Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

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Imbald

Well-Known Member
I've had my European crawlers for about 3 months now. Haven't harvested any castings yet, they're there, just being lazy and don't need them presently.
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Bedding is mainly peat with perlite, lime, Oyster shell flower, sand, and some shredded newspaper.
I'm mainly striving for "super castings". I guess you could say similar to Coots style.
I use no fruits, vegetables, or table scraps. Not worth the extra risk for smells, to much moisture, and excessive bugs. That's just me. I had that experience a few years back. But hey, if it works for you, it is pretty much free food.

I do give them some, but not a lot, of coffee grounds. There main diet is ground up malted barley, karanja cake meal, neem meal, alfalfa meal, crab meal, kelp meal. Never a lot at one time. Sprinkle it out over the top every couple days and cover with damp newspaper. If you add too much at one time it will heat up.
Soon to be added to their menu will be alfalfa pellets and ground up bird seed.
 
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loco41

Well-Known Member
I know I've smoked a bit too much when i find myself zoning out watching some springtails have themselves a little brawl in one of the bins, seemed to be pretty intense.

On a real note, anybody feed beets to the worm bins? I imagine they would be just fine, but I froze the scraps from peeling them and then thawed/blended them to try and help make them easier to breakdown. @MustangStudFarm I know you were talking about beet juice and grokashi not too long ago, but have any thoughts on if running them through the worm bins would bring similar effects to the microbes/soil?
 
raggyb

raggyb

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
I know I've smoked a bit too much when i find myself zoning out watching some springtails have themselves a little brawl in one of the bins, seemed to be pretty intense.

On a real note, anybody feed beets to the worm bins? I imagine they would be just fine, but I froze the scraps from peeling them and then thawed/blended them to try and help make them easier to breakdown. @MustangStudFarm I know you were talking about beet juice and grokashi not too long ago, but have any thoughts on if running them through the worm bins would bring similar effects to the microbes/soil?
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I fed beets because they have manganese and Mn is good for terpene production. then again i have so far killed all the worms and don't know how but I doubt it was the beets that did it.
 
C

chernobe

Well-Known Member
The new worms are all settled in now. Gave them crab meal, OSF, neem meal, gypsum, basalt, Glacial rock dust, couple handfuls of malted barley all mixed into some coco. Also rehydrated a jar of kelp meal and way over fed them. I believe that is all that is left because they are making quick work out of the mounds of kelp meal and there is tons of black little grounds everywhere. Thinking about harvesting and changing bedding in 2-3 weeks depending on progress. I added 2000 worms to this bin in addition to the couple or few hundred already living there. They are very active now and doing a great job!
 
MustangStudFarm

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
I know I've smoked a bit too much when i find myself zoning out watching some springtails have themselves a little brawl in one of the bins, seemed to be pretty intense.

On a real note, anybody feed beets to the worm bins? I imagine they would be just fine, but I froze the scraps from peeling them and then thawed/blended them to try and help make them easier to breakdown. @MustangStudFarm I know you were talking about beet juice and grokashi not too long ago, but have any thoughts on if running them through the worm bins would bring similar effects to the microbes/soil?
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I used the beet scraps in the worm bin, the leftovers from juicing them.
DSC01282.JPG
 
Rozgreenburn

Rozgreenburn

Well-Known Member
Rozgreenburn said:
Update on worm bin. So far [2 weeks] and no more worm loss. Since I put food and bedding in the bottom tray, instead of overwatering and collecting leachate, there has been no mass exodus from above and the worms that stay down there act very happy. Happy growing y'all.
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Final? update. I just harved my first 2 gallons of EWC. Why the hell am I so excited about worm poop? Anyway, I've got eggs, and lots of baby worms in the bottom. That was all that remained in my base tray. I have given some ventilation holes up high and, no problems. So cool, gonna love having fresh castings and Hypoaspis miles....Gotta love forward progress :eyesmoke:...
 
CrunchBerries

CrunchBerries

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Really ,I did not know that.Well shit, now how do I separate them from my casting?
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Yes so they will hatch and reproduce themselves. Can’t remember when they will be sexually mature but it isnt long. You can tell the difference between the hatched and unhatched eggs by the color. Unhatched looks like what you posted. Hatched look clearer.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
CrunchBerries said:
Yes so they will hatch and reproduce themselves. Can’t remember when they will be sexually mature but it isnt long. You can tell the difference between the hatched and unhatched eggs by the color. Unhatched looks like what you posted. Hatched look clearer.
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Just did some reading,the redish ones are close to hatching.So i guess 5-8 worms will be in ea cocoon
 
CrunchBerries

CrunchBerries

Well-Known Member
I added leftover EWC, alfalfa and kelp from a compost tea and the worms went fucking bananas! They had been chowing on some malted barley, but when I added the leftovers they quickly moved and made short work of the mix.
 
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