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Worming 101
- Thread starter Suby
- Start date
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vonforne
for the record, my test is coco reconstituted with a heavy dose of EM. I am using a worm bag, a, set of shallow plastic boxes stacked on top of each other, and a larger plastic bin. All three work, but the bins are always soggy compared to the bag, which breathes and sometimes needs water like a plant. Also the bag is "flow through" by design, so you can harvest a little at a time.
In both cases, the bins and the bag, coco is being added to an existing system as a replacement for newspaper, not used from start. So in the beginning we will be seeing coco + mechanically shredded newspaper.
In both cases, the bins and the bag, coco is being added to an existing system as a replacement for newspaper, not used from start. So in the beginning we will be seeing coco + mechanically shredded newspaper.
quadracer
Active member
That's exactly how we got our worm bins from the "Master Composter" seminar. Coco and shredded newspaper as the bedding. It works pretty well as a bedding.
emmy75
Member
thats what i was told to use and am currently using. but maybe i dont have enough worms or what but damn mine bins are working slowly. there is some compost in there, that i can smell but overall mostly still coir.
jay ill add some azomite to my bin. about how much should i put in. would a tbsp be ok?
maryjohn i gotta a ? for you too but i gotta go to work now.
i just thought i throw my latest find in here,
it's a chart that helps to identify wild worms. Hope it helps someone.
(klick for bigger size)
i take no credit for the picture whatsoever, all credits belong to the original author. I found the picture here
Nice chart!
Here is for USA around the great lakes: http://greatlakeswormwatch.org/identification/index.html
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vonforne
Since I am not going to use the coco in my soil any more I now will just use it as bedding.......
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Curious why Von....Is it because of too much water retention?
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vonforne
Un even water absorption.....and all of the small coco partials go to the bottom of the 100 liter containers I have like top soil run off from farm fields. The soil I have...500 liters...it will remain and I will just add compost and castings and Bio char.
I think the article size is too small. So, now it is worm food. It will still be in my soil just not in its current form.
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I think the article size is too small. So, now it is worm food. It will still be in my soil just not in its current form.
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Wonder how coco works with worm digestion? Good....bad? Would they actually ingest the finer particles,or use it as a medium to scoot around in?
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vonforne
I will have to read up on that one. I d not know and have not used it yet. I will not know until spring when I set up some bins and get to running.
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Trichgnomes
Member
I think they would both ingest it and hang out in it. It seems to be a good use of coco laying around if one is no longer using it in a soil mix. The worms would basically inoculate the coco with bacteria, most likely solving uneven water absorption problems.
I have been using coco. Mixed results. It doesn't get digested, but if you just keep adding food, it eventually gets outnumbered. This is a very different approach, and works best with a flow through, where you can add material from the bottom back on top. In this manner, you can process a whole lot of material with the same bedding. However, it takes a long time, and meanwhile your castings have a little too much coco in them. Still good, but very diluted. I am adding more grit and outdoor soil to see if that helps.
another problem with coco- in my flow thru worm bag, it tends to dry out very fast. I had an overwatering problem in plastic bins, but now i can't keep up between the heat generated by the bokashi and the bad water retention of coco. I am watering it twice a week. Although it i a great place for noodle water now.
I'm still looking for a good bedding solution that does not suck. Buying a cheap paper shredder was a waste of time. I lost patience.
another problem with coco- in my flow thru worm bag, it tends to dry out very fast. I had an overwatering problem in plastic bins, but now i can't keep up between the heat generated by the bokashi and the bad water retention of coco. I am watering it twice a week. Although it i a great place for noodle water now.
I'm still looking for a good bedding solution that does not suck. Buying a cheap paper shredder was a waste of time. I lost patience.
Yeah, that.
What about fallen leaves?
Would you folks think leaves would need to be dried/dry, or use them moistened?
Dignan
Leaves are a wonderful bedding. Oregon certainly has more than enough trees and getting wet fallen leaves is pretty easy since it rains 6 months (at least) in a year.
Another good bedding material are organic rice hulls though it does take several months to break down.
A good source for rice hulls is from microbreweries. Rice hulls are used in one of the brewing process to filter the wort before it's put away to finish.
These rice hulls have lots and lots of microbes and though the rice hull takes a long time to breakdown they are still able to provide microbes and food for the worms until you begin to add food scraps.
A mix of leaves and rice hulls is even better.
HTH
CC
thanks clack and jay, I have plenty of access to leaf mold. Are fresher leaves ok too?
