-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
growing worms
- Thread starter hot stuff
- Start date
Hi. I also just started a worm composting project. I'm looking forward to seeing what they produce this winter. How many worms did you start with? What did you use for bedding?
Good luck!
Good luck!
Hey Logchief,
Thanks for the welcome. Earthworm castings are hard to find in the stores here so I thought I would see if the worms could make me some.
Thanks for the welcome. Earthworm castings are hard to find in the stores here so I thought I would see if the worms could make me some.
I've probably got worms somewhere, but hey dakota
First person from the Great North State I've seen here. If I keep eating peppers that should solve the worm problem. I use a lot of worm castings (store bought), but this is my first year growing so we'll see.
I found a black 30 gal tree nursery pot in one of my neighbors trash and started using it for composting. I dug out about 6 worms out of the yard and tossed into it. I put the kitchen compost in it and give it a bit of water every few days. It doesn't have to be fancy.
You may have picked out earthworms which aren't good composters like the red wigglers
Part of my backyard is just a step above swamp/bog/marsh. We have a concrete pad running around the house, which if we don't sweep and rake clear all becomes a giant compost pile. The worms we have are very good composters.
I have red wrigglers and they will pretty much reproduce as fast as the food supply changes. I use newspaper and wood chips for bedding in 1/2 of a plastic 55 gal drum. I think I started my first bin with a lb of worms, but my second bin started with 20 worms that have increased to meet the food supply.
Remember to put a drain on any container and to make some provision to introduce oxygen into the compost heap. If you put a light-proof lid on the top, the worms will work the top of the pile, which you want.
A 25 gal drum would, on average, reduce 35-50 lb/week of green stuff.
Remember to put a drain on any container and to make some provision to introduce oxygen into the compost heap. If you put a light-proof lid on the top, the worms will work the top of the pile, which you want.
A 25 gal drum would, on average, reduce 35-50 lb/week of green stuff.
I started my farm in Nov-Dec last year and love it. I got this one CLICK HERE <---------I would have done it differently though. The worm farm is quick and easy, but it's a bit small and I quickly ran out of space.
Although you can stack them because the lip is so deep you only get a few inches for compost and bedding in the shallow bin. Here is a great site on how to build your own container.
Click here
I wouldn't stack more than 2 high because the weight may end up too heavy on the bottom. However you could use bricks to raise the bin off the ground. Looking at the design of my bin the last level is actually setup to catch excess water and is on a taper to allow the water to go into a spout. If you put a tray inside the last bin and drilled a hole for the spout it would be perfect and work the same as the store bough bin. If not what happens is the excess water sits on the bottom and the bin starts to stink because it's too wet and can start to kill the worms.
Since I ran out of room I used an old plastic trash can that had my old soil and just started using that. It's ok, but it's too big and heavy and it doesn't allow enough air in so this winter I'm gonna start over and build several of those container setups. I actually filled an old soil bag full with black gold and sold it to a neighbor for $50 not too long ago. He would have easily paid $100+ for as much as he got so he was more than happy and his veggies have never been as big.
Although you can stack them because the lip is so deep you only get a few inches for compost and bedding in the shallow bin. Here is a great site on how to build your own container.
Click here
I wouldn't stack more than 2 high because the weight may end up too heavy on the bottom. However you could use bricks to raise the bin off the ground. Looking at the design of my bin the last level is actually setup to catch excess water and is on a taper to allow the water to go into a spout. If you put a tray inside the last bin and drilled a hole for the spout it would be perfect and work the same as the store bough bin. If not what happens is the excess water sits on the bottom and the bin starts to stink because it's too wet and can start to kill the worms.
Since I ran out of room I used an old plastic trash can that had my old soil and just started using that. It's ok, but it's too big and heavy and it doesn't allow enough air in so this winter I'm gonna start over and build several of those container setups. I actually filled an old soil bag full with black gold and sold it to a neighbor for $50 not too long ago. He would have easily paid $100+ for as much as he got so he was more than happy and his veggies have never been as big.
Where you talking about the 2nd link in my post? If so how many holes did you put in the bottom of your container? The bin I purchased uses a mesh bottom with just enough support for the soil so the worms can easily crawl between the containers in search of food. In fact when take the levels apart to water I can see a lot of worms hanging between holes. Since the ad only required 20 holes I don't think that's optimal or allows enough room for the worms to migrate between the bins. If you only have 1 huge bin it's no big deal however I wanted to stack 2-3 of them. Also did you make a tapered system on the bottom bin and add a drain spout for water drainage? I think over time about half of the water I put in the bin gets drained out from the bottom to prevent the worms from being too wet and prevents over watering.
Yes the second link in your post. For the moment I only have one bucket in which I've placed about 20 holes in the bottom. My bucket sits on the floor so excess water can just drain out. Once that bucket get full and used then I'll put another bucket under it with food for the worms and I guess I'll see if they migrate. But it's a little early yet for me.
You can't grow worms, they grow themselves, you raise worms.
I tried the red wiggler in home composting 15 years ago and I messed it up.
Got my large plastic tote, added news paper and used coffee filters with grounds removed and then added water thinking the worms may dryout, of course my only prior experience was soaking the lawn in the evening then going out picking dew worms for fishing.
I put the tote into my basement bathtub and went to bed, in the morning I go down into the basement and look, what's that, one of the worms got out of the tote. As I walk a little further it appears a lot of worms got out of the tote! Man did I scramble to pick up the worms off the floor before wifey came down to do her morning ironing. I put the worms back in the tote and put the lid on it but the little critters just died and turned to mush.
I tried it one more time a few years later but it failed too, I put the red wigglers into my outside composter and this time instead of drowning them, it appears I cooked them with the heat that builds up in the composter.
Worms are still one of my favourite subjects as I find them fascinating.
I tried the red wiggler in home composting 15 years ago and I messed it up.
Got my large plastic tote, added news paper and used coffee filters with grounds removed and then added water thinking the worms may dryout, of course my only prior experience was soaking the lawn in the evening then going out picking dew worms for fishing.
I put the tote into my basement bathtub and went to bed, in the morning I go down into the basement and look, what's that, one of the worms got out of the tote. As I walk a little further it appears a lot of worms got out of the tote! Man did I scramble to pick up the worms off the floor before wifey came down to do her morning ironing. I put the worms back in the tote and put the lid on it but the little critters just died and turned to mush.
I tried it one more time a few years later but it failed too, I put the red wigglers into my outside composter and this time instead of drowning them, it appears I cooked them with the heat that builds up in the composter.
Worms are still one of my favourite subjects as I find them fascinating.
"Sir, lettuce, tomato or onion on your submarine sandwich?..... um,er, wait instead of lettuce, may I have the worm sprouts?"
