal of dirt, I didn't do any research on it, just seemed like a reasonable number to put in. One thing is you need to put some type of fabric cover on the drain holes or they will find their way out, i line the bottom of my pots with landscape fabric before planting, it also slows the runoff when watering allowing the soil to absorb it a little better.
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Well shit i guess I'll have to wait till I transplant cause I already have all the girls settled in. I thought I could just dig down a little and throw them in there lol I don't want them falling out and I would like some better nute absorbing from the landscape fabric.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Srt4LOL said:
Well shit i guess I'll have to wait till I transplant cause I already have all the girls settled in. I thought I could just dig down a little and throw them in there lol I don't want them falling out and I would like some better nute absorbing from the landscape fabric.
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you could just trow them in, worse case scenario you get a few worms lose in your grow area..the only smell for a few days after they die..lol.
 
Cpappa27

Cpappa27

Well-Known Member
Steele_GreenMan said:
I'm curious as to how they would fare in peatmoss based medium as its not truly soil
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I hate peat moss based soil. Peat moss has a lot of acidity reserves that is not suitable for growing cannabis unless you amend it with the proper stuff to keep the PH at bay.
 
a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
Steele_GreenMan said:
I'm curious as to how they would fare in peatmoss based medium as its not truly soil
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They're still alive ;-)

My mix is 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost and EWC, and 1/3 cocoa shells and perlite for aeration.

The EWC had a ton of juveniles and eggs in it, both red wriggler and nightcrawler variety. When I harvested a few months later they were still alive...

Also, my seedlings and vegging plants seem to love them too.
 
Lysergicpt

Lysergicpt

Well-Known Member
Cpappa27 said:
They surely would be beneficial if you could keep them in the bucket. Im going to do it sometime. I was thinking of putting a metal window type screen material on the bottom of the bucket and and piece on top so they cant get out. Not only the worm castings but they burrow holes and the soil would have better drainage and more oxygen to the roots. If you try it let me know how it worked.
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it's a good ideia , but i dont think it will work that way , you can't force worms to be in your soil , its jut like compost , if you dont give them the proper conditions they will try to leave, its not by blocking its way out that they will stay , they will probably die trying to get out.
 
ZoBudd

ZoBudd

Well-Known Member
I've got red wigglers in my pots (the best worms for vermi-composting). I do all organic,soil grows and both plants and worms seem to be very happy. I use Fox Farm Happy Frog along with a few General Organics amendments, EWC teas and other organic stuff as needed.

I would guess that using certain amendments, especially synthetic nutes, fungicides, etc. might kill them off.

The worms are NOT going to eat the roots of your plants.
 
stiltokin

stiltokin

Active Member
I follow subcool's soil recipe pretty close. This is my 2nd grow and last year was really good. But of course it's always about improvement so I was wondering if I would be able to put worms either red wigglers or nightcrawlers in that soil mix or if it would be too hot and kill them or if they would thrive with all the organic material in the mix?
 
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