Would you add earthworms to 10gal fabric pots?
- Thread starter JHake
- Start date
TaoRich
Well-Known Member
I collected fresh horse shit and bedding straw from a local stable, and put it in a concrete trough to age and mellow. Horse manure first, and then the straw as a top layer to keep most of the flies away, then a loose cover.
4 weeks later I lifted the cover ... and bam ... Mushrooms.
I dug underneath the straw and harvested loads of mycelium.
That got mixed into my organic living soil.
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TaoRich
Well-Known Member
TaoRich, i have contacted a local stable where they also run some experiments with a national institution, they have some cool supplies i will get, not only the composted horse manure but also what seem to be high quality EWC. I have my own EWC but its a small batch.
Today i top dressed my outdoor plants, and found a few worms few inches deep from the top! Its the same soil i am using on my indoor.
And stigmas on flowers are pink! Never happened with this strain. Will see if the indoor plant has the same colors.
Today i top dressed my outdoor plants, and found a few worms few inches deep from the top! Its the same soil i am using on my indoor.
And stigmas on flowers are pink! Never happened with this strain. Will see if the indoor plant has the same colors.
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TaoRich
Well-Known Member
Schweet ...
... must be a girl
Lucky fella ...
I've found that it pays to be a bit bold and enterprising ...
... people seem to be more than happy to help out a passionate slightly crazy person with their hobby if you ask nicely and politely.
And if you drop off a nice clean container with a lid that seals and doesn't make a mess or smell ...
... folks will collect waste.
I've started my first organic living soil outdoor grow.
So far I have bummed for absolutely free:
- 50 litres of excess fruit & veg collected from my local supermarket
- broccoli
- spinach
- eggplant
- cauliflower
- baby marrows
- - - -
- apples
- paw paw
- strawberries
- avocado pear
- - - -
- limited amount
- potato
- tomato
- oranges
- sweet potato
- - - -
- rabbit pellet droppings from our pet bunnies
- & bedding hay
- & red wriggler earthworms which live naturally under the bedding
- racing horse manure from my local race course
- & stable straw
- which gave me my mycelium
- - - -
- wood ash from my local pizza parlour
- coffee grounds from my local coffee shop
- spent brewer's grains from my local craft micro-brewery
- that introduces new enzymes and a different chain of microbial life
- and the husks are great stimulants for fungal life
- crushed prawn & crab shells from my local Chinese takeaway
- that contains chitin and is broken down by chitinase
- insect skeletons are made of the same compound
- the plant thinks it is 'under attack' by hordes of insects
- and strengthens its cell walls to defend from the 'imminent attack' which never comes
- - - -
- fresh sea kelp collected from my local beach
It's all fresh ...
It's all free ...
And it was all living ...
... and it all stayed living
It has never been heat treated or sterilised.
Why desiccate, dehydrate, homogenise and pack into a plastic bucket or bag ...
... buy from a shelf in a shop
... and then try to get the life forms going again ?
Why break the living cycle ?
And yes, I've thrown a few worms into each pot, and a few cocoons as well.
My earthworms are my canary in my coal mine ...
... they are sensitive to much the same issues as plants
... they are sensitive to the balance of water/oxygen
... and they are skin breathers
If they are happy in the soil, intertwining and shagging and making babies ... chances are the plant will be happy in the soil too.
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kratos015
Well-Known Member
Precisely. Attempting to escape anyway they can similar to a worm bed that is too moist.