If you wanted to produce the most nutritious EWC, what would you feed them?

Im entertained by the Idea of Creating my own Super Earthworm Castings by feeding them in a specific Way.

Not relying on actual Wastematerial is prolly not the most economical Idea but the Goal is to have much higher Density of Minerals in the Castings.

I was thinking feeding alot of Meals like Alfalfa, Rock Dust in moderation and also some Organic Kitchen Scraps.


Any Recommendations for my Worms Diet?

ADHDGrower said:

Im entertained by the Idea of Creating my own Super Earthworm Castings by feeding them in a specific Way.

Not relying on actual Wastematerial is prolly not the most economical Idea but the Goal is to have much higher Density of Minerals in the Castings.

I was thinking feeding alot of Meals like Alfalfa, Rock Dust in moderation and also some Organic Kitchen Scraps.


Any Recommendations for my Worms Diet?

Click to expand...

When we did it at our farm we started with Oly Fish compost in 400 gal Smart pots and then added basalt, kelp meal, neem cake, glacial rock dust, and alfalfa meal. We had another one going with straight horse manure strictly for cultivating more worms. Forced the worms to work the material for over a year and it came out excellent. I can’t say that it was the optimal way of doing it but the final product was quite good.

Worm food.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein Min. 12.0 %
Crude Fat Min. 3.0%
Crude Fiber Max. 10 %
Calcium Min. .6 % Max 1.4 %
Phosphorus Min .4%
Salt Min. 0.1%
Selenium Min .02ppm
Zinc Min 25.00ppm
Copper Min .9 ppm
Vitamin E Min 4.30IU/LB
Vitamin A Min .5 KIU/LB
Vitamin D3 Min .05KIU/LB

Click to expand...

Commercial worm food is 12% Too much protein isn't good. It causes fermentation with in the worm. It gives them gas with no relief. They consume calcium, which they secrete to cover their food.
If you multiply % of nitrogen by 6.25 it kind of sort a gives you the amount of protein in an amendment.
Basically they're feeding them 50/50 cornmeal/oatmeal. They guy I bought my droppings from is supplementing with barley, oats, soybean meal, and kelp. He never mentioned cornmeal.
I have some smart pots going right now. What I'm seeing is a number of folks just using buckets. They fill them about 3/4 full with screened SPM.
I'm waiting on worms then I'll put that to the test.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VET7nzkuy8U

i find worms really love malted barley and oats. i see a lot more activity in my pots when i add those. either in a tea, belnded up, and let all the floaties stay. orif you just grind it into a powder and top dress with it before watering. just give it a little scratch in the soil so it doesnt get all caked.

Make sure to give them some biochar and various glacial rock dusts. I have been doing research and pretty much concluded that feeding compost and letting them finish it for you makes more sense than a lot of fresh kitchen waste.

10x Ca vs anything else

ADHDGrower said:

Im entertained by the Idea of Creating my own Super Earthworm Castings by feeding them in a specific Way.
Not relying on actual Wastematerial is prolly not the most economical Idea but the Goal is to have much higher Density of Minerals in the Castings.
I was thinking feeding alot of Meals like Alfalfa, Rock Dust in moderation and also some Organic Kitchen Scraps.
Any Recommendations for my Worms Diet?

Click to expand...

TexasTea said:

Make sure to give them some biochar and various glacial rock dusts. I have been doing research and pretty much concluded that feeding compost and letting them finish it for you makes more sense than a lot of fresh kitchen waste.

Click to expand...

my initial research and reading and listening to Coot led me to try and copy his method with bagged Coast of Maine Lobster Compost, Leaf mould, rock dust, Kelp, malted barley, ground oyster shell, etc while avoiding kitchen waste.

after lightening the mix up with rice hulls I layered a 20 gallon smart pot like a lasagna with freshly raked leaf and dirt from under the shrubs that surround the house and the lightened, amended bagged compost. there's no spraying or landscaping done here for years and that layer of earth and mulch around a house is often very active with beneficial critters that help the worms.

this fall I raked up a bunch of leaves and ran the mower through them several times then filled tubs with it to use as my bedding component.

I also found a friend with a place in their backyard where they have been putting the leaves for the past 40 years and I took several buckets of leaf mould that I dug from there and put in layers of this also.

after filling it up a bit over half way and watering it, I added a $28 pound of red wigglers and just added water and my excess weed leaves with no feed for about 4 months and didn't see very much evidence of reproduction in that time with the worms like I expected so I started adding some veggie and fruit scraps to the surface and it seemed to really stimulate them.

I was afraid of kitchen waste from things I read but I think the key is to feed them a bit less than they can handle so they attack it and process it faster than it can spoil, rot, ferment, etc.

I suspect when they are in this feeding frenzy that they reproduce better. they rub against the food to pre slime it from their outsides and it's always an orgy of activity since I started to feed and there's way more roly polys too now.

the fruits and vegetable that feed humans well should be fine feedstock for our worms/plants if we avoid the acidic stuff.

I'm not using citrus scraps or meat and baked goods just fruit veggies and green tea bags. lil fukkers hit the teabags like they get a buzz too, lol.

if it was summer and free I would want to feed weeds and plants/herbs that are medicinal that are everywhere in the wild.

KIS said:

When we did it at our farm we started with Oly Fish compost in 400 gal Smart pots and then added basalt, kelp meal, neem cake, glacial rock dust, and alfalfa meal. We had another one going with straight horse manure strictly for cultivating more worms. Forced the worms to work the material for over a year and it came out excellent. I can’t say that it was the optimal way of doing it but the final product was quite good.

Click to expand...

did the worms reproduce faster in manure compared to the bagged compost for you?

what was the quality like of the castings in the manure bin compared to what got made in the bagged Oly fish mix?

from what I've seen so far and additional reading I would try a pound of worms in a 5 gallon smarty 1/4 filled then feed small amounts regularly so that by the time the pot is full you harvest more worms than you start with and scale up the size of the pot as needed each time.

if you start with a 200 gallon smartie I think you would need a small fortune in worms to get rolling. If you keep the mix as wet as the worm like you might wind up with bagged compost that goes aerobic.

I use a saucer as the lid on my bin and as soon as you lift it the roly polys bolt for the dry edges and hide.





this is the surface after being feed a week ago, the fruit skin remains after they have worked the pulp.





I'm curious if these brown round things are cocoons or not?

so tonite I took a few shots of the feeding.
here's the fruit added to the surface.


I sprinkle a bit of a mix of kelp, rock dusts, oyster shell and cracked malted barley on the surface over the fruit then cover with about 1/2 inch of amended bagged compost followed by leaves and cover.


after 24 hours I'll peek to see if it needs any water.

I started with a 25 or 30 gallon smartpot filled with cowshit and 2 lbs of worms. A year later I had 2 200 gallon smartpots going. Another year later i got 2 200 gallon smartpots and 3 400 gallons smartpots. I feed mainly cowshit scooped from my fields as I know its not sprayed. Ive done batches where I added the various meals and char and its somewhat richer but i find it much easier to topdress the meals then add castings on top of that. Also be aware if you put too much itll heat it up and cook them. Learned that the hard way.

Think a lot of ways to skin this cat. The Red Wigglers do really like manure, and typically its cost effective.

Could be as basic as just manure, or as complicated as measuring different inputs to try to create a balanced casting that is a complete fertilizer.

Haven't seen a bag in a while, but back when weed was worth a bit more I remember seeing worm castings that were super expensive, like over 60 dollars a bag. They claimed they were fed all sorts of fancy stuff like quartz, and semi precious rocks... never tried it.. lol


Personally, I built a rabbit hutch. Its close to 4x8', houses 3 fat ass rabbits. The bottom of the hutch is 1/4" hardware cloth, they do have little nesting boxs to get off the wire as well. The rabbit manure drops straight down through the wire, and lands in a 4x8x2' worm bin. Occasionally I will add some leaf mold, or a bale of peat, the manure can get pretty thick once it starts to break down.

In the winter, the worms get a little sluggish, and the manure piles up. Once it warms up the worms go nuts and pretty much process the manure as fast as it comes. I have thought about expanding, adding another cage. I need to engineer it a bit better though, for easier harvesting, and being able to swap out the worm bins so they can finish 100% without getting fresh manure on them.

The rabbits are really easy pets. Little water and feed.. done. The guy I got them from, was breeding them for meat production. We just let them get fatter and fatter though.

Mr^^

Thanks everyone for the great Replys, fantastic Pictures from Chunky.

I see a lot of people using smart pots and breathable bins. I would like to make the 60' long troff in my uncles barn as a worm bin. It's a 12-18" wide section of concrete designed to catch cow manure(I think) maybe 10" deep. Not to breathable but I also see people doing plastic totes so maybe it'll work. Thoughts?...

How deep is it and does it have a drain? If its for catching shit itll probably have a drain but i would imagine if its not built into the floor then its a feed trough. If theres no way for the worms to escape except the top then Id say go for it. Not sure how worms like concrete but winter cold could be a problem since concrete gets pretty cold. Let us know how it works for you.

jidoka said:

10x Ca vs anything else

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Do you have a Recommendation for Calcium Rich Wormfood?

ADHDGrower said:

Do you have a Recommendation for Calcium Rich Wormfood?

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Gypsum, lime, and/or bone meal.

ADHDGrower said:

Do you have a Recommendation for Calcium Rich Wormfood?

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oyster shell flour, eggshells

cook the eggshells first or they'll be there for a long time.
they are easy to grind up after baking them in an oven.

or soft rock, or wollastonite

It seems nearly anything can be added, i just whonder if too much concentrated Minerals might have a negative Effect on the Worms.

Studies have shown that pig manure makes better worm castings than horse manure.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAEegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3qNSzPo4Kk_VL2PDgOYMGD