bait shop worm dirt
- Thread starter w99illie
- Start date
tusseltussel
Well-Known Member
not sure about the soil in the container but i do know of a worm farm near me that grows worms for bait and sell their poop for a pretty good price
Ohsogreen
Well-Known Member
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w99illie.... I love worm castings as an amendment. So much so, I started my own Worm Bin. Maybe you can work out a deal with the worm farmer to buy castings directly from him.
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If he won't go for that, on Ebay, there are several Worm Farms that sell 15 to 20 pound bags, delivered for about $ 15. Now, you can find them cheaper, as I am sure someone is going to immediately say " Hey, that's too much."
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Well, if you live in a town with limited resources - no Big Garden Centers or Nurseries, it may be cheaper. Especially since gas is $ 3.50 a gallon and driving all over and back can easily burn $ 7 for nothing.
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To use Worm Castings, you have options. Mix them up to 20 percent into your growing mix (do not exceed that). Top dress them up to two inches deep on top of your soil, I suggest one inch. Or mix (4) to (
tablespoons into a gallon of water, agitate, let sit over night, agitate again, let sit over night, then use the next day. Give each plant one quart..
The reason you do not exceed 20 percent in your soil mix, is because for their size, worm castings are heavy. Small, young roots will have a hard time getting through them if mixed in to high a concentration. Do not top dress more than two inches, to avoid cutting off oxygen to your roots, as wet castings can compact - and be quite dense. There is no need to exceed (
tablespoons of worm castings in a tea, because they provide very little NPK (.1-0-0) on average. Their value is in highly soluble trace minerals and good bacteria / fungi..
Hope this helps....
Keep it Real....Organic.......
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tusseltussel
Well-Known Member
tusseltussel
Well-Known Member
their ya go it's kinda a far drive for me though
flabbyone
Well-Known Member
Bait shop worm dirt is not the same soil that they were raised in. When the worms are moved into the US from Canada, the dirt has to be changed before they are allowed to come to the US. This is no shit, I can't make this up. The worms are welcome from Canada, but we want the worms in US dirt, not that Canadian shit.
I really don't know the reason behind it, but I do know it for a fact. That is just plain old dirt in those flats of worms, not much at all for any casings. At least not in the night crawler flats. Red wigglers may be a different story as they are farmed in the US. Crawlers are not able to be farmed and are picked up off the ground after rains, mostly from Canada, but there are some here too. Once again, not in the soil that they were rased in but plain old dirt.
Good luck with your grows.
I really don't know the reason behind it, but I do know it for a fact. That is just plain old dirt in those flats of worms, not much at all for any casings. At least not in the night crawler flats. Red wigglers may be a different story as they are farmed in the US. Crawlers are not able to be farmed and are picked up off the ground after rains, mostly from Canada, but there are some here too. Once again, not in the soil that they were rased in but plain old dirt.
Good luck with your grows.
Everywhere I've seen red wigglers for sale they were in little containers with just some peat moss, not their original bedding. This is *I think* because the slight acidity and really absorbent qualities of the peat is irritating to the worms and therefore discourages any escape attempts. Whenever I open one up they are all huddled down at the bottom, and I've had a seller tell me that he does this on purpose otherwise they crawl all over the place. Definitely no good as a top dressing.
oakgrowth1
Member
they usually come in very cheap dirt, like wet newspaper cheap cheap
No, but almost that simple.
http://www.wormcomposting.ca/how-to/make-a-worm-bin/
2nd vid down, the top one seems to lack sound.
A lb (~1,000 worms), of the red composting worms run ~$27 delivered.
Free castings from then on.
Wet
67westy
Active Member
I started my worm compost in a large rubbermaid container. I cut a couple of retangular holes on the upper sides and screwed a screened vent over them. drill a couple of drain holes and add a little sand as it helps them digest the foood a little better. I got about 6-8 containers of worms from wal-mart in the fishing area. Add fresh veggie scraps from your kitchen and a little soil or compost and cover it with shreded newspaper that was soaked in water & wrung out.Keep it in the shade and keep it moist but not soaking.lift up the paper to add to the pile. In 6 months or so youll have worm castings.I did this so I can make Subs Supersoil for next years crop.Make sure you use red wiggler type worms.
anomolies
Well-Known Member
Not a good dea because you get very little worm castings in those containers. Why you wanna pay $5 for a handful of dirt when $20 at the hydro store can get you like 5 lbs which is still overpriced.
I think it's like $5 for a container of worms, which you could use to start a compost bin. That would be a better idea.
I think it's like $5 for a container of worms, which you could use to start a compost bin. That would be a better idea.