Show me your worm bins and compost

What’s up fam just started mine up DIY Organic for life

I have had mine for over 10 weeks. No smells and no gnat infestation, although there are still a couple flying around but that’s about it. I feed them strawberries, cucumbers, spinach, kale, egg shells(one time), cannabis roots, coffee grinds(sparingly really only two times). I’m thinking about giving them a little Alfalfa meal but I don’t want to heat up and potentially kill some worms. At the end of September i’m Going to harvest the castings! Really looking forward to that!

Spurs of mold is normal right?

Yeah worm castings are fungal dominant

DankTankerous said:

Yeah worm castings are fungal dominant

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Ok cool just don’t want to mess my babies up they are growing so well.

GuerillaGOAT said:

Spurs of mold is normal right?

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One thing to understand is none of these things exists in a vacuum. When your soil has plenty of nutrients and the microbiological organisms are thriving and you keep it adequately hydrated, there will be cycles of mold bloom, then bugs hatching and all the while the stuff you add is being broken down.

The only time to worry is if really foul odors are seeping out. Even then, it's treatable, just add as many carbon rich things as you can. Dead leaves, coir, cardboard (egg cartons, packaging, etc).

Mold is just part of a soil's healthy ecosystem.

Mary's Confidant said:

One thing to understand is none of these things exists in a vacuum. When your soil has plenty of nutrients and the microbiological organisms are thriving and you keep it adequately hydrated, there will be cycles of mold bloom, then bugs hatching and all the while the stuff you add is being broken down.

The only time to worry is if really foul odors are seeping out. Even then, it's treatable, just add as many carbon rich things as you can. Dead leaves, coir, cardboard (egg cartons, packaging, etc).

Mold is just part of a soil's healthy ecosystem.

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Yea I heard I should read up on the biology of soil and it’s microorganisms, any good text y’all recommend? Think I’ve fallen in love with growing and everything about it.

GuerillaGOAT said:

Yea I heard I should read up on the biology of soil and it’s microorganisms, any good text y’all recommend? Think I’ve fallen in love with growing and everything about it.

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teaming with microbes by jeff lowenfels
link maybe cheaper else where or available through your local library.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/teaming-with-microbes-wayne-lewis/1116805658?ean=9781604692549&st=PLA&sid=NOK_DRS_NOOK+EBooks_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP125430&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIormkw-y13QIV1bbACh1kggXkEAQYASABEgI2j_D_BwE#/

GuerillaGOAT said:

Yea I heard I should read up on the biology of soil and it’s microorganisms, any good text y’all recommend? Think I’ve fallen in love with growing and everything about it.

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Teaming with Microbes was great, Teaming with Nutrients and Teaming with Fungi are both good but I haven't finished the last two.

You may also want to look up the Cannabis Cultivation podcast and start burning through the episodes. Jeff Loewenfells is on there, Clackamas Coot and many others. They are full of good info on everything related to growing.

Mary's Confidant said:

Teaming with Microbes was great, Teaming with Nutrients and Teaming with Fungi are both good but I haven't finished the last two.

You may also want to look up the Cannabis Cultivation podcast and start burning through the episodes. Jeff Loewenfells is on there, Clackamas Coot and many others. They are full of good info on everything related to growing.

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I'm not sure what podcasts you are talking about but here is the one that I have been listening to, it has Lowenfels and Clackamas.
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/podcast

Also, I wanted to show you what showed up in my worm bin recently. I don't know what took them so long because they are usually here by the peak of summer. I've been composting grass clippings and it has been getting too hot for worms. BSF love the heat though... If nobody noticed, they are eating a grapefruit peel.

Mary's Confidant said:

Teaming with Microbes was great, Teaming with Nutrients and Teaming with Fungi are both good but I haven't finished the last two.

You may also want to look up the Cannabis Cultivation podcast and start burning through the episodes. Jeff Loewenfells is on there, Clackamas Coot and many others. They are full of good info on everything related to growing.

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Thanks for the info

MustangStudFarm said:

I'm not sure what podcasts you are talking about but here is the one that I have been listening to, it has Lowenfels and Clackamas.
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/podcast

Also, I wanted to show you what showed up in my worm bin recently. I don't know what took them so long because they are usually here by the peak of summer. I've been composting grass clippings and it has been getting too hot for worms. BSF love the heat though... If nobody noticed, they are eating a grapefruit peel.
View attachment 4197498

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Thanks. WTH are BSFs!?

MustangStudFarm said:

I'm not sure what podcasts you are talking about but here is the one that I have been listening to, it has Lowenfels and Clackamas.
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/podcast

Also, I wanted to show you what showed up in my worm bin recently. I don't know what took them so long because they are usually here by the peak of summer. I've been composting grass clippings and it has been getting too hot for worms. BSF love the heat though... If nobody noticed, they are eating a grapefruit peel.
View attachment 4197498

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That's exactly the podcast I meant. I knew it was Cannabis Cultivation, forgot the "& Science" part. It's great. I've listened to nearly every episode.

Thanks for putting the link in. Those BSFs are absolute monsters when it comes to turning over scraps.

GuerillaGOAT said:

Thanks. WTH are BSFs!?

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BSF = Black Soldier Flies are incredible eaters. I would hazard a guess that most people (families included) can't eat enough to keep them full of scraps. They turn food over incredibly quickly and grow to meet the demand.

So if you add a bucket full of scraps, you'll find 10x's more Larva in a few days. I just added some insect frass to my soil mixes. Time to find out if it's worth it. Mine is really an insect frass/worm casting mix.

Mary's Confidant said:

BSF = Black Soldier Flies are incredible eaters. I would hazard a guess that most people (families included) can't eat enough to keep them full of scraps. They turn food over incredibly quickly and grow to meet the demand.

So if you add a bucket full of scraps, you'll find 10x's more Larva in a few days. I just added some insect frass to my soil mixes. Time to find out if it's worth it. Mine is really an insect frass/worm casting mix.

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Soldiers for sure then! Thanks check out grow it’s my first

25 lbs of BSF larva can consume 100 lbs of green waste in less than 24 hrs.
These are made in Vietnam for BSF.

Bsf are next on my list. I see myself harvesting a few deer and feeding all the left overs to the bsf, then biochar the bones. Use everything and to my advantage. Organics is much more fun then bottles.
Any indoor bsf breeders? I live in the cold north so i need to stay inside mostly.

What are you (talking to everyone) finding food wise works best for your worms? Is everyone using the red wigglers? Bedding?

I am using red wigglers and they love melon banana and avacado. I bet they will love pumpkin, almost in season. Bedding is mostly newspaper and cardboard. Sometimes I do use a little straw, cocoa seed hulls (omg fungii love this), dead leaves, peat, coco, used soil.

When I moved from CA., I had 50 OSCR Jr.'s which would equate to around 1500 lbs of composting worms. I gave everything but my original Can O Worms to the Boy and Girl Scouts. Went to a few of their meeting to teach them how to care for the bins then I gave them the bins.
Early on in my worm farming I got an infestation of BSF and it freaked me out. Then I began reading and studying them and then built separate BSF bins. I was not that successful with the BSF in those bins but kept a healthy population of BSF in the OSCR Jr's. I would have like to use the BSF to pre ingest the primary waste and then use that to feed the composting worms.
I have tried building a few bins but could not get them habituated.

stoned-monkey said:

Bsf are next on my list. I see myself harvesting a few deer and feeding all the left overs to the bsf, then biochar the bones. Use everything and to my advantage. Organics is much more fun then bottles.
Any indoor bsf breeders? I live in the cold north so i need to stay inside mostly.

What are you (talking to everyone) finding food wise works best for your worms? Is everyone using the red wigglers? Bedding?

I am using red wigglers and they love melon banana and avacado. I bet they will love pumpkin, almost in season. Bedding is mostly newspaper and cardboard. Sometimes I do use a little straw, cocoa seed hulls (omg fungii love this), dead leaves, peat, coco, used soil.

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Haven’t really got much experience with my wigglers as far as their preference. I just throw in scraps like leftover vegetables I cut up paper towels I dry my hands with empty tissue rolls and egg shells. Think I need to add more worms tho. I feel like the paper towel bedding is stopping the tea from draining to the bottom.