Just bought a worm farm.

[juggernaut]

I ended up with the cheap on but i ordered the 4 extra bins.

Just looking for tips on the bedding and feeding. which is mostly everything.

Any help is appreciated

 

[Whippleschnitz]

I'd check with the instructions the equipment comes with first. My understanding of vermicomposting is you can shred strips of newsprint to use as a bedding material. Only use black and white pages not color and not glossy pages. Add some crushed egg shells and keep it all moist but not too wet. Start with that and then you can begin adding your compost materials.

 

[Mogrow]

rock dem worms jugger
a mod can fix your title of your thread
peace mogrow

 

[kolah]

I bought a shitload of red wigglers for my outdoor gardens and plan to start a small farm. IMO they are one of the best amendments (castings) and they do wonders for soil drainage.

Worms dig (pun) the same stuff you put into compost piles. Veg scraps, newspaper (no colored ink), leaves, grass clippings, wood chips and sawdust, egg shells. No meat, poultry or dairy.

 

[juggernaut]

Yeah still waiting in the worm farm so I just want to be good to go with the worms/bedding and food mix.

 

[Seamaiden]

I love farming. Worm herding, FTW!

 

[Medusa]

I have one put to much bedding soaked up all the juice :(

 

[kolah]

Make sure you check the pH before using it too.

 

[maxima32]

Worming is cool. Just don't put any potato scraps in there . I did and boy was that a mistake. I guess the starch doesn't do well in them things as I found out pretty quickly. Bread wasn't a good choice either. My bin got pretty nasty after I put them things in.

 

[ethnoman]

Vermiculture is easy, great and highly beneficial to gardening. For bedding just use some moist coco. As it breaks down they'll eat it, so if you forget to feed them, it acts an emergency food supply too. Chuck a piece of old blanket of top their food to keep their environment moist and productive. Flush them once a week or fortnight too. Worms are extremely low maintenance. Just remember to put them in the shade so that they don't bake.

No meat, poultry or dairy.

Meat, etc., is good for worms, it's just that it can attract unwanted pests.

 

[Chobble]

I have my own home built worm farm. Native worms collected from my soil (Mostly wrigglers I've been pretty selective). I always toss extra leaves into my bin along with other scraps etc. Just treat it like a cold compost.

Meat, etc., is good for worms, it's just that it can attract unwanted pests.

I would be warry if your using these castings with edibles or for compost tea. Vegan compost is a better way to go imo, Unless your maintaining a large 10x10+ Pile. Since Vermiculture is a cold compost certain bacteria's etc would never be killed anyways so avoiding things that rot is a good call.

Chobble

 

[kolah]

citrus I avoid as well..

 

[Kyle mccall]

Vermiculture is easy, great and highly beneficial to gardening. For bedding just use some moist coco. As it breaks down they'll eat it, so if you forget to feed them, it acts an emergency food supply too. Chuck a piece of old blanket of top their food to keep their environment moist and productive. Flush them once a week or fortnight too. Worms are extremely low maintenance. Just remember to put them in the shade so that they don't bake.



Meat, etc., is good for worms, it's just that it can attract unwanted pests.

worms do not like meat and they breakdown organic matter

4) What Turns Worms Off?
a. Worms do not like light! Too much ultraviolet light will kill them. Never leave your worm bin in the direct sunlight.
b. Worms do not like heat, which means you cannot put them into a hot compost pile. It will make them sick…or worse.
c. Worms do not like water because they breathe through their skin. Keep them moist, but not wet.
d. Worms do not like meat, cheese, too much citrus fruit and they do not digest tomato seeds.
e. Never feed red worms any sort of domestic animal waste…dog, cat or pig.

 

[Liberanos5]

I ended up with the cheap on but i ordered the 4 extra bins.

Just looking for tips on the bedding and feeding. which is mostly everything.

Any help is appreciated

Many years ago I raised rabbits (Checkered Giants) and I know night crawler sellers use rabbit poop in which to breed their product.....my rabbit turd compost pile had more worms in it than Wormville!!!

 

[Liberanos5]

Locate Pel Freeze as see of they'll ship you a car load!!

 

[longtail]

my dad owned a small red wriggler business when i was a young snort. he used composted cow manure, we hauled it by the truck loads. it sat in piles, with us turning it frequently, to allow it compost. a large pile of cow doo doo goes through an enourmous heat process while composting. he also added shredded newspaper black and white pages only, he never used any colored pages, why i don't remember. but he also raised crickets and when we cleaned out the cricket boxes for a new batch, i remember we also added that to the worm beds. he raised and sold alot of worms.

 

[Chobble]

my dad owned a small red wriggler business when i was a young snort. he used composted cow manure, we hauled it by the truck loads. it sat in piles, with us turning it frequently, to allow it compost. a large pile of cow doo doo goes through an enourmous heat process while composting. he also added shredded newspaper black and white pages only, he never used any colored pages, why i don't remember. but he also raised crickets and when we cleaned out the cricket boxes for a new batch, i remember we also added that to the worm beds. he raised and sold alot of worms.

Rabbits are the best thing to keep hands down if your going to have a large worm bin. I personally only have access to horse manure for my Compost pile/ Worm bin so that is fine but if any of you can use Rabbits manure it creates the highest quality Worm castings and thats what pulls the biggest prices in stores. Best soil structure, lots of nutrients etc.

Chobble

 

[Schwoop]

I heard the same regarding rabbits as well! good stuff Worm Farming!!!

 

[Dunharrow]

Juggernaut,

Give this local site a look

http://www.wormcomposting.ca/getting-started/

Dun

 

[Elbow]

Hey Juggernaught,

with my experience in vermiculture... sphagnum peat moss makes perfect bedding... i bet coco would be just as good. I wouldn't use newspaper for bedding.

I pre-compost all the veggie scraps, so all the water gets drained out before I put the good stuff in. If I throw the veg scraps strait into the bin, I have the potential of creating too moist of an environment because the veg scraps are 75-90% water. worms may drown in too moist bedding.

vermicompost will really benefit microbe wise with veg scraps high in vitamin C. (kale,broccoli,greens,etc.)

stay clear away from garlic or onions, they are toxic. large chunks of any root vegetables will start to grow, but potato peels are an excellent addition. and any left over seeds will grow.

you will want to balance the green nitrogen input with brown carbon, peat moss, coco and leaf mold are great sources of carbon, and don't forget sand. the worm's gizzard needs sand particulate to help process/digest the scraps.

good luck,