Mushroom Compost vs. Worm Castings
- Thread starter Chomp
- Start date
wormcompost is better than mushroom compost. they are not the same. all mushroom compost is different, depending on what the company used, some use strong nitrogen chemicals to speed things up. others dont, best to get some info on it first.
or start a normal home compost pile and never have to buy some again.
or start a normal home compost pile and never have to buy some again.
I do! I had the same problem as you. As much as I want to have ewc in my siol and teas, it just costs too damn much money to ship it, and I cannot find it locally. And believe me, I looked. Every garden spot in a 75 mile radius.
I found it easy to get mushroom compost from landscaping places though. The biiger the pile the better. I found a particularly steamy pile of compost and my tea foams like crazy when I use it. Try to stay7 away from the store bought, bagged mush compost. It seems there isnt as much microbial activity in those. But if you can find no other, it will work in a pinch.
I found it easy to get mushroom compost from landscaping places though. The biiger the pile the better. I found a particularly steamy pile of compost and my tea foams like crazy when I use it. Try to stay7 away from the store bought, bagged mush compost. It seems there isnt as much microbial activity in those. But if you can find no other, it will work in a pinch.
Chomp
Member
Just curios jaykush...have you ever used mushroom compost to compare it?
From the bag: wheat straw, fibrous peat, dolomite, gypsum, crushed feathers, cotton seed meal, peanut meal, and other nutritious ingredients . It is composted for 6 months before repackaging. There is no NPK value listed.
Composting is not an option for me, my grows are small so I don't mind buying a couple bags every 6 months.
From the bag: wheat straw, fibrous peat, dolomite, gypsum, crushed feathers, cotton seed meal, peanut meal, and other nutritious ingredients . It is composted for 6 months before repackaging. There is no NPK value listed.
Composting is not an option for me, my grows are small so I don't mind buying a couple bags every 6 months.
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...the type i get foams up no problem but I also add cow manure, liquid seaweed, and molasses at times so?
I wouldnt make too much of an effort out of it. If you have foam, you have activity. Dont pass up ewc if you see em somewhere. The highest yielding crop I ever had, the only difference was ewc being in there. I dont know if they helped that much, but I cant help but wonder.
jaykush said:
I completely agree. I have had some mushcom that almost killed my plants. I found a good source. I noticed the pile steaming from the highway. I must have lucked out. Something had to give though. I didnt have a compost heap of my own yet and I needed something bad.
I guess you just gotta find the good stuff.
quadracer
Active member
Chomp said:
Composting is always an option, you don't necessarily need to use it for your grows.
Worm composting especially. It can be done virtually anywhere, and can be done with very little cost upfront (mostly for the worms).
With the price of what it costs to buy a bag of worm castings, you can buy a couple pounds of worms and get a bin up and going. I have it set up where my worms produce castings at the same rate that I use them.
Making fresh casting tea is unlike any bottled fertilizer. It's very beneficial to all plants, not just mj. My garden loves it!!!
Why not start an indoor worm bed using mushroom compost as your bedding? Then you extract the runoff from that and get the best of both worlds....
quadracer
Active member
Chomp,
It's always an option, apathy is not an excuse.
Mushroom compost and worm castings are two different things. Mushroom compost is bedding used to grow mushrooms, which is mainly composed of straw, manure, and other fertilizers. Like it's been said before, it varies from place to place.
Mushroom compost is also (for the most part), completely devoid of any biological activity. Places will sterilize the compost to make sure nobody can get any spores of their strain of mushroom. Or it will be full of salts, or full of non-organic fertilizers.
Worm castings, on the other hand, are full of micro-biological life. Worm castings can be used as an ingredient as a medium, but work best as a way to introduce some life into a bland soil.
That being said, a combination of both would be your best bet. Making your own worm castings not only guarantees the quality you want (I have yet to find a commercial brand of worm castings that match the quality of mine), but is extremely satisfying in the process.
Once again, apathy is not an excuse. Growing organically is not about reaping the benefits without doing any of the work, it is about reducing the amount of waste you make, converting any waste you do make into a usable form, and replenishing the soil with what was once your waste.
Having a worm bin is as basic as it gets. There's no skill factor involved, there's minimal room for error, and it is cheap to set up. Anyone interested in truly growing organically needs to start a worm bin TODAY!
It's always an option, apathy is not an excuse.
Mushroom compost and worm castings are two different things. Mushroom compost is bedding used to grow mushrooms, which is mainly composed of straw, manure, and other fertilizers. Like it's been said before, it varies from place to place.
Mushroom compost is also (for the most part), completely devoid of any biological activity. Places will sterilize the compost to make sure nobody can get any spores of their strain of mushroom. Or it will be full of salts, or full of non-organic fertilizers.
Worm castings, on the other hand, are full of micro-biological life. Worm castings can be used as an ingredient as a medium, but work best as a way to introduce some life into a bland soil.
That being said, a combination of both would be your best bet. Making your own worm castings not only guarantees the quality you want (I have yet to find a commercial brand of worm castings that match the quality of mine), but is extremely satisfying in the process.
Once again, apathy is not an excuse. Growing organically is not about reaping the benefits without doing any of the work, it is about reducing the amount of waste you make, converting any waste you do make into a usable form, and replenishing the soil with what was once your waste.
Having a worm bin is as basic as it gets. There's no skill factor involved, there's minimal room for error, and it is cheap to set up. Anyone interested in truly growing organically needs to start a worm bin TODAY!
Chomp
Member
quadracer said:
You are funny....Growing organic may be a quasi religion to you but I use it as an EASY way to get tasty buds...Excuse the f*ck out of me for not wanting to make extra work for myself....Just because I don't want to go through the hassle of making and maintaining a worm bin or compost pile doesn't mean I'm apathetic to anything. Just because it's what you want to do doesn't mean it's the right thing for everyone. Get off your soapbox and smoke a bowl....
Chomp
quadracer
Active member
Religion, way of life, call it what you will....
The bottom line though is if you are concerned about the quality of your grow, the quality of your buds, the quality of your smoke, you should be concerned about the quality of your castings/ingredients.
If you are concerned about that, you would try to use as little store bought ingredients as possible and start doing it yourself. Like that old mantra, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Holds too for feeding your plants.
It's always more of a "hassle" for me to go to the store and spend $20-30 on a bag of castings than it is to throw vegetable scraps into a bin and harvest every couple of months.
For anyone who is interested in setting up a worm bin, check out the Worming 101 at the top of the forum as a sticky.
Any worm farmer will tell you the same thing, how easy it is, how much the plants love it, how much fun it is, etc.
The bottom line though is if you are concerned about the quality of your grow, the quality of your buds, the quality of your smoke, you should be concerned about the quality of your castings/ingredients.
If you are concerned about that, you would try to use as little store bought ingredients as possible and start doing it yourself. Like that old mantra, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Holds too for feeding your plants.
It's always more of a "hassle" for me to go to the store and spend $20-30 on a bag of castings than it is to throw vegetable scraps into a bin and harvest every couple of months.
For anyone who is interested in setting up a worm bin, check out the Worming 101 at the top of the forum as a sticky.
Any worm farmer will tell you the same thing, how easy it is, how much the plants love it, how much fun it is, etc.
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quadracer
Active member
I'm sorry too Chomp. Didn't mean to come off as self-righteous, with a better than thou attitude.
It's just that worm castings are super easy to do at home, and really gratifying. Wish you the most chronic of nugs in the future, whatever you decide to do.
PS. What type of nug was that?
It's just that worm castings are super easy to do at home, and really gratifying. Wish you the most chronic of nugs in the future, whatever you decide to do.
PS. What type of nug was that?
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Bulénath
Member
The more people getting into to worm farming the better....
Our family just bought a tumbler-composter and a worm bin....Even though the worms haven't been bought, the composter is in action!
I can't belive how empty our garbage can is now....
Our garbage output has shrunk to about 50% of what it used to be, startign on day 1.
So little goes to waste! And when the worms get here, things should get really good.
Our family just bought a tumbler-composter and a worm bin....Even though the worms haven't been bought, the composter is in action!
I can't belive how empty our garbage can is now....
Our garbage output has shrunk to about 50% of what it used to be, startign on day 1.
So little goes to waste! And when the worms get here, things should get really good.
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