Worms in soil.

[Rocko's Roots]

Hi guys,

I read that having an earth worm in with my pots is good for aerating the soil.

At what stage should I put one in there? Will it harm the seedling if it's too early or promote root extension?

Any info appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[Richard Drysift]

Having worms in your containers is beneficial for your plants but not always so much for the worms. If you have a well established soil food web in a large size container (as in a no till rols grow) then worms can survive for a long time but a seedling in a tiny solo cup is almost certain death for a worm. Temps can get too high in a small container and theres not much food. When you water them with a soil drench there may be no place for the worms to escape drowning.
Worms are communal and will survive for much longer and even thrive in a colony. They also consume a lot everyday and are adept at decomposing organic material. That is why it is better keeping them in a worm bin and just harvesting castings as needed.
You will get worms in your mix eventually anyway because there's always a few that will not separate from the castings when you harvest them but in all the time I have been adding them to my recycling mix I have yet to see a live worm survive all the way through a full flowering cycle.
Besides aeration of the soil is just one small benefit of having live worms. EWC is the best form of compost you can have and will make your grow totally self sustaining. Then you can basically feed your plants kitchen scraps. Worms in the soil or EWC will never harm plants; you can add EWC up to 50% before ever having to worry about N burn.
If you say fuck it and go ahead and add worms to your containers directly anyway even in death they provide sustenance for fungi which can enter and consume a dead worm in a matter of days. So either way it's all good it's just that IMO the majority of your worms would be happier in a bin making compost than they would be slowly starving in a sweltering plastic pot. Happy worms make happy plants & happy plants make happy smoke.

 

[Rocko's Roots]

Having worms in your containers is beneficial for your plants but not always so much for the worms. If you have a well established soil food web in a large size container (as in a no till rols grow) then worms can survive for a long time but a seedling in a tiny solo cup is almost certain death for a worm. Temps can get too high in a small container and theres not much food. When you water them with a soil drench there may be no place for the worms to escape drowning.
Worms are communal and will survive for much longer and even thrive in a colony. They also consume a lot everyday and are adept at decomposing organic material. That is why it is better keeping them in a worm bin and just harvesting castings as needed.
You will get worms in your mix eventually anyway because there's always a few that will not separate from the castings when you harvest them but in all the time I have been adding them to my recycling mix I have yet to see a live worm survive all the way through a full flowering cycle.
Besides aeration of the soil is just one small benefit of having live worms. EWC is the best form of compost you can have and will make your grow totally self sustaining. Then you can basically feed your plants kitchen scraps. Worms in the soil or EWC will never harm plants; you can add EWC up to 50% before ever having to worry about N burn.
If you say fuck it and go ahead and add worms to your containers directly anyway even in death they provide sustenance for fungi which can enter and consume a dead worm in a matter of days. So either way it's all good it's just that IMO the majority of your worms would be happier in a bin making compost than they would be slowly starving in a sweltering plastic pot. Happy worms make happy plants & happy plants make happy smoke.

That was a really good reply haha! Okay, compost bin it is then! I wouldn't want to kill the little guy anyway when he's providing me a service haha.

Cheers mate

 

[freemanjack]

Vermiculture is the future of humanity, the keeping and raising of worms is a way of converting ALL of your waste materials and converting them into a ready made plant feed that is water soluble and teaming with beneficial microbes. It is reckoned that the output from the back of a worm has a 1000 x the microbes of wot went in the front, it is these microbes that are responsible for the primary sequestering of gasses and minerals into the complex compounds that plants naturally rely on for growth and health regulation. Or I might just be deluding myself and there really is a huge invisible giant walking about pouring NPK all over the forests, plains and oceans!!

 

[Rocko's Roots]

Vermiculture is the future of humanity, the keeping and raising of worms is a way of converting ALL of your waste materials and converting them into a ready made plant feed that is water soluble and teaming with beneficial microbes. It is reckoned that the output from the back of a worm has a 1000 x the microbes of wot went in the front, it is these microbes that are responsible for the primary sequestering of gasses and minerals into the complex compounds that plants naturally rely on for growth and health regulation. Or I might just be deluding myself and there really is a huge invisible giant walking about pouring NPK all over the forests, plains and oceans!!

Wow I'm glad I made this thread, you guys think like I do when I'm high haha!

Thanks for the info bro!

 

[Greenthumbs256]

The only reason I haven't bought the worms yet is I'm worried about feeding them I have a 50 gallon tote I mix and reuse my soIL in, could I just throw a few in there and let them be? I never use all the soil from the tote. Usually there is always left overs in the tote at least a few gallons. Would it be OK to throw the worms in there and give them scraps every once in a while. But still continue to add my old soil to it and re amend it. Like a cycle kinda?

Having worms in your containers is beneficial for your plants but not always so much for the worms. If you have a well established soil food web in a large size container (as in a no till rols grow) then worms can survive for a long time but a seedling in a tiny solo cup is almost certain death for a worm. Temps can get too high in a small container and theres not much food. When you water them with a soil drench there may be no place for the worms to escape drowning.
Worms are communal and will survive for much longer and even thrive in a colony. They also consume a lot everyday and are adept at decomposing organic material. That is why it is better keeping them in a worm bin and just harvesting castings as needed.
You will get worms in your mix eventually anyway because there's always a few that will not separate from the castings when you harvest them but in all the time I have been adding them to my recycling mix I have yet to see a live worm survive all the way through a full flowering cycle.
Besides aeration of the soil is just one small benefit of having live worms. EWC is the best form of compost you can have and will make your grow totally self sustaining. Then you can basically feed your plants kitchen scraps. Worms in the soil or EWC will never harm plants; you can add EWC up to 50% before ever having to worry about N burn.
If you say fuck it and go ahead and add worms to your containers directly anyway even in death they provide sustenance for fungi which can enter and consume a dead worm in a matter of days. So either way it's all good it's just that IMO the majority of your worms would be happier in a bin making compost than they would be slowly starving in a sweltering plastic pot. Happy worms make happy plants & happy plants make happy smoke.

 

[freemanjack]

The only reason I haven't bought the worms yet is I'm worried about feeding them I have a 50 gallon tote I mix and reuse my soIL in, could I just throw a few in there and let them be? I never use all the soil from the tote. Usually there is always left overs in the tote at least a few gallons. Would it be OK to throw the worms in there and give them scraps every once in a while. But still continue to add my old soil to it and re amend it. Like a cycle kinda?

Perfect, you can use all your growing schwag to feed the critters, happiest worms you ever did see are ones livin on weed scraps. Worth noting there are different species of worm with diff habits and preferences, red wrigglers or tiger worms are your best bet, the large garden earth worms are escapologists and like to live deep, 2 ft plus where yer red wriggler prefers 4-6 inches and will stay where you put em. I've found earthworms over 2 foot up a door frame and still climbing in the past!

 

[Richard Drysift]

The only reason I haven't bought the worms yet is I'm worried about feeding them I have a 50 gallon tote I mix and reuse my soIL in, could I just throw a few in there and let them be? I never use all the soil from the tote. Usually there is always left overs in the tote at least a few gallons. Would it be OK to throw the worms in there and give them scraps every once in a while. But still continue to add my old soil to it and re amend it. Like a cycle kinda?

Yeah a lotta peeps are doing just that. That's fine it's just kind of a pain to separate the worms from the castings. I use a worm factory 360; the trays make it super ez to harvest castings. They also eat way more than you think especially once they get a population established; all they do is eat and fuck. I don't know how many thousands of worms I got in my bin now but they consume several pounds of scraps per week. It's amazing how fast they can fill up a tray. I harvest a full tray every 2-3 weeks.