DIY worm farm ! for castings

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rollingstoned77

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Well folks , i have decided to go ORGANIC for my next grow and why not a worm farm . FIRST i owe alot of thanks to "allgrownup" for help with this idea .Alot of this post is owed to him !! Thanks man !:D

This farm is simple and is that way for a reason . i had 2 large rubbermaid containers allready and decided to get started . the first container i drilled 1/2" and 5/8" holes in the bottom for water drainage and to collect tea . This tea great and can be used as a foliar spray and is sold in stores for a hefty price considering what it is .Next i drilled some 3/8" holes around the top of the container for airflow . i used a large container and put the holes up high above the soil level to keep the worms from excaping . Next i used some cheap window screen and wrapped the container with it . This will keep fly's and unwanted pests from entering the airholes and is wrapped on the bottom to keep the worms in and the soil from falling through the holes also .

*( this screen will later be removed so the worms can migrate down to the bottom bin . The idea is to get the first bin started , then when you have a sufficient amount of castings, start adding the scraps and food to the bottom bin and let the worms migrate down to it.)

If you give them a good moist 60-80 climate with plenty of food they won't try to wander away from you. With two containers you can use one lid to place under for a tray to catch some tea. Getting about 1-2 gal bucket every 8-10 weeks on 750-1000??? worms.

The bin is then filled with your soil mix .For this you will need some good soil and you can use a number of things for thier food including table scraps (BUT EXCLUDING) , meat, poultry, fats, etc.

Think of worms as veagans. crushed egg shells are good for them though. and yes, they love coffee grinds. its funny to see what the worms leave behind. they're actually pretty picky eaters. they seem to leave behind the stickers and stem from banana's, skin from tomatoe, etc.

place damp shredded newspaper in container. add food scraps to an area and cover all with thin layer of dirt. the dirt helps contain the smell of food that isn't consumed as of yet. cover this mix with water and leave it set for a day or 2 , stirring to airate it occasionaly .i will wait a few days or even a week or two to get this soil going before adding the worms . When adding worms start by adding a few dozen to see how they like thier new homes . If these survive then it is safe to put in the rest , if not we do not want to waste our whole worm crop . adjust soil accordingly . You need to add at least a 1lb of worms to start(approx 500 worms) a good sized worm farm. they multiply very fast.

when you have converted a container to castings you just repeat process in the second container followed by stacking the used container on top of the fresh one. the worms will naturally migrate to where the food is (bottom container). DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FOOD TO TOP CONTAINER. Also you need to check the holes in top container beacause they may keep getting clogged with castings by the worms migrating down through and trapping the others.

Try not to leave the bin uncovered or you will have a fly/knat infested box very fast. make your own organic pesticide to kill them if need be.


Castings have no unpleasant odor and may be used as a soil amendment or an addition to potting soil.
Drippings from the worm composter can be used as liquid fertilizer or a foliar spray. *Commercial worm bins have a small faucet at the bottom of the container so you can easily draw off the liquid .





I used a mix of good store bought organic potting soil ,
native soil from my yard ,
table scraps including ( parsley , lettuce , celery , bread )
honey & molasses
sugar
coffee grounds
alfalfa hay & feed pellets
Bunny POOH
newspaper
cornmeal
crushed up few day old bread
and 1 can of beer
water with superthrive
mix is prepared and watered down to get it nice and moist .


*Not only is it a way of collecting castings but also minimizing the table scraps you throw in your garbage and using it to your benefit . The point of this and other organic growing ideas is to be totaly self sufficient . Composting is recycling !

JUNE 2nd organic 008.jpg


JUNE 2nd organic 009.jpg


JUNE 2nd organic 010.jpg


JUNE 2nd organic 016.jpg
 
yupp i have a wormfarm with about 300 pounds of worms. i dont know how much worm castings but alot i use worm casting tea on my outdoor plants indoor hydroponics. its the best
 
Oh man....this is sick man! :headbang2:

I especially like how you incorporated some trendiness and mismatched your containers! awesome....


These things are sweet for your table scraps. If you eat like i do....your fertilizing with some expensive **** man....LOL

nice job. and thanks for the props and rep.
 
allgrownup said:
Oh man....this is sick man! :headbang2:
I especially like how you incorporated some trendiness and mismatched your containers! awesome....
allgrownup said:
I was going for a " post modern , nastalgic , contemparary , design with ALOT of " fung shui " in mind . I feel it blends well with the theme i got going in the grow room already . IT just felt natural !
 
Here's some castings that we save for spreadin around in the outdoor veggie garden.

As it dries it changes to a much lighter brown/gray. You can also use this to soak and make a tea. I try to use the castings right away after harvest but.......its nice to have some stored for when you pot a plant or transplant or just feel like ferting the garden.


Here is what my compost bins lookin like as well.

grass, leaves, some soil, clippins from plants, etc. wet down whenever i can remember to. which is not very often. Its completely dry now so i need to moisten it.

castings.jpg


castings2.jpg


compost.jpg
 
Does it smell??

Do you keep it indoors??
 
You need to keep it where the temps are consistent. if you feed them the correct quantity it should not smell.

make it.......you'll like it.
 
im a lil curious , in stead of goin thru that truble can i just get a worm kill it and put it in the soil for nutreints? cuz that seems like a lot of work
 
your not ferting with the corpse of the worm....your ferting with the broken down "manure" (castings) the worms leave behind. The objective is to continually increase the amount of worms by letting them reproduce and therefore give you the ability to process more "food" to produce more castings.

the casting is what you want. the worms are the manufacturers.
 
:goodposting: Rolling stone
Ive been wondering about a worm farm....
Now I can see the pics it all makes sense......:)
 
it sure does, may look into 1 in time for next years guerrilla grow :) read that 4 page artical in SOFT SECRETS on how good worm castings are. so i bought some plagron worm humus, to try and sort the yellowing on a few of my plants. probably a good idea.
good read rollingstone, keep it comin, 85C.
 
Any particular worms better than others??

I can get nightcrawlers, since I sell them.

Or are different type of Worms better to use??

One more question.

So as the worms live/reproduce and feed on the soil mix you make.
THey consume the soil/food then crap to make Castings.
given enough time, they will convert all the soil in the container into Castings?

IF so.. How do you know when its casting or just soil?? and start their
migrating to the new container??

thanks
 
dude, if it walks like a duck, and looks like a duck well, then.......

you'll know the casting when you see it. the further into the process it gets the more obvious it gets to. its sheet man!

As far as worms, i use the "red wigglers" cuz they consume faster and multiply very fast. I think earthworms may produce a better casting but i'm not 100% on that. if you get the earthworms for free use those man.

When your soil mix and scraps have been converted to all castings, you then add your box on top of another. there will be no food left in the top box so the worms will migrate to the food in the bottom container. If you continue to keep adding scraps to the top container they will not migrate and you will not harvest your castings.

make the box man, you'll be glad you did.
 
Hey dudes....I gotta question?.....

Firstly though...Respect for rolling stone for starting this thread.....figured Id give it a go..

:confused2:

Do these containers need to be light proof?
 
yes...you want it to be light proof

worms don't like light. You want to utilize the entire box. dont spread your castings out in the box. Just uncover one area, place your scraps, lightly cover over again. Next feeding uncover new area next to prior, etc. the worms will consume faster and leave the castings. If light penetrates the worms will avoid that area. YOu don't want to keep mixing the castings around in the unprocessed areas.

you want your castings clean, not contaminated with food.
 
I am making my worm condo tonight.(way smaller than a farm) What is the purpose of using newspaper? Can I put a layer of soil on the bottom then a layer of food and a top layer of more soil? After a while I would separate the worms from the mix and just use the whole thing for my soil. I don't think I would need to separate the castings because they would immediately go into other soil anyway. Is this a good enough plan or am I going to waste my time?
 
the worms will consume the paper. the soil is more or less to help the digestive process(think of a bird) and reduce the light penetrating. it also traps any smell from decomposing food. If you put more food than the worms can consume, it will decompose on its own. try not to overfeed the worms but more or less steadily increase the amount of food scaps as they multiply.

I try to keep my soil to a minimum. most soil is contaminated with small larva and what not. I have not tried microwaving the soil. that may help. (not with the worms in it of course :doh: )
 
Quick update on the mini condo....

At 4 weeks I have a few egg shell fragments I can see and everything else is gone. Dug up the soil and found some worms that were fat, squirming and healthy looking(compared to what they were).
Do worms that want to die come to the surface to die?
How long does this take?
It looks like I should leave it a little longer.
I've watered lightly a couple of times and plenty of air flow. When I dug up the soil it was moist not wet. Had no odor with lid off.
I think I'll do this again.
 

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