Worming 101

[ClackamasCootz]

Fastest worm bin - large SmartPots. They're made from post-consumer plastics, they're cheap and you can be up and running in a few minutes.

I use #65 pots, filled with material (thermal compost, black leaf mold and organic dairy manure), a bit of this and that, hydrated and add the worms.

Other than keeping the pot correctly hydrated - don't screw with it. Don't add raw kitchen scraps which are pretty much worthless once you deduct the water content.

Apples are a good example. The bestest and greatest apples run about $22.00 for a lug which is 40 lbs. net. Sounds pretty good, right?

Now deduct the 95.5% water content from these apples and you're now down to 4.5% actual food stock - 1.8 lbs. Pretty expensive way to create worm castings.

Besides that, I've got a zillion things to amuse myself that doesn't involve sitting with a Rubbermaid on the table and a power drill to make f*cking holes in yet ANOTHER plastic container.

"Worm bin sites vs. vermicompost sites" - there's your guiding light. Worm bin sites (i.e. wanting to sell you their worms) have a vested interest in giving you as much bad information as possible - increases sales.

Sound familiar? LMAO

 

[jerry111165]

Neo 420

This is a photo of my vermicompost reactor I had built - flow-through design. Feed from the top and harvest from the bottom. The plans are available from Oregon Soil Company - this is the design used by Dr. Clive Edwards for the past 10 years in his research.

View Image

Show off... *lol*

 

[ClackamasCootz]

It's been 'over experted' or something equally funny.....

 

[jerry111165]

I'm still planning on making my similar one out of the old chest freezer spiderwebbed with soil warming cable for Maine winters - perfect size, shape and pre-insulated - if darn time ever allows me to do so.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Jerry

I'll send you the plans using heated water running through a PVC harness that you can place in the actual bin where you feel is best.

The water reservoir sits next to the bin/reactor and the heated water is circulated (recirculated) through this harness. Given the size of what you want to start with, this could be something to consider.

There are heating cables used in the nursery industry (6' is the starter length but they can be linked and there are longer cables available) and with a couple of tweaks you can make that work as well. The short cables are around $35.00 from wholesale nursery houses. I'll send you that information as well as far as who and where to order from.

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I won't mention in what capacity here (Polychaetous Annelids) some folks seem to think the information doesn't translate

What do marine worms have to do with reducing plant biomass via vermicomposting?

Besides FUD of course!

 

[jerry111165]

Dude, 'Sup? - now you have me thinking!! I have an endless hot water supply - I heat the house and all hot water with an "outdoor wood boiler" - damn - why was I thinking electric? All I have to do is run some PVC thru the unit and pump hot water thru it - set on a thermostat!

My outdoor boiler is basically a firebox surrounded by a 400 gallon "water jacket". Water temp is controlled by the air damper, which opens and closes according to the water temp. It pumps thru underground insulated lines into my heating and domestic hot water system and returns to the boiler, where it is constantly reheated. All the wood mess stays outside and there is no fear of fire, as the unit is 50' from the house.

It puts out approximately a million btu's...*lol*

Out is all set up with extra supply and return valves already. When I installed it I put them in "just in case".

This could be a perfect "case". Screw spending extra electric dollars.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

You dun gotz it, JerrDog!

(I'm channeling Brooklyn right now)

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Jerry

I'm going from memory a bit but one system (commercial) used a large reservoir elevated above the actual bin which used gravity to move the water through the harness. Once it hit the collection reservoir there was a pump with a 'trigger arm' (pretty techno, eh?) that when the water hit a certain level the pump would kick in and move the heated water back to the top reservoir.

Something like that.....

 

[Neo 420]

Thanks cootz. I'm on it....

 

[SeaMaiden]

What do marine worms have to do with reducing plant biomass via vermicomposting?

Besides FUD of course!

You'd be surprised.

 

[ixnay007]

Fastest worm bin - large SmartPots. They're made from post-consumer plastics, they're cheap and you can be up and running in a few minutes.

I use #65 pots, filled with material (thermal compost, black leaf mold and organic dairy manure), a bit of this and that, hydrated and add the worms.

Other than keeping the pot correctly hydrated - don't screw with it. Don't add raw kitchen scraps which are pretty much worthless once you deduct the water content.

Apples are a good example. The bestest and greatest apples run about $22.00 for a lug which is 40 lbs. net. Sounds pretty good, right?

Now deduct the 95.5% water content from these apples and you're now down to 4.5% actual food stock - 1.8 lbs. Pretty expensive way to create worm castings.

So, compost the kitchen scraps, and feed the compost to the worms?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

So, compost the kitchen scraps, and feed the compost to the worms?

ixnay007

Not that it's the only composting worm that is easily available (at all) but the most popular is the Eisenia foetida and this species has several names with Red Wigglers being a typical one. This is the name that fishermen would use - they are very active on a fishing hook.

Farmers call them Manure Worms and/or Composting Worms because that's what they do - live in compost and manure. Modern vermicompost operations do add other plant materials which is a good thing. But they're not sticking this mixture in a plastic tub which may or may not have adequate air holes for ventilation - usually not. More often than not, trenches are cut into the earth, filled with material and worms and then it's left alone for a few months.

The biggest issue on the 'What's wrong with my worm bin? They're dying?" is water. Worms breathe through their skins and excess water and they literally drown. The 'cure' offered at worm bin blogs is to 'add aeration' like paper. Sure couldn't be a problem with the chemicals used to take a tree and turn it into paper, right?

Here's a way that allows one to have the best of both worlds - a recycling method and be able to produce vermicompost. Again the issue is the water levels especially in melons? Crazy and it's this that has lead to inane observations that worms prefer this over that.

"Oh honey! Let's head down to the other end - they're serving Peach Melba. I'm sick of these cow turds!"

I use 5 gallon paint buckets for this. Drill 3/8" holes in the bottom of one bucket. This one will sit inside the other bucket.

Lay down a mix of some peat or coir and manure, compost, worm castings (microbes) - anything but paper. Wet that so it's close to your soil in containers. As you add kitchen scraps, cover that with more of this mix. The water will be released and you'll collect that in the bottom bucket. You'll still have the plant material available without the excess water.

Since this process is microbe driven, besides the water issue having been dealt with, by the time that the kitchen scraps hit the worm bin they'll be partially broken down.

Other tricks are to freeze kitchen scraps (overnight) and this is supposed to allow for faster breakdown. Common sense doesn't hurt either. Carrots are dense and therefore have far less water resulting in comments like 'My worms just don't like carrots' - uh huh.

Grinding or grating dense vegetables, freezing for a few hours will result in faster processing.

Reminder: Do Not Use Paper

CC

 

[Neo 420]

The good type of info never stops flowing round these parts...... I always wondered why newspaper was always included for worms bins......

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Neo

Forget the chemicals used to bleach paper - set that aside. Just try or think about this for a minute.

The suggestion at worm bin sites is to take newspaper and cut or tear it into 2" strips or something close - fair enough. So try that!!!

At some point the paper will get wet from their other bad advice like adding melon rinds, rotting strawberries (i.e. 97%+ water levels) so speed that up. Take your newspaper strips and dunk them in water for a few minutes and see how much 'aeration' this might provide!

LMAO

 

[Microbeman]

I hope I have not been responsible for any misconceptions. It is true that worms derive their nutrients/energy from consumption of microorganisms but they do intake organic matter to accomplish this. It could therefore be said that they do eat organic matter after a fashion.

Anecdotally, I do believe that worms prefer some foodstocks to others or it could be that those foodstocks attrack microbes which attract worms. I have seen worms gravitate away from sphagnum peatmoss with bran and molasses to head for banana peals or cooked yams at the other end of the bin.

Why do worms similarly gravitate to brown cardboard, giving up a perfectly rounded diet of kelpmeal and cow pies? We count on their 'love' of other foods for trapping them out, our method of harvest. Recently they would not budge from horse manure and sawdust for a meal of bran, peatmoss, molasses and cardboard...ya never know.

In the words of my favorite worm expert Kelly Slocum (which I've posted more than once previously)

Worms derive their nutrients from the bodies of microorganims that decay organic materials (OM). Once the OM has begun to rot it softens or fragments into small pieces that the worm can take in to its small mouth. Once in the gut the worm digestive process selects the microorganisms living on and decaying the OM as its nutrition source. The OM itself is moved on down the intestine where it is reduced by a different group of bacteria and fungi that live in the worm gut, then wrapped in a mucous coat and passed from the body as a cast.

Vermicomposting systems are specifically designed to receive regular inputs of raw OM, (we typically refer to this as feedstock) which keeps the microbiology in the system at very high levels. Bedding materials in the bin are tyically high in carbon; things like shredded leaves, paper, cardboard and straw, and this carbon is balanced by the relatively high nitrogen in the food scraps or manure we add to the bin as feedstock. When the carbon and nitrogen are balanced there is an ideal source of nutrients for the bacteria and fungi pivotal to the worm diet, and their populations bloom in response. When microbes bloom, worm activity is optimized.

Let's debunk this myth that worm castings are bad for worms. Worms need the most biologically active environment they can find in order to grow at maximum. The cast of the worm can be as much as six times MORE biologically active than is the OM they ingest. As such, castings are beneficial in the system since they increase the microbial activity. In fact, worms will reingest their own castings over and over again, even in the presence of a rich food source. Some of the most productive worm beds in the world are maintained by removing castings just once per year. Now, having said that, castings can also be very dense. If you get a castings build up low in the bin it can sometimes restict air movement. You'll want to watch bin conditions and, if you find the worms are reacting to low O2 levels, clean out the castings.

Be very aware that the internet is loaded with overly complex and outright WRONG information about how to grow worms. This is not a complex issue and worms in nature do it without all the gyrations some humans seem to feel is necessary to aid them.

Are you being impatient? I would be shocked if you were exhibiting the patience necessary for vermicomposting! :: None of us, when we first began our foray into worms, was patient, and some of us have never gotten over our impatience! You're being normal, which likely means you are expecting a bit too much a bit too soon. Do relax a bit about the little buggers and enjoy the process. And remember, Worms thrive on five things:

Air
Water
Decaying organic matter (OM)
Time
Neglect

Kelly S

 

[Sean Price]

Wow tons of useful info on here. I had no idea that paper was bad but I always felt weird adding newspaper as a base. I had a rubbermaid tub (32) gal but it got clogged up after a couple years..I want to make a flow through design next..

 

[Neo 420]

Neo 420

This is a photo of my vermicompost reactor I had built - flow-through design. Feed from the top and harvest from the bottom. The plans are available from Oregon Soil Company - this is the design used by Dr. Clive Edwards for the past 10 years in his research.

View Image

I looked over that site and couldn't find the blueprint for the vermicompost reactor. I want to build that thing...... so bad....

 

[Neo 420]

Here's another flow-through design offered at RedWormComposting.com - you buy the plans and then build it. No big deal

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This my second choice...

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Neo

You want #108

Worm Bin Blueprints

Blueprint for a Successful Vermiculture Compost System modeled on the famous continuous flow, Oregon Soil Corporation Reactor. Includes construction drawings, operators guide, operation plan, parts list, and site license.

Build an OSCR from plywood and screws. Add insulation and heating cables to keep the bin at a constant 72F.

Dimensions of bin are 36" wide x 48" long x 36" high. Make out of new or used materials. Plans include directions to make harvesting screen and audit box. Many diagrams, charts and graphs.

Add feedstock to top of system and harvest castings and worm tea from harvest chamber below. Use of these bins allows you to keep worms at their happiest in the coldest conditions. (VermiCo uses these as incubation bins throughout the winter).

OSCR Blueprints, 56 pages