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What do you feed your worms anywhyz?

Chiefsmokingbud

Slap-A-Ho tribe
Veteran
Hmmm, they looked bigger. European nightcrawlers aka: Red worms, belgium night crawlers, Carolina crawlers,Super Red, blue worm are about the diameter of a pencil where as Red wigglers are much much smaller.Pics can really throw dimensions off.
 

Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
hey chief,.... if you compare the corn kernels (only 2 in plain view) in the bedding there ... it can give you a rough idea of their diameter.

These were/are top feeding/feeders..... I only lifted back the damp news paper to reveal these guys kicking back, enjoying the life style! :laughing:
 
V

vonforne

Hey all, great thread. Worm castings are my favorite additive. Whats even more fun is to make them. For a 20.00 dollar investment you can crank out some great organic products that you personally have complete control over. Right now I can not grow so I'm stock piling some materials for the next up-coming grow. Bagging my own castings I am.

Hi Smurf.
 
G

Guest

Back in the saddle... Again

Back in the saddle... Again

Got back safe 'n' sound tonight. Thanks everybody for the thoughts. Come to find out the doctor/hospital was killing him, not his illness. Fired his doctor and moved him to a better hospital and within twenty-four hours he looked better then he did a year ago. He came out of his coma within minutes of getting new meds, sitting up eating and talking the next morning. We just hope that he doesn't degrade again, and can come home soon. The operation was to give him one-two more years not a cure. His lungs are shot ("White lung"), I think home would be a lot better for him in his last days.

JackKerouac

"Yesterday's Mews" should work if your cool with using it. Do you know what the other 30% (70% paper, 70% recycled paper)is? But hey if the other stuff is cool too rock 'n' roll. A paper shredder only cost like 15 bux at a S-Mart ("That's right, shop smart, shop S-Mart"), so you don't have to hand shred your paper unless you like/want to.

Smurf

How big is your bin? I use paper to cover my big one (50 gallon), but thought I might run into trouble using it on the small one. I was thinking covering the top might block air flow in the small bin. I've been scouting for some old carpet to use instead.

vonforne, Chiefsmokingbud

Welcome to the rodeo my friends. Been using the worm "squirts" outdoors in my veggie garden for a few years now and the fruit just tastes better IMHO so... DUH time to bring it inside.


So it looks like no one is feeding there worms a special diet for using for "flowering" or anything. That seems odd that nobody adds stuff to there "scraps". Am I just chasing Casper with this idea? I have allways added things like seaweed, ashes, Gypsum and Granite dust for the micro-nukes. But I wonder if what I'm trying this time is going to work?
 
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G

Guest

Finally got my worm bin happening,(20 gal) just one bin for now, as they breed I will start another one.

Seems like alot of people are jumping on board here, good good!!
 

bartender187

Bakin in da Sun
Veteran
hell yes, just stumbled along this thread. good info in here. I will be purchasing a worm farm, or be building a similiar unit here in the upcoming months. You can never have too much worm castings : ) should be fun. always have be interested in this.

GDW- i hear the worms replicate pretty quick, I think i read somewhere that you can after 1 yr end up with 1mil worms under the right coniditions from starting with 1 worm.
 

Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
It blows me away Jackson, how a doc/hospital can get it so wrong and still be in the business of medicine. I can only suspect that they are not all that professional,.... abit like a dodgy mechanic. Only there for the money!

I do use news paper over the ewc,... about 4 - 6 layers,.. but if you look closely at the reds up there ^^ you'll notice the cream coloured under-belly,... cause they're on their back munching on the paper and having a read at the same time! hehe.... I told the mrs they're sun bathing. She just thinks I'm f...ed up. lol

It's not a large bin, only a small one, with a vented lid as well, but I keep the paper roughly 1/2 inch from the perimeter walls for air circulation, seems to work well. I also use shredded paper in the mix,.....oh yeh, and a tiny sprinkle of powdered dolomite lime once every two weeks to keep the pH neutral. Worms don't like an acidic environment.

You're right bartender,...I read a document by a Malaysian Doctor from one of the uni's over there and she said exactly the same thing,... but she was refering to the tropical Indian blue worm Perionyx excavatus, easily the most prolific breeder of all the composting worms, even tho they are hermaphrodite you would still need 2 worms to start with.

G'day 'V' man & bbc.

smurf
 
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Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Here's one for ya,.... that Malaysian Dr.^^ also claimed that spraying plants with the liquid ewc, will prevent mold from growing. (not a tea, but the liquid excretions collected from the bottom of your ewc bin). I haven't tried it yet but it sounds encouraging.
smurf
 

jolene

Member
I run 3 bins at a time and feed each one different things - cow manure, comfrey, nettles and seaweed in the veg bin (along with table scraps and eggshells, hay etc)

The flowering bin has bonemeal, dolomite lime, rock phosphate, comfrey and dandelions added and the last one has the contents of a guinea pig house and dolomite lime as well as grass cuttings.

All of them get given live yeast if they are giving it away at supermarket bakeries (ask them for some they usually are glad to get rid of it because they can't keep it for long) and this adds loads of B vitamins and they dig it and stay healthy and breed better.

You don't need much of it though, can't mix it very strong I find
 
G

Guest

One More for The Rodeo

One More for The Rodeo

Hey thanks Smurf...

[The wise Smurf sez]
"It blows me away Jackson, how a doc/hospital can get it so wrong and still be in the business of medicine. I can only suspect that they are not all that professional,.... abit like a dodgy mechanic. Only there for the money!"
[/Smurf]
Couldn't have said it any better myself... Most Doctors/Hospitals in the USA ONLY care about how your going to pay the bill. If you don't know better they'll only give you meds to put your illness in remission, so they can hit you with another bill in a few months.

I've been looking for something to cover the bed so I'll try just paper. We known the worms like a blanket for there bed. Good heads up on the 'ol PH I forgot to check it for two weeks now. A little low so added some Gypsum and fruit ash 50/50 1/2 tsp, seems to work quite well so far. I was just using firepit ash before, also with good luck.

jolene

Cool, maybe I'm on the right track with this bin. Can you tell if it's working, going for a lower N, in your "flower" bin. Really all I'm doing is, going for a lower N. I'm hoping that by drying some of the fruit skins I'll lose some of there N but keep the P/K. Just wish I could find info on this, but by heating the skins it should loss N just like cooking/burning. I know it's not for everybody but I got the means/know how to dry them for free. some folks say ash is to much trouble but I just use a old "tin" can that I put on the coals after grilling so I'm using heat that was wasted before.
 
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jolene

Member
I think it works pretty well in reducing the N level in the flowering bin, but i think composting worms need a fair bit of protein in their diet so if you reduce the N sources they reproduce a little slower.

To calm it down a bit I have tried taking the finished compost and maturing it for a while in contact with the ground so that regular worms can work it over for a while - it concentrates it a bit and burns off some N i think.

I havent used ash before but i might try it out as I have just bought a woodburner - again, i would let them sit for a while to mature a bit.

Fruit skins sounds like a good plan, my worms dont like citrus peels at all but if you have one of these
http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/sho...-session=shopper:5682E5320539f19937HwY1A6AF99
you can pre-digest them and they like them very much when theyve been fermented. They like everything very much after its been through this thing.
 
G

Guest

Ashes to ashes

Ashes to ashes

Smokehouse/Firepit Ash:0/0/4.96
Potato Skins (ash): 0/5.18/27.5
Orange Skins: 0/3.0/27.0 (Must be ash, no N)
Lemon Skins (ash): 0/6.33/1.0
Grapefruit Skins (ash): 0/3.6/30.6
Cucumber Skins (ash): 0/11.28/27.2
Banana Residues (ash): 1.75/0.75/0.5
Apple skins(ash) : 0/3.0/11-74

Only takes a little to raise your PH, so take heed. The P/K is water soluble in your ash so take care not to let it get damp while storing. That NPK list is way I stopped using "pit" ash, I only use the "skins" now, more bang for your buck. If you want to add ash to your "flowering" tea, mix in a bit of tea, I let it sit for like a hour or so, strain through a paper filter into the tea bucket right before feeding. One-half teaspoon of ash per gallon raises my PH about .5, that's with Orange, Lemon, Potato ash.

Funny how I've read that worms love citrus skins, but mine doesn't either. Now this is a outside concept, "If the worms don't eat it, the microbes will.", useing that info, I've been liquefying the citrus skins in the blender. Just started this so I don't know if it works for sure but no souring so far. I have been trying to eat less citrus and more Apples instead. I have thought about freezing the skins too, that would break them down (Well, aleast make them mushy) just thaw them first, but no room in any of my freezers right now.
 
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Smurf

stoke this joint
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Hi 'wormies' :respect:,... I'm gonna have to give the fruit skin (citrus) ashes a go, seems like an excellent way of incorporating them into the ewc. I know most of you are quite familiar with the ashes of skinned fruit but I've never tried it before, so I've decided to start using it in the next ewc bin I start for bloom. I need to sit down and nut out the pk & application specs before I start it,.. normally the only fruit/veg I never place in my ewc bin is citrus and onions (anything in those families) but you guys have given me another avenue.

As for covering the ewc bins,... even tho I have a vented lid on the stacked bins, I also use damp news paper (4 - 6 layers), I've also seen carpet underlay being used successfully, (not the polymer type spongy one)...... and a damp Hessian sack (potato sack) works pretty good too as it helps the contents both from drying out and insulates from any cold weather, also keeps the surface area nice and dark. Because my bins are outside under a tree I also place an old wet potato sack over the lid to help out with controlling excessive evaporation due to the warmer temps in summer.
Moist Calico (painter's drop sheet) is another good one, preferably with minimal paint etc on it, unless of course your worms are renovating. hehe
Your worms will also munch on all of the materials listed with no probs as far as I know. Normally my worms eat holes thru the newspaper layed over the top,.... (for anyone who was concerned about it restricting the air).
 
G

Guest

Hey all.

The newspaper bedding method I've used goes something like this:

Take a stack of newspapers and rip them lengthwise about finger size strips (width), fill the bin up to almost the top with strips (this takes a while) what I did was take a section of the paper and leave most of it together, that is, so your ripping like say 10 pages at a time, saves you from ripping one strip at a time.

take a watering can and water the bed until it sinks way down (doesn't take much) throw in a handfull of potting soil (I use pro mix, but, whatever kind you've got) then add a handfull of grits ( I used beach sand) throw some kitchen waste in a corner of the bin, then add your worms.


I started off with a 20 gal. rubbermade (an old one) vented through the top, with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage, I set this one inside another rubbermade without holes for a catch tray, well, turns out my catch tray had holes I didn't see and leaked all over the place, was cracked or something (nasty!)

I've switched bins and have now set the worms up in two full size plastic garbage cans, same drill, holes in the bottom of the top can for drainage, with nicely ventilated lid, placed it into another can for catch tray, drilled one larger hole at the bottom for draining the juice and placed pitcher underneath.

Cool thing about this setup is the way garbage cans stack inside eath other, the way the top is designed, you get about half a foot inbetween each can, unlike the square rubbermades which fit pretty tightly inside of each other.

I keep a bucket for kitchen waste in my kitchen, when the bucket is full ( 2-3 days) I take it and have been dumping it in the bin, I am keeping a small bucket of used soil beside my bin, along with some D lime, so when fresh waste goes in, I sprinke some soil to cover the fresh waste, then add a sprinkle of lime.

Thats my routine so far. :joint:
 
G

Guest

Might have found what I was looking for...

Might have found what I was looking for...

Search for, NUTRIENT DATA LABORATORY [edit]use Magnesium instead and it's the third one down with scroogle.[/edit], it's a dot gov, so I will not link it here. There you can search by food or contents (Magnesium in my case).

Looks like those pecans out in my yard are going to be a good source of Magnesium along with my oat bran I found for twenty-five cents a pound...

Buckwheat flour had the most Magnesium by thier list. going to check the out at the 'Mart.

Loggin' off for some "cut & paste", maybe a post later tonight...

Safer searchin' at http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
 
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G

Guest

Sulphur a good time call...

Sulphur a good time call...

A little harder to find info but so far,
Nuts
Wheat germ
Dried legumes, with Mung beans and pigeon peas being the highest.
Dark green leafy vegetables

Of course Onions/Garlic, but the legless ones won't eat then...

It's mainly in the form of Calcium sulphate, so it seems, so the Gypsum/egg shells I use might just cover it.
 
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G

Guest

Ash someone who cares...

Ash someone who cares...

Smurf said:
Hi 'wormies' :respect:,... I'm gonna have to give the fruit skin (citrus) ashes a go, seems like an excellent way of incorporating them into the ewc. I know most of you are quite familiar with the ashes of skinned fruit but I've never tried it before, so I've decided to start using it in the next ewc bin I start for bloom. I need to sit down and nut out the pk & application specs before I start it,.. normally the only fruit/veg I never place in my ewc bin is citrus and onions (anything in those families) but you guys have given me another avenue.[snipped]

Just take heed when using the ash Smurf. I am use the ash in the bin as a PH up only, with the gypsum as a buffer. In my flowering tea, the ash is more like a "Bloom Booster" (around 0/7/14 at 1/2tps per gallon if I did the math right) because you can only add a little before the PH jumps up. I guess the lower on the scale you make your tea the more you can add but I haven't been able to get my tea below 6.5-6.7ph, so I can only add 1/2 tsp per gallon at this point to have a 7.0-7.2ph, you get the idea.
[edit]
0/5/19 not 0/7/14... it's called a average, Jackson, what a concept...
[/edit]
 
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jolene

Member
Odd - my worms dig onions (but I do cover them with dolomite lime when i add them) and they are packed with sulphur Im told.
I strongly recommend oatbran and wheatgerm for a bit of a treat and it seems to boost their breeding after the cold season (I am in the UK so I dont know if you have a cold season) and yeast is always a winner. As are avodados, they bloody love them.

Ill try out your ashes technique, sounds like a goer.
 

9Lives

three for playing, three for straying, and three f
Veteran
Pops said:
Jackson, if you are a coffee drinker, use your old grounds in the veg bin. It is high in nitrogen.

The ideal situation would be to raise rabbits, and throw all the rabbit shit in the worm beds. Good fertilizer for mj and great food for worms.

Yes...that's what i was thinking..
 
G

Guest

jolene said:
Odd - my worms dig onions (but I do cover them with dolomite lime when i add them) and they are packed with sulphur Im told.
I strongly recommend oatbran and wheatgerm for a bit of a treat and it seems to boost their breeding after the cold season (I am in the UK so I dont know if you have a cold season) and yeast is always a winner. As are avodados, they bloody love them.

Ill try out your ashes technique, sounds like a goer.

Well dang it man, I have allways been told/read that worms don't eat onions, so I've never tried. I throw out lots of them, I guess I sould try to feed them to the worms. Goes to show ya, you never know what they'll eat untill you try. Just like they say they like citrus skins, but mine don't.

There's just something about dolomite lime that I don't like, maybe that you have to buy it. I can get Gypsum and ashes for free, Sheetrock is Gypsum coated with paper. Ask for a scrap piece from a contractor, tell him you need to patch a hole and don't need a whole piece. Just look for "hairs" in the Gypsum, that's fire rated with fiberglass in it and you don't want it, no "hairs" = good to go. They throw away <2' X 4' chunks and will gladly let you have a piece or two. I use a drywall rasp to powder it, a few strokes makes quite a bit of dust.

I got lucky on the Oat bran find, I'm going back and buying all the store has for sure. I bought eight boxes at twenty-five cents a box 'cus I knew that me and the worms would eat them. Then come to find out the're loaded with Magnesium, good for the treat mix for sure.
 
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