Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

[calliandra]

I have a game for all the worms geeks,

-Name your 2 favorite bedding to raise worms for cannabis

-Name 5 ingredients you would feed your worms (besides the bedding...) if you were only allowed 5 ingredients for the rest of your life.

The primary goal is to raise the worms, not so much the castings, however the castings will be use to grow your herb.

good one!
favorite bedding: cardboard and dry leaves

hm as for 5 ingredients... not sure on that, especially with worm reproduction in mind!
I tend to just throw any veggie/fruit scraps I happen to have together and chop them up in the mixer, filtering out excess water (and giving that to whomever of my other plants who seem to be wanting a boost).
I then always add some eggshells and coffee grounds, and mix in some canna clippings.
I'd want to name comfrey as the fifth I think, to replace the assorted other stuff that I add irregularly on whim: neem, kelp, rock phosphate... soy meal,rice/oats/chickpea...assorted herbs...

Cheers!

 

[ShLUbY]

OK why add it ? it's more a pest control that is a top feed & those pest qualities are gone by the time it's worm poop
seems there are cheaper foods for worms & save the expensive neem for control

but for me it's not about pest control. it's about building a richer, more diverse vermicompost (also put neem in my regular compost for the same reasons and to help with heat rxns for the thermophiles). if i get 9lbs of chronic ahimsa neem seed meal for 28$, a couple tbsp is probably worth <.25c and only going into the bin maybe once month?

I use neem meal as a main food web ingredient in my soil, not just for pests. honestly i rarely use it for pests (thankfully I don't have any that are pissing me off )

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

You all worry a LOT more then me about those worms. I give em what the leftoverstatus from the veggies I eat (and of course all the coffee grounds) also all the non sugary canna trim for sure.. never considered buying things to give them really and mine THRIVE! I'm not knocking anyone else's approach at all, just saying the KISS method works great for me!

 

[ShLUbY]

You all worry a LOT more then me about those worms. I give em what the leftoverstatus from the veggies I eat (and of course all the coffee grounds) also all the non sugary canna trim for sure.. never considered buying things to give them really and mine THRIVE! I'm not knocking anyone else's approach at all, just saying the KISS method works great for me!

well i didnt buy the neem just for the wormbin lol. it's just sitting around! I just didnt know if it would have any negative effects on the bin. why not share a lil with them?? I know what you mean though they literally don't require much attention at all. I'm gone 4/7 days a week and just check to make sure they're happy when i get back. throw em a banana and some freezer mush and/or compost (if they even need anything) and leave em alone I'm trying to be patient for my first run of castings....... i need more worms lol

 

[Jaybodankly]

Not that I use it but Purina makes a Worm Chow.

 

[Fastslappy]

I'm trying to be patient for my first run of castings....... i need more worms lol

three bins going & I've only gotten a bin worth from the my 1st that's ready to use
it does take awhile for them to eat everything in the bin
the EWC i made is fantastic , the store bought EWC bag stuff doesn't compare

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

I started with a bin a found at a garage sale for literally 5 bucks ... it was A huge Rubbermaid FULL of worms and castings... SCORE! that was 2 years ago and I split the bin and harvest castings once a year using a commercial stacking worm bin... (about all its good for is straining imo) so now I have 4 bins and a huge tote full of castings.. looked in there the other day and still living worms in it with no food or moisture or anything given for about a year... just chilling in the basement waiting to make some great soil!

 

[Fastslappy]

yeah i got a tote full as well & seen a few at the top & quickly they got a new home with feed
can't say I Buy anything for the worms to eat but they get tea leaves,banana peel , any veggies we eat all the trim, any male plant goes in after chopping ,nuking,freezing , any leaves i find near the bin as the trees above are constantly in leaf gets mixed with shredded newsprint . i grate avocado pits aas well
i do hit the bins with oyster shell flower

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

I heard from a master vermicomposter that newspaper actually has a lot of clay in it which worms do not like...and I think the ground egg shells that I use serve a similar purpose as the oyster shell flower?

 

[ShLUbY]

I heard from a master vermicomposter that newspaper actually has a lot of clay in it which worms do not like...and I think the ground egg shells that I use servea a similar purpose as the oyster shell flower?

yeah i think any good Ca source is good for battling acidity and i hear the Ca makes them want to reproduce....

 

[Fastslappy]

I heard from a master vermicomposter that newspaper actually has a lot of clay in it which worms do not like...and I think the ground egg shells that I use serve a similar purpose as the oyster shell flower?

If the size can be milled grit sized so a worm can injest it then yes but just smashed to small chips that's best used as drainage in compost
Newspaper is bedding & only 5% of the bin by volume

 

[ShLUbY]

If the size can be milled grit sized so a worm can injest it then yes but just smashed to small chips that's best used as drainage in compost
Newspaper is bedding & only 5% of the bin by volume

yeah all eggshells get baked and put to the mortar and pestle and turned into a fine powder

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

Yeah I try to grind them down as fine as possible I know.not all of them get to powder... maybe will have to try the cal phos or something but I'm not 100% sold on that yet, still digging around.. for now maybe I'll try baking and breaking out the mortar and pestle.

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

Kinda off topic for this thread but I'm super syched atm... the wife gave me permission to use a strip of the basement about 5.5 feet x 20 feet and I got the first 5 x 5 spot framed up and panda filmed (just temp till I get some sheetrock) and all plants moved from a tent for the first time ever! I feel like I'm finally taking off the training wheels!!!

 

[ShLUbY]

Kinda off topic for this thread but I'm super syched atm... the wife gave me permission to use a strip of the basement about 5.5 feet x 20 feet and I got the first 5 x 5 spot framed up and panda filmed (just temp till I get some sheetrock) and all plants moved from a tent for the first time ever! I feel like I'm finally taking off the training wheels!!!

why sheetrock it??? such a pain lol i just panda'd mine and called it good. if you look in my grow thread on the first page i build a nice passive intake with furnace filters that I highly recommend. change em out when they get cruddy. its just built into the wall on the outside of the room.

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

why sheetrock it??? such a pain lol i just panda'd mine and called it good. if you look in my grow thread on the first page i build a nice passive intake with furnace filters that I highly recommend. change em out when they get cruddy. its just built into the wall on the outside of the room.

Hmm I have been trying to find and intake idea.. and I just like to do it up right ... I already framed 2x4 wall that is 12 feet and then made a 36 inch door rough opening in that soooo a few slabs of rock isn't going to be a big deal at this point lol and then I will paint all that latex white... get my led the end of next month... move the 600 watt hid into flower and the big ass led to flower and see if I can really bang some shit out.

 

[calliandra]

Yeah I don't bother roasting my eggshells, apparently the roasting bring out the Phosphorus more and I neither need nor want that.

 

[ShLUbY]

Yeah I don't bother roasting my eggshells, apparently the roasting bring out the Phosphorus more and I neither need nor want that.

do they get brittle enough if you just leave them out for a long time? the membrane on the inside does not like to break down it seemed but i guess i just haven't tried to mortar them without baking....

 

[ShLUbY]

Hmm I have been trying to find and intake idea.. and I just like to do it up right ... I already framed 2x4 wall that is 12 feet and then made a 36 inch door rough opening in that soooo a few slabs of rock isn't going to be a big deal at this point lol and then I will paint all that latex white... get my led the end of next month... move the 600 watt hid into flower and the big ass led to flower and see if I can really bang some shit out.

yeah i think you'll like my set up for the passive intake. give her a look see

 

[calliandra]

do they get brittle enough if you just leave them out for a long time? the membrane on the inside does not like to break down it seemed but i guess i just haven't tried to mortar them without baking....

Actually I just dry them like 24hrs and crumble them up a bit when I throw them in the collection can, where they sit until I need them.
I don't remove that membrane either. But I do use a blender for making rather irregular "meal".

I like having those bigger chunks left over, so they will cater more to aeration and longterm calcium supply, whilst the powdery parts will be more quickly available and are wormbite-sized too.
I do get lazy and just crunchycrunch a handful of eggshells into the wormbin on occasion. Because the longterm is more interesting for me anyway: that's when that vermicompost will be in my pots, where I want the calcium brought into the nutrient cycle.