Worm Castings--Homemade

Ganjahoarder · Dec 29, 2011

I am in the process of making worm castings from cow manure, newspaper, and veggie scraps. I plan on them being ready at the end of Feb 2012. When harvesting the worm castings, how can I be sure the castings are clean of bad bugs, bad bacteria and etc?

personified · Dec 29, 2011

As far as bugs I use coffee grounds the worms love it and bugs hate the acidity. Bad bacteria should not happen the eco-system when in balance (not too wet ect) should take care of itself. If there are bad bacteria the worms will die. Soil organisms have many methods for controlling disease-causing organisms. Protozoa, nematodes, insects, and other predatory organisms help control the population levels of their prey and prevent any single species from becoming dominant.

OSG · Dec 30, 2011

GanjaHoarder.... The key to quality worm castings, is to keep their environment moist, but never wet.
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For the complete 411 on making quality worm castings, check out this site :
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http://urbanext.illinois.edu/worms/
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It's easy to follow, and full of good info....
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MalcolmMustang · Jan 4, 2012

Make sure that you have plenty of good air exchange between your bins. The only bad bacteria you have to worry about are anaerobic bacteria which can only grow without oxygen. So as long as you air out your bins frequently and keep the humidity right you will be ok. The worms will tell you if something is wrong because they will all be at the top trying to escape. If they are happy then they will stay in there medium.

hyphae · Jan 4, 2012

I wouldn't use manure, I've never heard of anyone adding cow manure for that matter. If you add cow manure that would certainly be a source of e coli. Are these red wigglers? I'm not saying wether you should or should not, just that I would stick to the news papers, use veggie scraps and keep the enviroment moist and of a comfortable temperature.

personified · Jan 4, 2012

Actually hyphae the major worm farms all use cow manure they do however compost it first.

Stillbuzzin · Jan 4, 2012

I have seen good things come from cow manure,

hyphae · Jan 6, 2012

Would the manure be pasturized beforehand?

Green Dragon 2011 · Jan 6, 2012

If you are using cow manure you should compost it first, as it is composting the middle will heat up to kill all the wead seeds ect. and start breaking everything down they say that horse is better but you must let it age also when you let it set about about 3 months it lets the meds that they give to animals dissapate and have a safe home for your worms.

piney bob · Jan 7, 2012

Do the different types of food you give the worms effect the ph or nutritional values of their castings?

powerslide · Jan 8, 2012

all types of veggies are ok for compost? i am using leaves from my indoor grow and added in some orange peels and brussel sprouts. just want to make sure all this ok

powerslide · Jan 8, 2012

another question. Most the compost i see around here have some kind of poo in them. Is this required? i have plenty of food scraps but the poo i would have to search out.

MalcolmMustang · Jan 8, 2012

powerslide said:
all types of veggies are ok for compost? i am using leaves from my indoor grow and added in some orange peels and brussel sprouts. just want to make sure all this ok

The orange peels and brussel sprouts are a good idea. I would also add some coffee grounds, the worms love it and the castings from it are nitrogen rich and will keep your plants green and healthy.

Veggies are great but fruit you want to use a little bit sparingly at first before your colony is fully established. When the fruit decomposes it produces heat which the worms actually like but if you have more then they can eat then bacteria will take over and become anaerobic. You want aerobic bacteria which is bacteria that thrives with oxygen. anaerobic means it multiplies without oxygen and this type of bacteria will kill your colony.

I run thin cardboard through a paper shredder and it makes excellent bedding that the worms can also consume. its better then newspaper with all the ink in it.

powerslide · Jan 8, 2012

sorry if i'm hi-jacking the thread i have a few more questions though.

Its cold here now, warmer than normal but still colder than what ive read to make compost... I have put what little i have collected in a 13gal trash can. should i buy a dozen worms and introduce now or wait a week or two? The leaves are the only thing that has started to break down. i only added the orange and brussels today. I added a little dirt w/ the leaves intially to try and keep mold from growing until i get a supply built up.

on the coffee i will see what i can get i dont drink coffee but the mom and pops do.

MalcolmMustang · Jan 9, 2012

I would put them in now. You want red worms, they are the best vermicomposters. A dozen is not very many because they are very small. Look up a worm farm in your area, you should be able to buy a pound for around $20 which is hundreds of them and within a month or two they will multiply to thousands.

In my area you can find them on craigslist.

Green Dragon 2011 · Jan 9, 2012

Watch out for the citrus do not use to much using to much can harm your worms! If it is small you can start out with a small amout of worms if it is bigger like say a 18gal tote I would start off with half to a pound of worms the more you have the faster you get good castings. As the worms breed they will lay eggs with 2 to 4 worms inside and these will take about 90 days to be old enough to breed for you. Check out Red Worm Composting it is free to join and all kinds of good info on their plus if you have any questions just ask everybody wants to help people out that are just starting out.

powerslide · Jan 9, 2012

any suggestions on places to buy the worms. Searched locally and havent found anything online. Nothing on craigslist either. Did some digging tonight and found 10-15 lol

MalcolmMustang · Jan 9, 2012

a quick google search shows many places that you can buy them. type "buy redworms" you can even get them on Amazon now. haha nice

personified · Jan 10, 2012

http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com/index.php/Live-Worms/2000-Red-Wigglers-Free-Shipping/flypage.tpl.html
Stay away from citrus and onions period if you want acid in your soil add coffee grounds worms love them.
When making worm castings think how farmers have winter crops to put nutrients back into the soil same as compost. Look up what items your going to place in with the worms and determine what nutrients they will provide.

Fleshy broke down foods are easier to eat for the worms so the longer time it has to decompose the better.

If your worms are trying to escape taht is a clear sign you do not have a balanced mix. Also think aerobic vs anaerobic different bacteria that break it down and release what the worms eat occurs. You want aerobic.

Green Dragon 2011 · Jan 10, 2012

If you frezz you veggies over night it helps break down the cell walls and is cosumed faster to make faster compost. If you go to google and put in red wigglers for sale you will find all kinds of listings you may have somebody that lives near you and you can pick them up no shipping.

Worm Castings--Homemade

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