Question about worms and no till

I’m going to be buildings my soil within the next few days, following the Buildasoil program loosely. I have 6 25 gallon pots that I’m going to fill. My question is...can/should you use both red wigglers and earthworms? Earthworms thrive deeper in the soil while red wigglers thrive in the top 6 inches.

Secondly, I may not grow during the summer months due to the extreme heat. That said, I want to keep my soil thriving with predators, good bacteria/fungi and worms over those few months. My grow room will be completely dark...zero light. If I keep watering the soil over the summer, will those living things stay alive in complete darkness? I’m also wanting to start a red wiggler bin/home to place in that same dark room, but unsure if they will be ok or if I’ll need to spend money to have the LED lights turned on. I could also uncover the windows if necessary...if that would provide enough light (wouldn’t get any direct light). Anyway, any help would be very much appreciated...thanks!

tre01us said:

I’m going to be buildings my soil within the next few days, following the Buildasoil program loosely. I have 6 25 gallon pots that I’m going to fill. My question is...can/should you use both red wigglers and earthworms? Earthworms thrive deeper in the soil while red wigglers thrive in the top 6 inches.

Secondly, I may not grow during the summer months due to the extreme heat. That said, I want to keep my soil thriving with predators, good bacteria/fungi and worms over those few months. My grow room will be completely dark...zero light. If I keep watering the soil over the summer, will those living things stay alive in complete darkness? I’m also wanting to start a red wiggler bin/home to place in that same dark room, but unsure if they will be ok or if I’ll need to spend money to have the LED lights turned on. I could also uncover the windows if necessary...if that would provide enough light (wouldn’t get any direct light). Anyway, any help would be very much appreciated...thanks!

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It won't hurt to add worms, but they will die off when the food is gone.

My 2 cents.
Worms dont go in the pots they go in your worm composter. Worms need food like organic waste. Uncomposted material like that shouldnt be in your pots. Worms in your pot wont hurt anything but wont really help either, worms will just die.
Red wigglers are what you want, unless you want fishing bait too. Most store bought worm bins have trays less then 6".

Soil should be fine. Still worried plant dutch clover, thats not a clever marijuana strain, it will add nitrogen to your soil and provide roots for fungi to grow on and can double as mulch when you plant the cannabis. Wont require tons of light but some.

Word of advice worms bins commonly contain more bugs then just worms so i wouldnt put the bin with the plants. Kitchen works great for me, thats where most of the worm food comes from.

Hope this helps. Organics is great i really love it.

I had always thought that you want worms in with the plants so that they help break down the mulch layer that is always breaking down (living/dying plant cover layer such as clover, straw, Cannabis leaves that are pulled off etc.. So what you are saying is that the plant layer will break down on its own and to put the Cannabis leaves in the worm bin? Then, slowly add worm castings from the bin to the top layer, into compost teas, etc? Will that clover grow in complete darkness for those 5-6 months of brutal summer or do I need to add a little LED light for 12 hours per day?

What other insects do you notice in the worm bin besides worms, predator mites and rove Beatles? Do they get out and walk all over the house? I sure hope not as I don’t live alone...lol. How hot or cold can that worm bin get and does it require any sunlight? If you have yours in the kitchen, I’m guessing no light needed?

I’m very paranoid about pests after working in a cultivation facility that pretty much lost harvests due to them. I want to avoid using pesticides or ANY sprays after flowers form. I had planned on adding beneficial nematodes, predator mites and/or any predator into the soil to prevent having fungus gnats, aphids, root aphids, pest mites, etc from ruining my indoor garden. I was thinking about getting these predators established before transplanting the seedlings into the 25 gallon pots. Any thoughts on this? Thanks so much for the input

Worms are pretty simple, most problems i had with worms was from me doing too much. Dont get me wrong you can add worms to you pot but it wont be a compost bin, so maybe do both.

Bugs in worm bin vary on location and input, but i have had red/brown mites and white mites, pot worms, and two assassin bugs (those came in with the leaves i feed the worms) but mine is in the kitchen and i keep a clean house. If worms are outside you will have more bugs. The bugs i had except those two assassin bugs didnt leave the bin nor do they want to its perfect home for them. Worms dont need or like light. Different worms prefer different temps, all will be happy in the house.

Check out this thread https://www.rollitup.org/t/organic-no-till-probiotic-knf-jadam-vermicomposting-soil-mixes-sips-etc-q-a.951076/
Lots of good info on preventing pest, feeding, no-till, etc. predotor bugs are great but dont always stay put when outside and die when theres no food.

Clover will need some light, a window would probably work fine, maybe a few cfls. Also try comfrey, french marigold, grasses.