Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I collect some every rain . I find the locals more vigorous than the red wiggerls but the wiggers stay low it seems
BUT I can't tell the difference anymore , 3 bins working one is near full 2 started last fall
my comfrey crown slivers turned out great 32 in 3 gal all with 12" leaves & some are blooming
over wintering in the greenhouse atm waiting on spring I planted the crown cuts end of November
nice. i just got my first comfrey started a week ago or so, had a root delivered. it's started producing roots already which is awesome. just waiting to see that green emerge :) lookin to get a good patch going this year. i'm also gonna be doing a lot of herb borage this year too (another really beneficial plant) and harvesting a fuck ton of nettles and drying them. they grow like crazy near where i live. river valleys full of them. I'll also be harvesting as many dandelion leaves from my yard as possible and drying them up too. gotta love free stuff!
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Yeah Mr Bennon :) sent me some comfrey and borage last year so I have some going here too, comfrey is fkn awesome, that shit melts into compost so fast its not even funny. Hell you can topdress with green leaves and in a week they will be into the soil....
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Amazing is a good descriptor. First harvests usually look like ... a first harvest. That VC looks really dialed in. Good job!

Got any plans to expand to a second bin? Or, let the population increase a bit more first?

Wet
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Amazing is a good descriptor. First harvests usually look like ... a first harvest. That VC looks really dialed in. Good job!

Got any plans to expand to a second bin? Or, let the population increase a bit more first?

Wet
Thank you very much, Wet! yeah i'm going to split after i run this bin one more time and just make sure everything is good a second time through. it's amazing how little attention they really require. i don't think i "fed" them a thing the last three weeks so they had some freezer mash waiting in the new bin. Looking forward to the next haul and i'm hoping that the population has increased a lil bit and maybe i can get them to go through this bin in 10 weeks or so...

overall... very very happy with the first run. i pretty much never had to add water to the bin, and it killed it from the start. looking for a repeat!
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
To kick things up a notch, source some chicken laying mash. Picked this little tidbit up from bait worm farmers, who use it to really fatten the worms up. It also has the happy side effect of increasing cocoon production just like it does with increasing chicken egg production.

The only hard part is finding it in less than 50lb bags. The only place in town that sells small amounts charges $1/lb, but will stress to mention that a 50lb bag is only $12. Much cheaper, but you do need something airtight to store it in, like 5gal buckets with lids. Using a handful just once or twice a week, sprinkled on top of the bedding (never bury it), 50lbs lasts a looooong time.

A win-win, because you end up with fat worms that reproduce like crazy. Something to consider.

Waiting for the second run to divide the bin works well, VOE there. There is a much better balance of adults, juveniles, and cocoons and everything seems to go faster, both the recovery of the original bin and the one just started. I've tried it both ways and waiting works better.
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
I'd just ask if and where the blood / bone meal in there is from cause bone meal is a common component to it. Its great to feed worms a sand or digestive aid but bone meal is something I personally avoid in the worms diet. All meals infact I prefer to send to the thermophilic natural compost where heats can rise and not threaten exploding worm populations, as babies are more sensitive to conditions!

and also clarify its its chick starter mash or laying mash. Calcium is usually the main difference here, and that said, its always good to know the source of calcium, I personally would opt for cleaner greener calcium like kale or spinach fed to the worms but to each their own. Whether medical or not I would go clean as possible.

My favourite thing to spark insane* worm breeding is tossing in halved avocados, its also high in mains and enzymes and supports a lot of life with all the vitamins and minerals. I feed them six shells a week per bin and they breed like crayyyyzy in them all :)

The only other thing to perhaps look out for is are you gonna get pellets, crumble or true mash aka the cornmeal consistency. I'd say the best is the latter (cornmeal) for worms but for chickens I think pellets is easier on them.

Happy vermiposting, amigos :)
 

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
corn meal , masa , coconut flour , all good feeds i bait with these as well
my last comfrey feed i coated the chopped comfrey with coconut flour . i've got a 10 gal tote that a 1/2 yr old
i quit feeding it it 2 weeks ago & bait it on top to move worms over to newer bins , there a slight amount of material not yet eaten
up about 2" deep
i add oyster flour to the bins every once in while as well
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
I'd just ask if and where the blood / bone meal in there is from cause bone meal is a common component to it. Its great to feed worms a sand or digestive aid but bone meal is something I personally avoid in the worms diet. All meals infact I prefer to send to the thermophilic natural compost where heats can rise and not threaten exploding worm populations, as babies are more sensitive to conditions!

and also clarify its its chick starter mash or laying mash. Calcium is usually the main difference here, and that said, its always good to know the source of calcium, I personally would opt for cleaner greener calcium like kale or spinach fed to the worms but to each their own. Whether medical or not I would go clean as possible.

My favourite thing to spark insane* worm breeding is tossing in halved avocados, its also high in mains and enzymes and supports a lot of life with all the vitamins and minerals. I feed them six shells a week per bin and they breed like crayyyyzy in them all :)

The only other thing to perhaps look out for is are you gonna get pellets, crumble or true mash aka the cornmeal consistency. I'd say the best is the latter (cornmeal) for worms but for chickens I think pellets is easier on them.

Happy vermiposting, amigos :)
Talked to 2 different bait farmers and both specified the laying mash. This was also some years ago. Mentioned that other chicken foods would work, or ground corn in general like cornmeal, but the laying mash gave the best results..

One grocery store here has Starter mash in the pet food aisle. Not super rural here, but rural enough. LOL

I get the true mash rather than the crumbles or pellets on the same guys recc. Have gotten both crumbles and pellets (both, just 1lb), to try out, but both needed to be pre-moistened and didn't work all that well in the bins. The true mash seldom even needs to be spritzed to start breaking down in the bin.

I really miss my avacados! All you can find up here are those tiny Haas things that are a joke to anyone from SoFl. Had a Choquett in my front yard that gave 3-5lb fruits and 1/2 of one would make a decent meal just eating it out of the shell. The little ones do make better guac though. They are like $1.50 each here and not even fist sized. It's crazy!
 
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