Worm compost lechate?

hey guys.

im trying to go organic, i understand its a process and im slowly working my way to sucess.

heres my story. I recently started a vermicomposing bin (worm compost) and this bin is comprised of 2 totes, one tote holds the bedding and worms to compost and the second tote catches any runoff (leechate). now i thought i had a good idea by pouring a molasses water through the bin i could leech out some of the good stuff and feed it to my plants. this would get the microbes in the soil going and be a good thing all around I THOUGHT!!!

after doing some reading i found that leechates are full of anarobic (spelling) micro organisms wich are BAD for plants. after i poured my molasses water through a day or so later i collected the product and ammended it with about 1/8th cup happy frog organic fertilizer (food for micro organisms)


ok so the product i get is not technically a leechate, because leechates are produced by the bin with no added water, i am pouring the water through(think of a coffee pot, water through the grounds to get the coffee) the bin and then collecting it when it drains out.

i have 3 gallons of this stuff right now all ammended with happy frog, i would like to start watering my plants with it but am seeking some advice from someone who is experienced in this issue.

+ rep to anyone EXPERIENCED that can give me some solid advice, i dont reallly have much for worm castings in the bin to make actual "tea" wich is what i will be doing in the future.


thanks in advance guys

Dilute the hell out of it.

I'm not sure with all the other stuff you added, but with my leachate I'll do ~1/2 gallon to 5 gallons of water. No 2 are the same, so you'll need to experiment.

I also wouldn't be using molasses on my worms, but that's just personal opinion.

Wet

ok thanks for the info man

i heard the molases is good food for the micro's in the bin that do the actual composting? only reason i was using it

Thats true, they feed the microbes, but this is usually done during or after extraction into a tea. I am not sure of adding molasses directly to the bin in that way.

Ok, i have decided anyways that im going ot leave the bin alone for a good month anyways let the worms do thier job. i wont be adding any more kitchen waste or bedding as there is enough in there for them to live off for probally 5 months. i may pick up some more worms here soon, thinking another pound of red wrigglers and a pound of crawlers to work the middle and bottom of the bin

matthebrute said:

Ok, i have decided anyways that im going ot leave the bin alone for a good month anyways let the worms do thier job. i wont be adding any more kitchen waste or bedding as there is enough in there for them to live off for probally 5 months. i may pick up some more worms here soon, thinking another pound of red wrigglers and a pound of crawlers to work the middle and bottom of the bin

Click to expand...

The 2 biggest mistakes with new worm farmers is the same as new growers: overfeeding and overwatering.

Yeah, let em sit. I rarely check on my worms more than once/week (if that) and feed every 2-3 weeks.

Save the food scraps. I use coffee jugs. The worms eat the bacterial slime growing on the food, so letting it sit and rot is a good thing. Jusr make sure the container is smell proof. LOL

You really won't need to get more worms, they reproduce pretty quick, unless you want some crawlers. I have a bin of each. There are a few crawlers in with my RW, but these are 'rescue' worms. Might do a 1/2 & 1/2 bin this spring when I harvest. IDK yet.

Wet

I do alot of fishing so i was going to just mix the worms and have them serve dual purpose. compost in winter and reproduce and supply me with free fishing worms in the summer months.

i dont think i have neccesarily been over feeding them with kitchen waste. i use a plastic folgers can and it fills up (mostly coffee filters) in about a week. sometimes when we have salad and stuff veggie ends and leftover plain salad goes in there and it fills up fast.

i went in the bin yesterday and turned a apple core and there was about 6 worms on it so i know the little buggers are getting something done in there. i just want some good worm castings soon, i fear i may end up buying a bag while i wait for my bin to get established.

i watered them just to get the leechates, the bin has really good drainage and doesent seem excessivly wet but it is pretty damp in there.

on another note, i think i have a bunch of tomato seedlings in the bin from tossing cherry tomatoes from salads in there. i removed one seedling and planted it in one of my pots and tossed it in my cab

they dont appear to like my leaves from the girls. anyone else notice this? should i let them yellow or brown up before putting them in?

well i know that they feed off the decaying matter and the micro's and not the actual ruffage from the kitchen waste so it may just take a little more time for the leaves to decompose to the point that it has anything of benifit to the worms??

also if you chop them up so they have more surface area they will decompose much quicker.

Definitely dilute the hell out of the compost water - I've got the exact same setup, and I burned my plants adding it without diluting it enough.

Yeah, green leaves take forever to start decomposing - it's almost like they live on for a while in the compost.

You might try freezing your kitchen wastes too - breaks them down quicker, and keeps it from stinking while you wait for the worms to finish what's in there now.

Those castings will make for some great soil - I've had worms hatch in every one of my SIP buckets too - I figure if the worms are happy, then so is the microherd.

leachate contains anaerobes, some of which will not be killed by bubbling/oxygenating, and often contains a lot of acid. i pour it on my compost. only use tea, bubbled from screened castings. my 2 cents.

i think im going to pick up a bag of worm castings next week anyways. im feeding the leechate to my bagseed plants right now that way if it does kill them its no big deal

an experiment....i'm down. dilute it. if it smells good.....eat it....i mean, use it.

it smells horrible but not like acidic just like garbage and kinda sweet because of the molasses. it is generating pressure in the jugs so i have to release it every so often. hasnt killed anything yet and my old man swears by it. he said he put about 2 cups of it undiluted into his plants in 5 gal buckets and they grew like crazy for a couple of days afterwards, and this is before i had the idea to ammend it with the happy frog 3-4-3 fertilizer "with active microbes"


i dunno im not giving it to my good strains "yet" and i may just go grab the worm castings and make a real deal tea, the castings are cheap and i have all the supplies to make the tea.