High kevs worm farm

[High kev]

Started my worm farm today we will see how it goes and learn along the way. Plan on making worm castings and worm tea in my never ending simple homemade worm farm. All you need is three totes two with small holes in the bottom for worms to crawl through to next layer Maybe a few holes in the top to let in air for the worms or if your keeping inside just open it up everyday to let in air for them. Place the food in the middle tote on top of some newspaper so the food don’t fall down into your worm tea that drips to the bottom as your worms eat the food. Once they are done eating the food in the middle tote start placing the food in the top tote same as the middle. Once they are done with the middle they will make their way through the holes to the top tote where their will be another layer of food to munch on Once they have all moved up to the top layer wait about a week so the babies will hatch and also move up. Then take the middle layer out as this is the worm castings ready for useage. Then place on top and repeat. The tea will drip down to the bottom tote and collect as it produces. So let’s get this thing rolling. Any tips for me is greatly appreciated as I am also learning how to master this worm farm mainly for the worm tea.

 

[High kev]

Now I just need to get some red wigglers

 

[BigBallzWillie]

If you just set the top two buckets on the ground...........you'll get free worms. Once you got them, add the third bucket and farm away.

 

[Armdog]

If you just set the top two buckets on the ground...........you'll get free worms. Once you got them, add the third bucket and farm away.

Years ago I used to do night crawlers for fishing. Buried a bath tub in the ground and filled it with garden soil with peat moss, shredded news paper and coffee grounds. The night crawlers lasted for ever. They were from 10 to 12 inches long.

 

[High kev]

If you just set the top two buckets on the ground...........you'll get free worms. Once you got them, add the third bucket and farm away.

Perfect, that will save me from doing some time from digging thank u

 

[Armdog]

Perfect, that will save me from doing some time from digging thank u

Better if you can bury the totes. Stays cool for the worms. Everytime I tried it above ground it got to hot in the summer and they died. Stinky mess.

 

[High kev]

Better if you can bury the totes. Stays cool for the worms. Everytime I tried it above ground it got to hot in the summer and they died. Stinky mess.

Good idea that will be my game plan. Worm tea here we come

 

[BigBallzWillie]

Years ago I used to do night crawlers for fishing. Buried a bath tub in the ground and filled it with garden soil with peat moss, shredded news paper and coffee grounds. The night crawlers lasted for ever. They were from 10 to 12 inches long.

Those worms are a lot tougher than red wigglers, perfect for fishing.
I just lay planks on grass sections of the garden area.........all the nightcrawlers I can handle. Plus plenty of poop. Easy! Have some pics @ link below

WORM_HARVEST

 

[ChronicWonders]

Add a spigot for easy drainage

 

[High kev]

Add a spigot for easy drainage

Was thinking of adding one of those. Where would I get one?

 

[ChronicWonders]

Was thinking of adding one of those. Where would I get one?

Online, or local hardware store/Home Depot/Lowe’s

 

[quiescent]

I would get some peat and quality compost to mix with some shredded/torn newspapers to start your bin. Add some oyster shell flour, kelp and neem meal to get things really headed in the right direction. You could sub something like down to earth vegan mix if getting all of them at once is cost prohibitive right now.

If you blend, freeze then thaw the food you give your bin it won't attract flies and can be easily consumed by your worms. They can eat it the way you've got it but they'll eat and breed more if you help them out.

I don't think you need the middle bin, just one tub with the holes nested into another. Put the food on top of your substrate and they'll come get it when its there. Google flow through worm bins, you mostly got that concept going now.

Order as many worms as you can to get your first bin started, once established you can split them into another tub. With the size of your space you'll probably need 2 of these things humming to keep up with ya. I wouldn't mess with getting local worms, gonna be a mixed bag of breeds. With how much this can provide you in the future its wise to invest in enough of the right breed to give you castings in a smaller time frame. Time is money and turning food scraps into the best food your plant could get is gonna pay off big time.

Lots of good resources for worm bins. Doesn't have to be canna specific to be relevant but there are a few good threads out there. Check out the organic sections of the big forums and you'll find plenty of knowledge nuggets.

Don't have tons of experience with this but I'm learning as I'm going.

 

[SitdDownSam]

Looking great Kev. I started a 3 tier box in january watched and read quite a bit.
Like a compost bin has a N/C ratio you'll need to balance the moist/dry addedtives.
I found fruit attracted flies (even in winter) which are good but withun moderation.
Try blending the food (or just mush it up) before you put them in saves the worm work.
A good worm feed every so often is:
Blended oats (breakfast type) there's protein in it.
Crushed egg shells (they need grit to mascerate/grind things.)
Dilute molasses and spray it on the dry bedding the sugar is a good carbohydrate.

 

[High kev]

I would get some peat and quality compost to mix with some shredded/torn newspapers to start your bin. Add some oyster shell flour, kelp and neem meal to get things really headed in the right direction. You could sub something like down to earth vegan mix if getting all of them at once is cost prohibitive right now.

If you blend, freeze then thaw the food you give your bin it won't attract flies and can be easily consumed by your worms. They can eat it the way you've got it but they'll eat and breed more if you help them out.

I don't think you need the middle bin, just one tub with the holes nested into another. Put the food on top of your substrate and they'll come get it when its there. Google flow through worm bins, you mostly got that concept going now.

Order as many worms as you can to get your first bin started, once established you can split them into another tub. With the size of your space you'll probably need 2 of these things humming to keep up with ya. I wouldn't mess with getting local worms, gonna be a mixed bag of breeds. With how much this can provide you in the future its wise to invest in enough of the right breed to give you castings in a smaller time frame. Time is money and turning food scraps into the best food your plant could get is gonna pay off big time.

Lots of good resources for worm bins. Doesn't have to be canna specific to be relevant but there are a few good threads out there. Check out the organic sections of the big forums and you'll find plenty of knowledge nuggets.

Don't have tons of experience with this but I'm learning as I'm going.

Awesome info thank you

 

[BigBallzWillie]

These don't care what you feed them. No mixing, no correct c/n ratio, no effort, no cost and you can fish with them. They are also free, don't need winter housing. They do their thing completely unsupervised..........no way to beat that.
Red wigglers..........I'll pass. I'll take that mixed bag of breeds everyday. If I wanted a prissy worm, leaf worms are available naturally too.
There is all kind of info on the web..............most of it anally dissected one-upmanship, to point it no longer makes sense.
Easy with results, is what you want. You can buy a big bag of castings for $20......what's your time worth?

 

[quiescent]

You can buy a big bag of shitty worm castings for $20 and make better castings with less effort or financial investment than I described.

I'd put up the vermicompost that some of these enthusiasts that you scoff at against your lazy/cheap method any day. Which would you rather give your plants?

You get out what you put in. There's only so many ways you can impact the end results, skimp on anything and it'll show. I invest the time, effort and money to get the best weed I can grow. If you wanna cut corners and do your own thing all around your grow your results will reflect that.

I don't think many of us are here for good enough.

 

[Promedz]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[BigBallzWillie]

Cool story, bro. You proved my point about the internet.

Carry on, with your "special" worm shit. Cracks me up....

Oh wait, it's not even your own worm shit you are bragging on.....lol....perfect

 

[pHup]

Over worms

 

[quiescent]

Cool story, bro. You proved my point about the internet.

Carry on, with your "special" worm shit. Cracks me up....

Oh wait, it's not even your own worm shit you are bragging on.....lol....perfect

Pot, meet Kettle. You're on the internet being a contrarian in an enthusiast community. You are the internet. Just because you wouldn't spend the money or time to do things differently doesn't make the guys who do wrong.

I know my worms produce more shit faster with better quality than what you've described would with 100% certainty. I also know others are doing the same or better, I'm not an innovator ..... just someone that's willing to learn from others. Everything I posted is basically community consensus, a best practice if you will. Post your methodology on a big organic/vermicompost forum and I'm sure you'll see plenty of people trying to help you out, too. Always room for improvement IMO, if you allow it.

There's a guy local to me that knows his shit that I could hook you up with to learn a thing or two if you're interested. This dude would unknowingly give you a consultation worth thousands of dollars via conversation, build you a flow through bin system at cost and give you a huge sack of worms to get started because vermicompost is his jam. I'd send kev a box of DTE vegan mix and a shipment of worms with cocoons because good compost is integral to good organic pot and it is my jam.

I strive for excellence in everything I do, flat out. There is nothing I do without passion. If I'm spending my time doing ANYTHING its to fulfill one of my magnificent obsessions and I go all the way into whatever rabbit hole it leads me down. I don't think I do anything the best but I do everything the best I can. I'm drawing on the successes of others to make me successful. If I'm posting in a thread like this its because I want other people to be successful.

If you're cool with "good enough", that's cool with me. Million ways to skin a cat, different strokes for different folks, etc. I'm not here to change your mind or prove you wrong. I'm here to help kev out, just like I'm sure you are. No malice intended.

Over worms

I know right. He even cool story bro'd me.