New Vermicomposter

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
Thay- Ordering worms online would work fine. I just bought mine from the local fishing tackle shop. I started my first bin with 4-5 containers of worms which each cost about $2.50. They have since multiplied insanely, and now I have three bins rocking from that original purchase. Just make sure they are red worms, not night crawlers.
 

charface

Well-Known Member
Alright,
The little kid in me wants to add great white myco powder to my worm bin.

The adult in me says the worms will eat it
and return something good but completly different and not worth the investment.

The more I think of it the dumber it sounds but I have to ask.
 

Dr.J20

Well-Known Member
Alright,
The little kid in me wants to add great white myco powder to my worm bin.

The adult in me says the worms will eat it
and return something good but completly different and not worth the investment.

The more I think of it the dumber it sounds but I have to ask.
my gut is that, without a root system, those mycorrhizal fungi won't really get a chance to even get started. I'd save the great white for transplanting and the like, but that's just a gut guess on my part. :peace:
 

Mohican

Well-Known Member
Sifted through my worm bin and collected some perfect VC. Gave it to the strawberries so they will get nice and sweet!
 

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
Alright,
The little kid in me wants to add great white myco powder to my worm bin.

The adult in me says the worms will eat it
and return something good but completly different and not worth the investment.

The more I think of it the dumber it sounds but I have to ask.
Listen to the adult in you. He's right. Without roots to grow with, that powder is no more than WAY overpriced organic matter for your worms to eat and crap out as worm castings.
 

endpro

Active Member
Just finished reading the whole thread, lol. Got a weekend project coming up apprently!

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endpro

Active Member
I dont know if I personally have enough food scraps to feed them haha. Jusg going to experiment and use garden waste to get started.

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apatheticflock

New Member
I dont know if I personally have enough food scraps to feed them haha. Jusg going to experiment and use garden waste to get started.

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The worms dont eat as much as you expect at first, and you can also supplement with paper/cardboard. With just two people in my household, we still end up throwing away scraps sometimes with two worm bins.
 

DonPetro

Well-Known Member
The worms dont eat as much as you expect at first, and you can also supplement with paper/cardboard. With just two people in my household, we still end up throwing away scraps sometimes with two worm bins.
You can always keep scraps in the freezer. Breaks down quicker and i find i can feed more often with food thats been frozen and thawed.
 

charface

Well-Known Member
I Have been storing scraps in the freezer and putting them in the blender for a second or two.

Thinking I need another bin going.


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Mohican

Well-Known Member
I was doing that too and they loved it. Now I am lazy and just throw shit in. They still love it. They didn't seem to like the peanut shells and all :)
 

thay5212

Active Member
Have had mine up and running now for about a week. They seemed to have endured a bit of shock from being in the mail, took them a few days to get into the groove but upon opening now they are beginning to devour what's in there. No smell at all, though 90% of what I eat produces some usable scrap, may have to get a second one fired up to keep enough being eaten to not have to store too much or have it sit too long. Local stores should be stocking worms again soon from what they told me, will probably just grab local, though Uncle Jim's was quick and more importantly alive upon arrival, it is still probably cheaper to get some locally.
 

burnedout1958

Active Member
As of today mines is 4 bins, a leachate tray, and three compost bins. I have one that's 2/3 full of compost, one that has fresh organics in it that the worms are slowly migrating into and an empty one. Fucking unbelievable.
This is a fascinating subject dear to me, thank you for the the how to specially for me, I feel extra DUH today cause I still don't understand how the worms move up to the next bin ? and you also skipped a part on what goes in each tray (at least to me DUH ) so if it's not too much trouble could you help out the less mentally gifted like me. what goes in tray 1 , tray 2, tray 3

thanks a million.
 

burnedout1958

Active Member
Newspaper ink is made from soy. It's completely edible, pant based and green. Printer toner from your bills is primarily straight carbon (like charcoal) mixed with a polymer. I don't know a lot about the polymers but do know that the only primary health risk from toner is inhaling it as a powder. In many cases the toners are the same soy base as newspaper ink.

To answer your second question it looks like they get it from consuming dead plant matter in the wild. *shrugs* I totally get where you're coming from. I"m still comfortable feeding them newsprint and the small amount of shredded mail I get. (Other than bills I get pretty small amounts of mail)
laser printer "ink" is made from a black iron oxide (rust) I use it in my final polishing of telescope mirrors as they are 1 micron in size. so to the fellow that is concerned, don't be, it's going to end up as iron in your blood for you to make hemoglobin and move oxygen safely around your body without creating any free radicals (mother nature at work) other wise we would all rust away ;)
 

burnedout1958

Active Member
Thus far I haven't seen one insect other than my worms. I'll deal with whatever comes, it's worth it.

On an update note I had the bin apart today, stirred it up a bit and discovered that the cauliflower is pretty much gone. I'm pretty confident that so long as you're buffering acidic things, keeping up with your carbon and perlite additions anything could be composted in these bins. I also noticed a significant amount of liquid in the leachate tray, this is the first time I've had any real amount and I figure it was close to a gallon. I've drained it off I'm not making 20 gallons of teas so I guess the bulk of it is going to go down the drain. I'm going to save back about a cup and dilute it and feed my regular houseplants.

Here's a pic
View attachment 2558240
I've lived in my house 34 years and it came with a gorgeous front lawn, me being a SUPER idiot I decided to kill it (short version) I later added a "stuff" that kills these worms? that eat the grass roots, and this was about the time that it rains here in socal anyways 2 days later hundreds of these worms all rolled out of the ground and washed off.

so getting to the point, I'm going to do this project and I hope I do get some of that "tea" as I intend to put this soil back the way it was handed to me, alive and full of happy worms, besides the ones in my compost bin ;)
 

burnedout1958

Active Member
They love the coffee grounds.. That really gets their mojo going. I never threw coffee grounds in my bins til this past month. I don't drink coffee. My mom and sister save all their coffee grounds for me now. I've thrown veggie slurry, various nutes, dried plants, egg shells, compost, oatmeal. The coffee grounds and romaine lettuce seem to be their favorite, The worms seem to bulk up and multiply quite a bit after munching on lettuce and coffee grounds. More so than other worm foodies.
Damn I'm related to worms , that's the only lettuce I eat and I don't drink water, only coffee.
 
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