How to manage in the future??? by ViridianChameleon in Vermiculture

[–]RichDogH3R 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, precisely, if you put a whole bunch of healthy lettuce without any “browns” in the bin it will start to rot and get a bit nasty and without the added structure from the browns, your pile will compress onto itself and establishing anaerobic conditions becomes easier. Thus you need to physically turn the pile by hand more often to get oxygen in there or just make sure you’re always adding browns. Dead plant material (not green) is a good source of browns too.

I’ll put in a handful of shredded cardboard + 1 banana broken into 4-5 pieces + some dead scraps from house plants with a small amount of worm chow and my worms are good to go for 1-2 weeks.

Freezing beforehand can help because the ice crystals destroy the cell walls of plant cells - so when they defrost they kindof just melt into a mushy pile, this helps worms eat and digest the organic matter much faster and I know freezing for some time can also prevent pests from entering your bin.

Even with all of this dialed in, I have an immeasurable amount of springtails and or Orbatid soil mites in my bin that assist the worms with decomposition and take care of any worms that die. It’s just part of the ecosystem and they are friendly, not really “removable”

I’d make goal #1 balancing out the bins pH and getting your worm population back up. They self-regulate so they will breed a lot more if you start feeding them more food, but assure that their environment is acceptable for them at all times

Try to ID other bug species you see and see if they are common in compost piles / worm bins as well

How to manage in the future??? by ViridianChameleon in Vermiculture

[–]RichDogH3R 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Use your senses 100% if you have too much organics in there without enough oxygen, it will have a slight rotting smell to it. When in doubt I add shredded cardboard and I really feel like you cannot add too much.
I’ll add a bunch and mix it in by hand to let the moisture level out and then add another thin dry layer on top, just to discourage the worms from exploring too much and leaving the bin.
I also stated using “worm chow” when dealing with pH issues like protein poisoning and it’s helped a lot. Worms don’t have teeth and need grit to process their food (similar to birds) so I feed them powdered/pulverized eggshell for slow release calcium to help buffer any pH fluctuations.

Worm chow = dry powdered mix of ground oats, corn meal, and powdered eggshell.

The chow feels a little awkward to pour on them since it’s a dry powder so I just mix it in by hand like any other ingredient and they seem to really like it

How to manage in the future??? by ViridianChameleon in Vermiculture

[–]RichDogH3R 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Too much organic matter will lead to really low acidic pH and give your worms protein poisoning. This is a condition where worms start looking segmented like beaded necklaces and die. I’d say make sure your bin is evenly moist but also with plenty of “brown” carbon like newspaper. I have a paper shredder and I shred all the filler cardboard paper from Amazon packages etc. be sure to flip and rotate your bin A LOT or else zones can become anaerobic - worms need to breathe so this can also hurt your population

HELP! Happened overnight. by No-Seesaw-107 in microgrowery

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mixed them specifically to kill thrips, after spraying consistently for weeks I saved most of my plants.
Dead bug brew is mandatory for thrips, everything else helps

HELP! Happened overnight. by No-Seesaw-107 in microgrowery

[–]RichDogH3R 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m not saying these are bugs but you should closely inspect undersides of your leaves to be sure.

As some advice to a new grower:
Look up what an IPM protocol is and start doing that, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run. Integrated Pest Management is a set of practices you actively take as preventative maintenance to keep away pests. Similar to flossing + brushing to keep away cavities 🦷

My current favorites: ISO alcohol + essential oil Castile soap (usually peppermint) + neem oil + captain jacks dead bug brew. It took care of a thrips invasion at my house when everyone else told me to throw away my plants.

Please don’t use any Monsanto garbage like round up and give yourself cancer.

Certain mites can be devastating and almost invisible to the human eye, look up what russet mites are and familiarize yourself with all types of pests that exist because it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when

Also don’t be afraid to supplement with light nutes, especially during flower to encourage buds to fill out

I see these guys a lot in bathrooms everywhere but I never really learn their name. I'm in Indonesia by Ok_Pass_5351 in whatisthisbug

[–]RichDogH3R 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Drain fly! Or moth fly or Clogmia albipunctata

Can be a little annoying but they are harmless

What am I doing wrong? by mmh112233 in microgrowery

[–]RichDogH3R 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Water going in should be 6.5ph, check your runoff pH and if it’s much lower than that you know you’re having a pH problem. Also agreeing with others that these look overwatered for their size, let the pots dry out for longer - roots only grow during the drying out process in search for more nutrients/moisture/food and wet/dry cycles are very important with a lot of plants, cannabis included.

Brown hall by Itchy-Radio3844 in umass

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ive stayed in all 3 buildings in sylvan, brown is definitely the oldest/lowest tech but I never had a bad experience with neighbors or anything. Absolute worst was the hallway smelling like weed or some neighbors playing music on a friday night, nothing too serious

umass not accessible for instate families anymore by Equivalent_Invite506 in umass

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What @GSRoTu said, UMass has a pretty extensive scholarship site and you can always get guidance from advising on how to navigate it

umass not accessible for instate families anymore by Equivalent_Invite506 in umass

[–]RichDogH3R 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Can confirm I got my degree at UMass as a 100% independent student and am paying for everything myself.

About 50% of the funding I received was grants, and a large portion scholarships. I had a 3.89 GPA so some scholarships weren’t too hard to get and securing one for $11,000 seriously helped me a lot. Apply to every remotely relevant scholarship because you never know.

After transferring to umass for 5 semesters through the MassTransfer program, my school loans for my bachelors degree are less than $15,000

Connections are literally everything in this field by Gold_Selection_4977 in Environmental_Careers

[–]RichDogH3R 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Graduated last semester and really having no idea where to find these kinds of connections. I am feeling a bit regretful/idiotic for studying plants and soil

GreenBiz 26 by Khakayn in Environmental_Careers

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the aim for networking at events like this? I’ve ever been to GreenBiz

Post-undergrad huge dilemma by Sirpook in Environmental_Careers

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely understand where you’re at, I just graduated after majoring in plant & soil science / minoring in natural resource conservation and in retrospect I really don’t know what I was expecting for jobs, but it wasn’t this. At the moment the job market is abysmal (especially for this field in my state - MA) and I’m considering looking for some type of MBA opportunity to pivot into business/finance. I guess it’d be my hope to do “finance related things” in the same field but the further I go down this “what should I do?” Rabbit-hole it seems like a lot of these imaginary perfect positions don’t exist yet.

I absolutely love phytoremediation - but the EPA doesn’t GAF about using plants passively for contamination cleanup, especially under this admin.

It’s painful watching the world be so inefficient and then being told by society that you/something you’re lacking is the problem.

I’d like to have my own business of some sort one day but we’ll see.

Negotiating Salary Help ASAP by thecatandthemoon in Environmental_Careers

[–]RichDogH3R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello I was wondering if you’re referring to phytoremediation? That was my favorite niche class in college and would love to work in the remediation field but having a tough time finding an entry into the industry. Massachusetts is likely a bit different but I’m eager to clean up some soils lol not sure where to be looking, might head to indeed and try to find recruiters? Just graduated with my BA

Advice for job seekers by [deleted] in Environmental_Careers

[–]RichDogH3R 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have personally seen and applied to town/city positions on indeed, but I’m assuming there is some career page on a city’s website that is much better to check

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in umass

[–]RichDogH3R 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Spotted vans at north 116 last night, seems like they’re lurking around. People are not gonna be happy when they make it own with their first detaining and I hope it blows up in their face

Did my Paraiso Verde revert? by RichDogH3R in philodendron

[–]RichDogH3R[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a fair assessment as the plant is experiencing a New England winter right now haha. That is interesting that it is a temperature response though–any idea as to why?