fattiemcnuggins
Well-Known Member
I know, I know...I keep saying I will get the bin started and I get sidetracked. Then I get sidetracked from there. It never ends man.
New Vermicomposter
- Thread starter theQuetzalcoatl
- Start date
st0wandgrow
Well-Known Member
Rrog, is it 100% necessary to clean a vermiculture bin every once in a while, and if so how do you accomplish this with a cloth container, and what do you do with the worms while cleaning out their home? I'm assuming that you feed them in different parts of the container and then replace their bedding/food once they've migrated to a different part of the container??
Can you give us a little more detail on how you do your thing with these Geopots?
Rrog
Well-Known Member
Sure thing- I started with compost that I had made. Also some bagged manure compost. Some used soil. I also used soil from a pot that I seeded with clover after the MJ was chopped. Live microbes in that soil, which is important to inoculate. Some crab shell, neem, charcoal from used air filters, kelp, and other amendments I'd also add to the soil.
Lava rocks to give some texture. I don't add paper. I dig a hole on one side of the bag and bury some Bokashi. I do 2-3 of these. Just little piles. on one side, allowing them to come to the stuff. Every so often when there's been no Bokashi added for a few days I turn the pile by grabbing the handles and rotating the drier perimeter compost inward and mixing. Then I water lightly as I would a plant but never so that it flows. Just moist is all.
I cover the bags with a square of black poly. They love it under there. I'm not planning on washing the bags anytime soon, as I imagine the microbes will keep everything in balance. The porosity of the sides virtually eliminates any chance of anaerobic conditions.
Lava rocks to give some texture. I don't add paper. I dig a hole on one side of the bag and bury some Bokashi. I do 2-3 of these. Just little piles. on one side, allowing them to come to the stuff. Every so often when there's been no Bokashi added for a few days I turn the pile by grabbing the handles and rotating the drier perimeter compost inward and mixing. Then I water lightly as I would a plant but never so that it flows. Just moist is all.
I cover the bags with a square of black poly. They love it under there. I'm not planning on washing the bags anytime soon, as I imagine the microbes will keep everything in balance. The porosity of the sides virtually eliminates any chance of anaerobic conditions.
st0wandgrow
Well-Known Member
Moocho grassyass! 
st0wandgrow
Well-Known Member
I think I'm gonna give the Geopot a whirl. Is there a local MI company that you picked up your worms from, or do I need to order some online?
I hope you don't mind all of the questions. I'm new to this worm farming thing!
I hope you don't mind all of the questions. I'm new to this worm farming thing!
Rrog
Well-Known Member
Questions are great. Don't mind them at all. http://unclejimswormfarm.com is helpful
CaptainCAVEMAN
Well-Known Member
Are pistachio shells good for the bins? I would rinse them of salt and they would be run through the food processor with everything else.
theQuetzalcoatl
Active Member
As long as they're well rinsed I would think they'd be excellent. I think I'd keep them to one corner of the bin consistently until you can see if the worms hate them I know walnuts can be a no. Again though that's a CAN be. I'd try it.
CaptainCAVEMAN
Well-Known Member
Good advice, thanks Q!
theQuetzalcoatl
Active Member
No worries. That's why we're here.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
not sure if any of you guys have been here or not
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/getting-started/
but its a decent site and lots of great information.
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/getting-started/
but its a decent site and lots of great information.
theQuetzalcoatl
Active Member
It sure is. That guy loves his worms!
AliCakes
Well-Known Member
So wonderful to hear so many people excited about vermicomposting on here. It really is an easy activity that is not only rewarding to our gardens, but also to the world around us. And who wouldn't want to do something that is virtually free, easy to turn into a money maker, and good for society as a whole.
I saw a few questions/comments earlier in this thread that I wanted to quickly address.
Rubbermaid bin units are great for small scale bins, but if you want to go BIG, look into continuous flow through bin designs. There are a few reasons you may want to go big. The most obvious one would be that you use a LOT of compost, but if you live in a climate with drastic high or low temperatures, this is ideal as well. Dirt is a great insulator. I live in Texas, home of 60+ days of 100 degree plus temperatures every summer and I don't have room to put my worms in the house. If you start a LARGE bin during the good weather months, you should have a large enough biomass to insulate your babies during bad months. Just don't harvest then - keep the bin full. Mine is much like the garbage can design in the comments here, but they go MUCH bigger:
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/gro.../forum/topics/continuous-flow-worm-composters
Second, somebody said something about not composting colored ink. That used to always be true, however today it usually is not the case. The reasoning behind this was that certain colored inks have heavy metals in them. Now I still wouldn't compost an unknown paper source, but my local paper uses soy based inks that are 100% compostable.....Sunday funnies included. Most others have gone this direction as well. So if you want to compost colored inks from a regular source and you are worried - call and ask. You will find that almost all of your heavily trashed items have gone to biodegradable inks. Many municipalities REQUIRE it, I still do not feed glossy paper to them though....the waxy substance is usually petroleum based, but I have a friend that shreds that and adds it into her mushroom bedding (oyster mushrooms are so effective at breaking down petrol products that they are being used in oil spill clean ups world wide). So have no fear as the little guys munch on your paper.
It really is an easy activity that is not only rewarding to our gardens, but also to the world around us. And who wouldn't want to do something that is virtually free, easy to turn into a money maker, and good for society as a whole.I saw a few questions/comments earlier in this thread that I wanted to quickly address.
Rubbermaid bin units are great for small scale bins, but if you want to go BIG, look into continuous flow through bin designs. There are a few reasons you may want to go big. The most obvious one would be that you use a LOT of compost, but if you live in a climate with drastic high or low temperatures, this is ideal as well. Dirt is a great insulator. I live in Texas, home of 60+ days of 100 degree plus temperatures every summer and I don't have room to put my worms in the house. If you start a LARGE bin during the good weather months, you should have a large enough biomass to insulate your babies during bad months. Just don't harvest then - keep the bin full. Mine is much like the garbage can design in the comments here, but they go MUCH bigger:
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/gro.../forum/topics/continuous-flow-worm-composters
Second, somebody said something about not composting colored ink. That used to always be true, however today it usually is not the case. The reasoning behind this was that certain colored inks have heavy metals in them. Now I still wouldn't compost an unknown paper source, but my local paper uses soy based inks that are 100% compostable.....Sunday funnies included. Most others have gone this direction as well. So if you want to compost colored inks from a regular source and you are worried - call and ask. You will find that almost all of your heavily trashed items have gone to biodegradable inks. Many municipalities REQUIRE it, I still do not feed glossy paper to them though....the waxy substance is usually petroleum based, but I have a friend that shreds that and adds it into her mushroom bedding (oyster mushrooms are so effective at breaking down petrol products that they are being used in oil spill clean ups world wide). So have no fear as the little guys munch on your paper.
sullivan666
Active Member
setup my worm pot today...30 gallon dirt pot with some leftover soil that was already amended...added some lava rock and crushed coral for texture, shredded cardboard, veggie scraps and of course a pound of worms. Really excited to finally be worming. 
turnip brain
Active Member
setup my worm pot today...30 gallon dirt pot with some leftover soil that was already amended...added some lava rock and crushed coral for texture, shredded cardboard, veggie scraps and of course a pound of worms. Really excited to finally be worming.
Good luck! I hope you do way way better than I have failing with two out of three bins so far!
Mohican
Well-Known Member
Mine are still alive! Got some fruit flies for a while but I added more promix and covered them up. I sifted the worms last weekend and there was a ball the size of my fist of solid worms! They liked the leftover organic smoothie my daughter made and didn't drink. They seem to have broken most of the cardboard and food chunks down and there are little worms everywhere Gave them some new soil and food along with the chunks of old food and soil and cardboard. The smart pot is working well. The moisture it excretes is caught in a 3 inch bed of promix the smart pot is sitting on. I collect this and mix it with the castings. It is so rich Then I add a new 3 inch bed of promix to the big beer bottle tub, add the smart pot with worms and old food and such, add new food, add promix over the worms and now I also put it around the sides of the smart pot to prevent the flies. Feed them for a week or two and repeat
Cheers,
Mo
Gave them some new soil and food along with the chunks of old food and soil and cardboard. The smart pot is working well. The moisture it excretes is caught in a 3 inch bed of promix the smart pot is sitting on. I collect this and mix it with the castings. It is so rich Then I add a new 3 inch bed of promix to the big beer bottle tub, add the smart pot with worms and old food and such, add new food, add promix over the worms and now I also put it around the sides of the smart pot to prevent the flies. Feed them for a week or two and repeat Cheers,
Mo
Sincerely420
New Member
Cheers Q and everyone else for all the info!
Hope all is well in the world of worms.
I'll be posting some pics of my bin here soon!
Still drumming up ideas, but I've got the worms in some soil awaiting a bin
Hope all is well in the world of worms.
I'll be posting some pics of my bin here soon!
Still drumming up ideas, but I've got the worms in some soil awaiting a bin
sullivan666
Active Member
Mine are doing great as far as I can tell. Dug around a lil bit the other day and found a mango that was absolutely loaded with worms. I did get some fruit flies at first but I just didn't feed for a couple days and they seem to be pretty well gone. Now I'm in the process of getting a bokashi bin setup so I can feed that...I like freezing and making a slurry, but I feel like bokashi will be easier..especially since I have a lot a food scraps between me and the roomies. Whatever doesn't go to the worms gets dumped in the compost.
Mohican
Well-Known Member
I opened my worm bin yesterday and had a shit load of some kind of mealy worms. Seems to be a beetle larva of some sort. I thought they had killed all of the worms so I was going to sift them out and cook the soil to get something out of it. I took a shovel full and it was almost all worms! It seems like it is OK but I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions?
