Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

greg nr

greg nr

Well-Known Member
Chunky Stool said:
Not sure. Ours came with an extra set of filters but we haven't used them yet.

I took it apart just because I'm weird like that... :eyesmoke:
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Those compost bins work great though. I've raised the lid on mine and almost gagged at the smell, but with the cover on not a scent. Definitely makes the family more accepting of frank's lunch pail.

Oh, and my wife just found the filters on amazon. It was one of those "frequently purchased together" items.
 
Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Metal food scrap containers are awesome! They keep bugs out & smell in.
I took my lid apart again & found that extra set of filters. (Square filter goes on the bottom, round on top.) :eyesmoke:
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Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Pulled two trays of castings off the bottom. There are a few egg shell fragments, but overall it looks like the worms ate most of the food. It looks like I'm having another moisture issue because there was a quart of liquid at the bottom. But I hadn't checked it in a very long time since it was always dry. Hmm...
I just added a tray of scraps to the worm tower and mixed in a few cups of non-clumping kitty litter to soak up moisture. (Special Kitty all natural from wal-mart)
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Bungalow

Bungalow

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
I was just wondering the other day how the hell you harvest those bags, without all the VC falling out?!
It has an opening in the bottom, right? How does that work?
Cheers!
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If you don't have a terrible amount of aeration I find it's "clumpy" enough that harvesting is as simple as putting a bucket or pan underneath, and opening up/digging out what you need. No special procedures here. I'll water it with a gallon every other week or so. Sometimes it's dry, sometimes it's wet. Slightly more work than my stacker I suppose, but virtually zero chance of it ever becoming anaerobic from my experience. I've put 5+ lbs of fruit and veggie waste in at once with no smell issues. YMMV
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
20171011_181521.jpg 20171011_181442.jpg yo iv got one of those vermihuts and im wonder ing how mutch is to mutch in terms of worms if got potato skins in it iv added other stuff that i blended first witch im shure got broken down but not only have the skins not brokan down since i put them in like a month or two ago there sprouting lol but im considerj g getting these mix of worms it was red blue and tiger worms is it worth it my main goal with getting my own castings is i wanna have alot of mycrobe ritch but also i wanna have alot of minarols n shit lol 1st pic is the 1st bin the second pic is the second i probably need 2 harvest it lol
 
Bungalow

Bungalow

Well-Known Member
I haven't seen this spoken of, so I'd like to address something here. Most seem to be finding fruit/vegetable scraps unappealing/unusable for their worm bins, considering they're upwards of 90% water content. I'm not saying this is the best input seeing how manure/compost/dry carbon sources are likely to be more stable, but if you're like me and hate wasting/want to get it there anyway try this:

freeze your scraps - I'm using over 5lbs at a time
remove and place in a large bowl/anything you can mix well in
add ground oats/MBP/any grain really - it's going to wick the moisture from your scraps (make sure it's coating all of the scraps
add a small handful of amendments - usually kelp and a pinch of neem for myself
I finish up with a pinch of lime spread evenly across the mix - when adding this quantity it's a measure to prevent acidic pockets

I'll generally only feed every two weeks, or when I remember/the freezer gets full.This has all been done in the Worm Inn Mega flow-through design. If you're unsure about such a hot addition to your bin, another method I use is a simple "pre compost" where I have some lightly amended bedding in another tote, and I'll add the scraps to that for a week or so and let them get turning. Much of the initial composting heat will be finished, the water content will be lower, and the scraps will be breaking down enough for your worms to get into immediately. I highly recommend this extra step if you want to try feeding more than you have been.
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
Bungalow said:
I haven't seen this spoken of, so I'd like to address something here. Most seem to be finding fruit/vegetable scraps unappealing/unusable for their worm bins, considering they're upwards of 90% water content. I'm not saying this is the best input seeing how manure/compost/dry carbon sources are likely to be more stable, but if you're like me and hate wasting/want to get it there anyway try this:

freeze your scraps - I'm using over 5lbs at a time
remove and place in a large bowl/anything you can mix well in
add ground oats/MBP/any grain really - it's going to wick the moisture from your scraps (make sure it's coating all of the scraps
add a small handful of amendments - usually kelp and a pinch of neem for myself
I finish up with a pinch of lime spread evenly across the mix - when adding this quantity it's a measure to prevent acidic pockets

I'll generally only feed every two weeks, or when I remember/the freezer gets full.This has all been done in the Worm Inn Mega flow-through design. If you're unsure about such a hot addition to your bin, another method I use is a simple "pre compost" where I have some lightly amended bedding in another tote, and I'll add the scraps to that for a week or so and let them get turning. Much of the initial composting heat will be finished, the water content will be lower, and the scraps will be breaking down enough for your worms to get into immediately. I highly recommend this extra step if you want to try feeding more than you have been.
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i dont full y understand youre post i get the frezzing part doas the food u put in have to be dry and it will braekdown quicker i thought it would breakdown quicker if it was wetter i also like 2 add amendments tho do u think u can add rock dusts i put some food in a blender left over rock mellons and potato peels and a spoon full of rock dust iv been very curios about adding different stuff like humic acid and stuff my goal is to make it closer to humus verses just comost thanks for posting its good to know im not the only one thinking about stuff sutch as this
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
Bungalow said:
I haven't seen this spoken of, so I'd like to address something here. Most seem to be finding fruit/vegetable scraps unappealing/unusable for their worm bins, considering they're upwards of 90% water content. I'm not saying this is the best input seeing how manure/compost/dry carbon sources are likely to be more stable, but if you're like me and hate wasting/want to get it there anyway try this:

freeze your scraps - I'm using over 5lbs at a time
remove and place in a large bowl/anything you can mix well in
add ground oats/MBP/any grain really - it's going to wick the moisture from your scraps (make sure it's coating all of the scraps
add a small handful of amendments - usually kelp and a pinch of neem for myself
I finish up with a pinch of lime spread evenly across the mix - when adding this quantity it's a measure to prevent acidic pockets

I'll generally only feed every two weeks, or when I remember/the freezer gets full.This has all been done in the Worm Inn Mega flow-through design. If you're unsure about such a hot addition to your bin, another method I use is a simple "pre compost" where I have some lightly amended bedding in another tote, and I'll add the scraps to that for a week or so and let them get turning. Much of the initial composting heat will be finished, the water content will be lower, and the scraps will be breaking down enough for your worms to get into immediately. I highly recommend this extra step if you want to try feeding more than you have been.
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do think the second pic i posted looks finnished its pretty dark
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
im looking into amenments i can blend up and feed the castings like rock dust and kelp meal and hemp seed meal i dont want to make super soil n shit i jut want 2 buy a decent soil and add good quality castings what are ur thoughts interested on what eveyone feeds there worms plus i wanna focus on trace elements and minarals n shit what are youre thoughts guys
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
also i know this is a dum question i have a vermihut do i make layers or is it better to just fill it up and then just bury the food
 
cindysid

cindysid

Well-Known Member
I just add manures and vegetable matter along with cardboard etc for mine. I would hesitate to add too many meals or dusts. The worms will get plenty from the compost. You can add the rock dust and meals to your soil.
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
cindysid said:
I just add manures and vegetable matter along with cardboard etc for mine. I would hesitate to add too many meals or dusts. The worms will get plenty from the compost. You can add the rock dust and meals to your soil.
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i put like a kilo witch i think is 6 cups once i got those little white worms lol still those csstings i cant waight 2 use em
 
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giglewigle

Well-Known Member
meangreengrowinmachine said:
castings are used to give living microorganisms to your soil not necessarily nutrients. I don't know that soil testing would do much.
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im guessing it would be better composting amendments then but im not able 2 get all the amendments i dont wanna fuck around with ratios n shit id rather just get a good soil and have a good castings
 
Bungalow

Bungalow

Well-Known Member
giglewigle said:
i dont full y understand youre post i get the frezzing part doas the food u put in have to be dry and it will braekdown quicker i thought it would breakdown quicker if it was wetter i also like 2 add amendments tho do u think u can add rock dusts i put some food in a blender left over rock mellons and potato peels and a spoon full of rock dust iv been very curios about adding different stuff like humic acid and stuff my goal is to make it closer to humus verses just comost thanks for posting its good to know im not the only one thinking about stuff sutch as this
Click to expand...
After freezing the fruit/veg scraps will more or less turn to a mush - very soggy. The ground grains are only to absorb some of the moisture so it's not a soaking wet anaerobic pocket when adding larger amounts - I second being careful with amendments, a little seems to go a long way. I've added rock dusts and never seen a problem, but I also don't know if it's much of a benefit. Kelp will mineralize just fine on its own. I know the worms need grit, and I added dusts as a way to achieve that, but sand would be a much cheaper addition. In my experience humic doesn't need to be added to the bin - they'll produce plenty on their own over time. Now if I'm adding coco as bedding I do like to hit that with a humic soak 1x after I hydrate it - idea being to pump microbiology and life in the inert media. AACT works great for this.

As to whether your bin is finished - too hard for me to tell. What was your base material/bedding? How long has it been processing? How many worms did you start with? Also different people have different goals - some want pure EWC, while I'm content with a vermicompost blend of EWC and compost occurring side by side. I don't screen for castings

With diverse inputs your micros will be fairly killer, although not necessarily balanced.. I lean heavily on the kelp for that role, but I do use TM-7/Big 6 micronutrient supplement by BioAg. Be VERY careful applying something like this without a soil test - I use half or even quarter doses, and only every few weeks for a few months. If you have iron in your water, get Big 6. I think kelp is a safer option - I just like to experiment and take risks. Oh, on the hemp protein powder, if that's what you meant... use it sparingly. It'll really heat things up
 
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