Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

[xmobotx]

i m new to worm bins

but, i did use worm castings to be certain worms introduced aren't lacking somewhere to go if it's a hot mix

that and when i find them in the yard, i bring a chunk of the stuff i found them in

so, i have a bathtub full of horseshit with little islands of wormcastings and shovelfuls of dirt from the yard



oh, and there's getting to be a good population of coffee grounds

 

[NUG-JUG]

ALL my comments, save how I compost as was requested by Nug-NUG have been on the book! What more do you want of me, blood?

NUG-NUG LOL! That should've been my handle. Thanks for clarifing your problems with the book.

-Nug-Jug-

 

[NUG-JUG]

not so much incorrect as incomplete

but, the focus of the book is laypeople who won't necessarily understand complex microbial relationships (or bother w/ a thermometer in their pile)

i would definitely prefer to see people convert to rotting their yard wastes over burning or hauling to the dump - even if they don't do it the best fastest way

Yea me too that's why 2ndtry's comment irked me slightly because most people I know who would maybe consider composting would also never consider the science behind it. It's unfortunate, but the truth.

A question for MM or ML- By forcing the worms to re-digest their castings do you mean just leave them in there after everything is decomposed?

 

[mad librettist]

you know how you start with bedding? well I scrape off a bunch of really well done castings, add some bokashi, and maybe cover it with half done castings. Sometimes when I scrape a bunch of unfinished castings to cover another bin, there below is the really really done stuff.

half done or regular done I use for top dressing, slurry, whatever.

 

[xmobotx]

the lady i have been talking to about worm farming told me that the red wigglers will get bigger (like make better fishing worms) if you turn the beds - i think turning the beds forces them to eat stuff they have already eaten

 

[mad librettist]

They eat what they eat, can't force them.

They eat bedding too.

 

[xmobotx]

yeah i kind of thought better of that phrasing - but it mixes finished close in w/ unfinished

encourages them to re-eat?

she was convinced that turning had this effect making them bigger though

 

[mad librettist]

I can't say for sure. but I let them be and they are fine.

EDIT: I also have to point out, half done castings don't support as many worms it seems, so I keep some food near them, but not mixed in.

The idea is to peel away the unfinished, move it to another bin, and scrape away finished castings.

 

[xmobotx]

well, she ended up mixing a potting soil (which she said was more successful than the worms) but, all the guidance they got for their worm farm at the time was in the direction of selling worms (that was their focus and the potting mix was a side business - incidentally, she knew someone who owned a peat bog and all she bought was perlite)

did you know if you have enough worms, they are noisy - you can hear them eating?

 

[mad librettist]

You don't need too many for the noise.

Lol I love that noise. Pop pop pip pap pop

 

[Stoned Crow]

NUG-NUG LOL!

Ha Ha Ha!! Nug-Nug. Before my nephew could talk really well, that's what he called chicken-McNuggets!!

 

[slyman]

just got my copy the other day. its funny how right in the preface is a good argument against that GRAT3FULH3AD quote
"It is worth noting:
N is not organic
P is not organic
K is not organic
Mg is not organic
Ca is not organic.
Without those inorganic minerals plants could not live.
Plants can thrive without any organic compounds."

 

[TLoft13]

i heard that sales in america had been very slow because everyone was just waiting for the movie to come out

V.

Nah - we're waiting for the audible edition for our iPhones so we don't have to be bothered to turn the pages.

At least I am.

And i thought you had to wait for the version approved by Federal Bureau of Prisons, because the poorer 98% of your population live there!?
All these cultural misunderstandings...

 

[vonforne]

And i thought you had to wait for the version approved by Federal Bureau of Prisons, because the poorer 98% of your population live there!?
All these cultural misunderstandings...

And the other 2% move back to Europe.



V

 

[Mud Man]

book kicks arse... changed my world,, owe it all to justiceman and CC

 

[C21H30O2]

just picked up the book. question: bacteria dominated soils are best for annuals and vegetables like cannabis but unlike annuals and veggies cannabis needs less nitrogen during its flowering period. would it then make sense to switch to a fungal dominated soil during flowering thereby providing the plant phosphorus and the less absorbed ammonium. ammonium can be converted into an absorbable form for the plant but this requires bacteria whose numbers dwindle in a soil dominated by fungi. so it would seem that mulching with dead leaves and feeding the fungi in the soil with the appropriate foods would be the ideal strategy for cannabis as opposed to other annuals.



also it would seem that fungi would play an even more important part with long flowreing sativas some of which are more akin to perrenials than annuals. this may be the reason for the difficulty associated with growing certain sativas outside their natural habitat. these strains have formed unique relationships with fungi native to the region. cultivating these unique microorganisms may benefit the equally unique and smbyotic relation with these cannabis strains. just a thought...

 

[MrFista]

A flower strategy has been to aim for fungally dominated teas, though if this has been perfected or not... it is better if a tea expert chimes in.

I use mulch and have my third run in a row growing without adding any N. I do have char in the soil, and grow no till. I think a soil that has a fungally dominant mulch layer/top 3 cm and then changes to microbially dominant below that will have the best of both worlds. Several studies I've read lately find most of the action is in the top 3 cm's outdoors. The mulch layer, ever present in nature, transforms a grow. Dead leaves, yes! they love it, straw and shade leaves, dandelions and other greens, mulch is massive.

Seems to me you have some good understanding going on.

 

[C21H30O2]

thx mrfista, my understanding is that fungi dont grow well in tea, the enviornment is to volatile. But we can make drenches to feed the fungi present. That combined with a fungal mulch should do the trick dont you think?

 

[MrFista]

Yes. Though I'm not sure what a fungal mulch is I assume you mean lots of browns (carbon). I grow fungi (wood eaters) in a pit of wood chips and grab a handful of that to make my tea with. There are also folks using rolled oats in vermicastings a few days before making the teas to encourage fungal growth there. Again, not sure of effectiveness, I do like the thinking and effort involved to work this out though.

Fungi thrive where they are left alone but as the substrate is used up vanish from an area. A good mulch layer with some woody materials seems perfect if you add a bit every year. Yesterday I went looking for wild fungi to grow here. I found two edibles - both wood lovers. This is a fantastic way to get 'clued up' a bit more with fungi, try and get strains that are useful, and use them. I've rarely managed to fruit anything outdoors yet but I have a lot of fun learning and trying and even without the fruit fungi make wonderful topsoil.

 

[mad librettist]

just from looking in the scope, leaf compost can make a brew full of spores.

I'm not sure how that relates to the soil in your grow when you use the tea, but they are there in the brew.