Worm Tower Experiment

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share the results of my worm tower experiment.
In my opinion, worm tower use in your soil is one of the best things you can do to improve soil fertility!
Our garden is completely organic and most of it is in very large containers.
Of all of our containers, the 40 gallon container with the worm tower yielded far more than the other containers.

Why use a worm tower you ask?
First off, it is probably the lowest maintenance vermicomposter you can find.
Yes, we do have a separate vermicomposter but the worm tower is unique in the sense that you never have to harvest compost from it.

The worm tower is heavily inoculated with mycorrhizae that happily supplies the plant's roots from far below the topsoil. So every so often, I will throw a tablespoon of kelp, blood meal, bone meal, mushroom compost, guano, A.A.C.T, table scraps, soft rock phosphate, honestly WHATEVER! With that, I give it a thorough watering which also feeds the deep tap roots as well.

The attached photo is a little bit dated as the container looks vastly different now. I will be sure to upload an updated picture soon

Got questions? Ask away! I am happy to brainstorm whatever you got

ekim046 said:

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share the results of my worm tower experiment.
In my opinion, worm tower use in your soil is one of the best things you can do to improve soil fertility!
Our garden is completely organic and most of it is in very large containers.
Of all of our containers, the 40 gallon container with the worm tower yielded far more than the other containers.

Why use a worm tower you ask?
First off, it is probably the lowest maintenance vermicomposter you can find.
Yes, we do have a separate vermicomposter but the worm tower is unique in the sense that you never have to harvest compost from it.

The worm tower is heavily inoculated with mycorrhizae that happily supplies the plant's roots from far below the topsoil. So every so often, I will throw a tablespoon of kelp, blood meal, bone meal, mushroom compost, guano, A.A.C.T, table scraps, soft rock phosphate, honestly WHATEVER! With that, I give it a thorough watering which also feeds the deep tap roots as well.

The attached photo is a little bit dated as the container looks vastly different now. I will be sure to upload an updated picture soon

Got questions? Ask away! I am happy to brainstorm whatever you got

Click to expand...

its a good idea, i'm not sure if the tower would have many advantages that a normal soil container with worms though.
I mean, I guess it is sorta like a topdress too, I always throw a big handful of my homemade EWC with my container, worms, cocoons, vermicompost and all.
Worms are a VERY important part of any organic grow, good job.

ekim046 said:

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share the results of my worm tower experiment.
In my opinion, worm tower use in your soil is one of the best things you can do to improve soil fertility!
Our garden is completely organic and most of it is in very large containers.
Of all of our containers, the 40 gallon container with the worm tower yielded far more than the other containers.

Why use a worm tower you ask?
First off, it is probably the lowest maintenance vermicomposter you can find.
Yes, we do have a separate vermicomposter but the worm tower is unique in the sense that you never have to harvest compost from it.

The worm tower is heavily inoculated with mycorrhizae that happily supplies the plant's roots from far below the topsoil. So every so often, I will throw a tablespoon of kelp, blood meal, bone meal, mushroom compost, guano, A.A.C.T, table scraps, soft rock phosphate, honestly WHATEVER! With that, I give it a thorough watering which also feeds the deep tap roots as well.

The attached photo is a little bit dated as the container looks vastly different now. I will be sure to upload an updated picture soon

Got questions? Ask away! I am happy to brainstorm whatever you got

Click to expand...

Awesome!

greasemonkeymann said:

its a good idea, i'm not sure if the tower would have many advantages that a normal soil container with worms though.
I mean, I guess it is sorta like a topdress too, I always throw a big handful of my homemade EWC with my container, worms, cocoons, vermicompost and all.
Worms are a VERY important part of any organic grow, good job.

Click to expand...

It really is beneficial, you can take my word!
I'll have updated pictures of the worm tower soon and all the lovely plants it is taking care of

ekim046 said:

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share the results of my worm tower experiment.
In my opinion, worm tower use in your soil is one of the best things you can do to improve soil fertility!
Our garden is completely organic and most of it is in very large containers.
Of all of our containers, the 40 gallon container with the worm tower yielded far more than the other containers.

Why use a worm tower you ask?
First off, it is probably the lowest maintenance vermicomposter you can find.
Yes, we do have a separate vermicomposter but the worm tower is unique in the sense that you never have to harvest compost from it.

The worm tower is heavily inoculated with mycorrhizae that happily supplies the plant's roots from far below the topsoil. So every so often, I will throw a tablespoon of kelp, blood meal, bone meal, mushroom compost, guano, A.A.C.T, table scraps, soft rock phosphate, honestly WHATEVER! With that, I give it a thorough watering which also feeds the deep tap roots as well.

The attached photo is a little bit dated as the container looks vastly different now. I will be sure to upload an updated picture soon

Got questions? Ask away! I am happy to brainstorm whatever you got

Click to expand...

Just pointing out that there is NO mychorizzal in the worm tower. That's has to be added during transplant for the mycho to infect the roots.

Btw cool on the worm tower, I see these all the time on craigslist

ekim046 said:

It really is beneficial, you can take my word!
I'll have updated pictures of the worm tower soon and all the lovely plants it is taking care of

Click to expand...

i'm sure it is, like I said, you are topdressing with a bunch of stuff, plants love small topdressings. I have NO doubt that a worm tower is beneficial to the plants, it's just not practical for some

But keep in mind that the nmycorrhizal colony is always digesting food and making nutrients plant available very, very quickly. If I could show you just how quickly food goes in and turns into compost I would! I fill it halfway full every so often, this means that it is emptying by the time i refill!

foreverflyhi said:

Just pointing out that there is NO mychorizzal in the worm tower. That's has to be added during transplant for the mycho to infect the roots.

Btw cool on the worm tower, I see these all the time on craigslist

Click to expand...

Yup, the bed was fortified with Mycorrhizal inoculant from Paul Stamets' www.fungi.com

ekim046 said:

Yup, the bed was fortified with Mycorrhizal inoculant from Paul Stamets' www.fungi.com

Click to expand...

he means that unless you inoculate the roots the mychorizhae doesn't work as well. They need contact with the roots

Hmm, I'm happy you brought that up. I always thought that the roots would grow into a colony because the bed is heavily fortified. Does it have to be inoculated during transplant or can the roots reach out to them as they grow? Thanks for the correction

personally I use cover crops to produce mychorrizzae in the soil. Clover, barley , etc... why pay a hefty price for a powder that's most likely doesn't have myco's .... Ie they need roots to survive..


question on the tower. Do the worms really leave the tower after feeding. An move about the pot or bed and excrete their castings through out the soil? Or do they just congregate in the tower where the food is? In my bin worms stay where the food is. Until its gone. Then they look for food.

ekim046 said:

Hmm, I'm happy you brought that up. I always thought that the roots would grow into a colony because the bed is heavily fortified. Does it have to be inoculated during transplant or can the roots reach out to them as they grow? Thanks for the correction

Click to expand...

from what I understand the myco dies (or is eaten by other microbes) if it's not applied to the roots, so maybe not, however i'd add if your soil is a good organic one i'm not sure it would make a huge difference.

This is a really interesting concept. I like the idea of having a worm tower in each bucket and not really have to harvest castings per se. How small can these towers be though? I use 7 gallon buckets and I'm having a hard time visualising how I could fit one of these towers in the bucket along side each plant??

st0wandgrow said:

This is a really interesting concept. I like the idea of having a worm tower in each bucket and not really have to harvest castings per se. How small can these towers be though? I use 7 gallon buckets and I'm having a hard time visualising how I could fit one of these towers in the bucket along side each plant??

Click to expand...

you know... I bet you could get a smallish (maybe 3" in diameter, and you may be able to squeeze that in there, only issue would be maybe light blockage? maybe not if it is short...
I always throw my homemade castings in my pots when I topdress and I never screen them, thinking worms and cocoons are good for the container.
but a worm tower would be cool, and it would be easier to do my compost... I don't know. Couldn't hurt to experiment. Now, if only I didn't have like three other experiments going at the same time...

greasemonkeymann said:

you know... I bet you could get a smallish (maybe 3" in diameter, and you may be able to squeeze that in there, only issue would be maybe light blockage? maybe not if it is short...
I always throw my homemade castings in my pots when I topdress and I never screen them, thinking worms and cocoons are good for the container.
but a worm tower would be cool, and it would be easier to do my compost... I don't know. Couldn't hurt to experiment. Now, if only I didn't have like three other experiments going at the same time...

Click to expand...

I might try it on a plant or two. This would be a no-brainer if I were rocking a nice big raised bed or something.

st0wandgrow said:

I might try it on a plant or two. This would be a no-brainer if I were rocking a nice big raised bed or something.

Click to expand...

oh hell yeah, I always wish I could just fill my room with about two feet of mixed soil. But I have too many damn strains, and it seems like none of them like to grow together, all finishing totally differently.
Course I like my sativas.. and those can be some unruly bitches