Replacement for Earth Worm Castings

Hey guys just starting to collect things for this year's grow. I will be growing in 45 gallon smart pots outdoors this year. Got some Sensi Durban and Reserve Privada Silver kush, was plannining on using subcools organic soil mix. Looks like a good mix, only addition I'll add is some rock dust if I can't get my hands on Azomite.

http://gamerchronic.com/organic-super-soil/

Can manage to find everything except for EWC around my area (East coast Australia). Could anyone suggest a replacement, and at what dosage should i add it to the mix. Thanks alot.

You can use well rotted compost at the same ratio you would WC.

http://twentytwowords.com/massive-australian-earthworm-can-grow-up-to-9-feet-long-7-pictures/
just go find one of these guys and start a worm bin

google agrowynn worm castings. Best store bought. They may sell over seas. Check retailers on their site.

30% of your mix should be worm castings / compost.

you should start a bunch of your own worm.bins.

Nothing replaces ewc imo. Start with some thermal compost if need be, but you're going to need to boost the microbe life. I would recommend the rock dust over the azomite. Do you have basalt there?

Start a worm bin, search out other Aussie growers and find out where they get their supplies at.

Best of luck,
P-

Hey guys thanks for all the replies. Starting an worm bin was my first plan but food scrap's are in short where I live and most already go's to pigs or chickens/ducks. Since its winter would be difficult to grow enough lettuce or something that worms like to make enough EWC by spring. Im using 15x45gallon smart pots so I'm going to need atleast 500gallon of mixed soil.

Yer pattahabi the "rock dust" I meant was basalt dust they basically give it away at landscaping supplies around here. As they sell it by the ton they let me fill up a few 20lt buckets for free haha. Another I like to add to my mix's is diatomaceous earth; Great stuff full of trace minerals and high in silica.

If I can't find EWC would it be a good idea to add a mycorrhizae inocculant to my soil? Where can you buy these?

Elvish said:

Hey guys thanks for all the replies. Starting an worm bin was my first plan but food scrap's are in short where I live and most already go's to pigs or chickens/ducks. Since its winter would be difficult to grow enough lettuce or something that worms like to make enough EWC by spring. Im using 15x45gallon smart pots so I'm going to need atleast 500gallon of mixed soil.

Yer pattahabi the "rock dust" I meant was basalt dust they basically give it away at landscaping supplies around here. As they sell it by the ton they let me fill up a few 20lt buckets for free haha. Another I like to add to my mix's is diatomaceous earth; Great stuff full of trace minerals and high in silica.

If I can't find EWC would it be a good idea to add a mycorrhizae inocculant to my soil? Where can you buy these?

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Go for the basalt for sure! Imo it's good to have a mycorrhizae product (without trichoderma if all possible) no matter ewc or not. What you need is humus. If you can't find EWC, this could come as thermal compost. For your worm bin it does not have to be food scraps. Worms especially like certain types of manures (careful of high Na), as well as other foodstock like grains, etc. I'm certainly no expert, so read up and look around.

You might check out these people for ewc:
http://www.wormswork.com.au/products.html

Sounds kind of cheap, always check what they food the worms.
http://www.wormsdownunder.com.au/soilconditionerproducts.html

P-

Hey P thanks for the reply.
Do you know where stocks mycorrhizae and which type do I want? Endo? The other thing I'm having trouble sourcing is the humic acid, which I believe sort of fits into the same role of promoting good bacteria in your soil, is that correct? Sorry pretty new mycorrihzae

http://www.xtreme-gardening.com/
I switched to this companie for mykos. They are cheap compared to some of the products on the market. They even have a nice sampler pack, just pay shipping that will last a grow or two if you dont have an enormous setup.

Just remember with mycorrhizal products that root contact is essential. So germination and transplanting are the best times to use them.

Elvish said:

Hey P thanks for the reply.
Do you know where stocks mycorrhizae and which type do I want? Endo? The other thing I'm having trouble sourcing is the humic acid, which I believe sort of fits into the same role of promoting good bacteria in your soil, is that correct? Sorry pretty new mycorrihzae

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I agree with banana, I like the product by xtreme a lot. It is the one I have been using for quite a while now. Yes, you want Endo mycorrhizae. I look for glomus intraradices or glomus mosse. I would not worry about the humic acid so much. What you are most likely going to find is leonardite (not what you want). Maybe see if you can get BioAg products in Australia (or again search out the people in your area getting it done and see where they source their materials at).

Best of luck,
P-

http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/product_information_sheets/Humates/PIS_Nutri-Mate Organic Humates.pdf

Or http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/product_information_sheets/Dry Mineral Fertilisers/PIS_Nutri-Store Gold.pdf

Maybe this instead of potash? >> http://blog.planthealthsolutions.com.au/nutrient-solutions/plant-nutrients/dry-mineral-fertilisers/nts-soft-rock/

So something like this wouldn't be beneficial to add to my mix?

I was under the impression that you would add mycorrihzae at the beginning when preparing soil and letting it "cook" for a month was so that the beneficial bacteria could multiply? Better to add when i transplant into final Smart pots?

Mycorrihzae is a fungi. Needs living roots to attach to to survive and thrive. Best added when transplanting. Dusted on to roots. Added at the beginning they just go dormant and may or may not survive the "cooking" process.

Elvish said:

Hey guys thanks for all the replies. Starting an worm bin was my first plan but food scrap's are in short where I live and most already go's to pigs or chickens/ducks. Since its winter would be difficult to grow enough lettuce or something that worms like to make enough EWC by spring. Im using 15x45gallon smart pots so I'm going to need atleast 500gallon of mixed soil.

Yer pattahabi the "rock dust" I meant was basalt dust they basically give it away at landscaping supplies around here. As they sell it by the ton they let me fill up a few 20lt buckets for free haha. Another I like to add to my mix's is diatomaceous earth; Great stuff full of trace minerals and high in silica.

If I can't find EWC would it be a good idea to add a mycorrhizae inocculant to my soil? Where can you buy these?

Click to expand...

dont need food scraps, worms enjoy paper too good ole black and white newspaper or cardboard (they call it bedding but the worms still decomp it)....also can add chicken manure to it as well. egg shells and you can also get by with giving minimal scraps so as not to cut the livestock short. and they love coffee grounds too!!

True worms love paper but I don't trust it to be free of chemical contamination so I use shredded leaves, depleted soil and coco coir as bedding instead. Also beware of giving them non organic fruit rinds especially bananas are sprayed with fungicides and pesticides.

SupraSPL said:

True worms love paper but I don't trust it to be free of chemical contamination so I use shredded leaves, depleted soil and coco coir as bedding instead. Also beware of giving them non organic fruit rinds especially bananas are sprayed with fungicides and pesticides.

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i tried leaves and they take forever to break down.

RetiredMatthebrute said:

i tried leaves and they take forever to break down.

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is there any moisture in your bin? You don't want your bin to be dry. do you bury leaves or mix them in the bedding. (not on top)? Leaves break down in about 2 weeks in my bin, sometimes less time. Outside as mulch they break down in a week

hyroot said:

is there any moisture in your bin? You don't want your bin to be dry. do you bury leaves or mix them in the bedding. (not on top)? Leaves break down in about 2 weeks in my bin, sometimes less time. Outside as mulch they break down in a week

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everything was pretty damp as it was supposed to be, when i made my bin i gathered up enough leaves to fill it 1/2 way then wet them and put em in, put moist cardboard shreds on top and then worms, placed my food scraps under the cardboard layer, everything seemed to decomp fast except the leaves on the bottom 1/4 of the bin. prob just put too much in but im going to avoid them from here on out

call it personal preference

RetiredMatthebrute said:

everything was pretty damp as it was supposed to be, when i made my bin i gathered up enough leaves to fill it 1/2 way then wet them and put em in, put moist cardboard shreds on top and then worms, placed my food scraps under the cardboard layer, everything seemed to decomp fast except the leaves on the bottom 1/4 of the bin. prob just put too much in but im going to avoid them from here on out

call it personal preference

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yeah, I feel ya there, my theory is worms don't prefer leaves, when other foods are present. What I did for my last wormbin (I have two going now) is I went down to the river and got a plastic bag full of half rotted soaked leaves that were gathering in clumps, the worms seem to like those better, as im sure they are already half composted and more "rotten" or edible for them. My theory anyways... I really love my worms, wish I would have started vermicomposting in the 90s. Between the food scraps that I don't have to put in my garbage, to the simple feeling of KNOWING that your EWC is absolutely CRAWLING with beneficial microbes, its something I wished I would have discovered years ago.
Now... if only I can find some Comfrey to sustainably grow, and i'll be good. I already have stinging nettles and the dandelions..