Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

[Rasta Roy]

I have a bin going great guns, but seems it's become a bit funky, with LOTS of mites. I've read this can be from acidic conditions. I've been adding a wide range of fruit and veg scrap along with eggshells and forest humus (aspen grove area).

Any thought show to bring it to better balance without having to outsource other inputs? I really don't want to have to buy stuff to feed them.

If you got mites you might have too much food in the bin. Don't add anything for a couple weeks and they should clear up for the most part.

And if its funky...yea I'm thinking too much food.

 

[Rasta Roy]

Bunny worm farm.. interesting... and yeah the slow release from the egg shells can be good... I just got annoyed with them because when I bought my first worm farm.. (5 bucks at a garage sale and FULL of worms and castings!) They had not crushed the egg shells before throwing them in and it seemed like I had more she'll than castings lol I still use them just ground ubber fine

If you don't want the egg shells in your bin than save them for making Calcium Phosphate, that's what ive been doing.

 

[DonBrennon]

If you don't want the egg shells in your bin than save them for making Calcium Phosphate, that's what ive been doing.

@iHearAll keeps banging on about this misnomer, the eggshells only contain about 0.01percent phos, they're pretty much all calcium carbonate. Still a damn good way of getting water soluble calcium though.

I've had the thought that, maybe if you used diluted ph down, which, in most cases is phosphoric acid, instead of the vinegar, you'd really get 'cal-phos'.............I was never good at chemistry though

Calcium broke down with phosphoric acid must make calcium phosphate, right?

 

[iHearAll]

@iHearAll keeps banging on about this misnomer, the eggshells only contain about 0.01percent phos, they're pretty much all calcium carbonate. Still a damn good way of getting water soluble calcium though.

I've had the thought that, maybe if you used diluted ph down, which, in most cases is phosphoric acid, instead of the vinegar, you'd really get 'cal-phos'.............I was never good at chemistry though

Calcium broke down with phosphoric acid must make calcium phosphate, right?

i think it turns into a superphosphate which is a nonorganic salt. there might be a heating process and a second wash in the acid but more or less i remember there being a commercial 0-30-0 made this way. they used lime as the calcium source

 

[Wetdog]

I've heard from others that peat moss has to be replaced every two weeks when I used as bedding because it gets too acidic. Have you had any issues?

I've been using a peat based bedding for over 5 years with great results. However, it MUST be limed because of the acidity. In some bins, the bedding is 4 or 5 months old. Mostly, I use calcitic lime in the worm bedding, but sometimes dolo. Depends on what's closest to hand.

To make ~10 gals of bedding, it will be 1cf (7.5 gallons), of expanded peat, ~2 gallons of perlite, 1 healthy cup of Ag lime (calcitic), and ~1.5 cups of play sand for grit. Get it good and wet and let it sit outside for a couple of weeks in 5gal buckets with drainage holes. Might add a small amount, cup or less, of neem cake, or kelp meal, or alfalfa, or whatever to get some microbe action going.

I do a lasagna type deal with feeding (mostly comfrey and coffee grounds), so you usually know well in advance to make another batch of bedding.

Stopped with the eggshells years ago. Even crunched fine still found chunks 3 years later. Plus, the wife complained. A $4.50 bag of lime stopped the complaints. A bargain, even if it was 2-3x more as the calcitic lime is.

Wet

 

[Javadog]

Wow, he does Hear All.... :0)

 

[iHearAll]

nope im wrong haha its sulfuric acid breaking down phosphorite

"
The main reaction of sulfuric acid disintegrating phosphorite to produce calcium superphosphate: 2Ca5F(PO4)3+7H2SO4+3H2O─→3Ca(H2PO4)2•H2O+7CaSO4+2HF
"

 

[iHearAll]

rock phosphate and sulfuric acid>>>
The practical reaction is divided into two steps: the first step, which is very fast and can be finished in few minutes, is the reaction between sulfuric acid and a part of phosphorite to produce phosphoric acid and calcium sulfate. Monocalcium phosphate can be produced when the phosphoric acid produced has reaction with a part of phosphorite. This step is controlled by liquid-phase diffusion, and the speed is very slow that it will last for few days or a couple of weeks.

Silicon tetrafluoride is produced when hydrogen fluoride that is produced from the reaction has reaction with silicon dioxide or silicate taken in by phosphorite. Some of it is overflowed, and a part of is hydrolyzed into fluosilicic acid and remained in the reaction mass. Some associated impurities and minerals of phosphorite are also involved in reaction: carbonate minerals are disintegrated by sulfuric acid rapidly, producing sulfate and overflow carbon dioxide. Iron and aluminium minerals are disintegrated into acid phosphate. Besides, a lot of crystal is separated out by the resultants of reaction. The material becomes stiff rapidly and is solidified into vesicular solid material.

http://www.bb-hy.com/en/Calcium-superphosphate_c44.html



ok so i guess the picture here is i was wrong about the phosphoric acid reaction

my b

 

[GreenSanta]

I've been using a peat based bedding for over 5 years with great results. However, it MUST be limed because of the acidity. In some bins, the bedding is 4 or 5 months old. Mostly, I use calcitic lime in the worm bedding, but sometimes dolo. Depends on what's closest to hand.

To make ~10 gals of bedding, it will be 1cf (7.5 gallons), of expanded peat, ~2 gallons of perlite, 1 healthy cup of Ag lime (calcitic), and ~1.5 cups of play sand for grit. Get it good and wet and let it sit outside for a couple of weeks in 5gal buckets with drainage holes. Might add a small amount, cup or less, of neem cake, or kelp meal, or alfalfa, or whatever to get some microbe action going.

I do a lasagna type deal with feeding (mostly comfrey and coffee grounds), so you usually know well in advance to make another batch of bedding.

Stopped with the eggshells years ago. Even crunched fine still found chunks 3 years later. Plus, the wife complained. A $4.50 bag of lime stopped the complaints. A bargain, even if it was 2-3x more as the calcitic lime is.

Wet

very helpful Wet, totally applies to my system as I use a lot of coffee ground and comfrey... gonna try this on a large scale but i am wondering if you have tried something else than peat for bedding ? when in season, a mix of fall leaves for bedding I suppose you wouldnt add any lime?

 

[Javadog]

I want to recommend putting things from the yard into the
freezer in a bag before using them with the bins. I added some
unexpected bugs into my bin when I did this....just pillbugs and such,
but it was still not intended.

 

[iHearAll]

^^yea i get some crazy poisonous bugs in my worm bin hahaha in asia we used to get huge 6"+ scorpions in the compost and bins. lol there are a few of you guys who compost indoors. nah ahhhh not me. i did that a few weeks ago and had BSF larvae all over the floor all over the house for a week before i sent the party outside. that was alot of sweeping.

 

[Wetdog]

very helpful Wet, totally applies to my system as I use a lot of coffee ground and comfrey... gonna try this on a large scale but i am wondering if you have tried something else than peat for bedding ? when in season, a mix of fall leaves for bedding I suppose you wouldnt add any lime?

IDK, because my 'leaf mold compost' is mainly a thick mulch layer on top of my raised beds and lime does get added, though not just for the leaves. I have noticed not many worms in the fresher, less broken down leaves, but many in the more broken down 2YO stuff near the bottom. I've never tried leaves as bedding in bins.

I've always liked the peat as bedding since it's a basic part of my mix anyway and what's not broken down just becomes more mix. Most of it gets turned into castings though. The comfrey 'juice' seems to soak into the peat moss causing decomposition that the worms then consume. At least I think so. The coffee grounds sit and sit, then sit some more, till that grayish mold covers it and the worms swarm it all at once. Seems like they sit for about a month till they are right for the worms. Even the comfrey is ignored till the bacterial growth gets right, then it's like free pizza at a 420 event. But the comfrey takes much less time, like perhaps a week or so. This is fresh that has been frozen.

HTH

Wet

 

[Wetdog]

Just wondered if you added anything to raise the pH. Lately I've just been grabbing scooping unfinished leaves from my compost pile (from the cooled down part of the pile), the worms seem to like it the most. I was just dumping them straight into a bedding of rabbit manure and timothy hay and cardboard (all soaked in piss since it's from a rabbit litter box so I leave it out in the rain to wash out salts first). They were still always trying to escape though...I'd have to keep a light on em. They don't pull that shit no more though. I mix the rabbit manure and litter along with food scraps and coffee grounds into the leaves little by little every week. They seem to love it.

Your Oyster Shell Flour would work perfect to raise and buffer the pH. 1cup of OSF/cf of bedding will do ya.

I did read something about too much crab shell meal negatively affecting worms, so you might want to check into it before using it for pH buffering. Something to do with chitanese IIRC, but really foggy on the memory.

Wet

 

[Rasta Roy]

Your Oyster Shell Flour would work perfect to raise and buffer the pH. 1cup of OSF/cf of bedding will do ya.

I did read something about too much crab shell meal negatively affecting worms, so you might want to check into it before using it for pH buffering. Something to do with chitanese IIRC, but really foggy on the memory.

Wet

I was just wondering out of curiosity. I don't like using peat for bedding because it's something extra I'd have to buy vs something I'm sourcing for free. That's why I double don't like the idea of having to add in my precious flour! Partially composted leaves have been solid bedding for me ever since I've been using it.

 

[Wetdog]

I was just wondering out of curiosity. I don't like using peat for bedding because it's something extra I'd have to buy vs something I'm sourcing for free. That's why I double don't like the idea of having to add in my precious flour! Partially composted leaves have been solid bedding for me ever since I've been using it.

If it works well for you and your worms, that's the #1 priority. Being free is icing on the cake.

I really don't know if partially composted leaves need pH buffering or not. When I add lime to the raised beds, it's for the clay soil underneith, but the leaves get hit also. If they don't need buffering, then don't.

Are you shipping oyster shell flour? That's the reason I don't use it. $30 shipping for a $9 product is just too dear for me. I did find Ag lime at HD. Pure calcium carbonate for $16/40lb bag. That I can afford and it's a 1 to 1 replacement for OSF. Something to look for if you are having to ship.

Wet

 

[Rasta Roy]

No I don't like getting stuff shipped. There's a Michigan company called Organically Done that stocks a local grow store near me with five pound bags for nine bucks. I don't seem to need to pH the leaves, the worms have reacted well to the bedding. They're breeding much more than when I just had them in rabbit litter and manure.

 

[Rasta Roy]

I should mention the leaves I use for bedding aren't just leaves off the ground...they are shredded and partially composted...taken from an outer cooler layer of one of my compost piles (compromised of shredded leaves and coffee grounds).

 

[MeJuana]

Are you shipping oyster shell flour? That's the reason I don't use it. $30 shipping for a $9 product is just too dear for me. I did find Ag lime at HD. Pure calcium carbonate for $16/40lb bag. That I can afford and it's a 1 to 1 replacement for OSF. Something to look for if you are having to ship.

Wet

I make a short drive and get 50lb for 12 bucks along with other great stuff like glacial rock, gypsum and stuff. Check your feed stores, worm farms and etc locally for me it is worth it to do a 2 hour round trip, throw a few bags of this stuff in the truck.

 

[Rasta Roy]

I make a short drive and get 50lb for 12 bucks along with other great stuff like glacial rock, gypsum and stuff. Check your feed stores, worm farms and etc locally for me it is worth it to do a 2 hour round trip, throw a few bags of this stuff in the truck.

Nice! The oyster shell flour and crab shell meal are the only things I buy any more, and I'm in Michigan a little far from the ocean so while my cost isn't much, I'm sure you can probably get a better deal on ocean products like them.

I buy in bulk too, I'm hoping by the time I work my way through the last of my amendments I'll have enough of my home made castings, compost, and broke down rabbit manure/litter to fertilize everything.

 

[Mohican]

Don't forget kelp meal for the micros and enzymes.