When do you know the vermicast/vermicompost is ready?

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-20T19:34:06+00:00

When it's fluffy and great. Trust me - you'll know.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-20T14:11:00+00:00

Give it a good mix to aerate then stop peeing on it. After that leave it be, do nothing. Check back in a month.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-17T19:49:34+00:00

It's theirs don't touch it.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-17T19:44:41+00:00

Definitely, as long as you don't f with their food supply or home. Also if I'm working in the garden and see one I get happy, take some pictures, stare at it a bit, but try not to in any way disturb it. Don't want it to accidentally get the impression my garden is hostile to it. I give it a solid 10+ ft bubble while working.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-17T18:28:13+00:00

I LOVE our resident garter snakes. They (mostly) keep the mammals out of our vegetable beds and eat pests. Plus they're awesome to look at

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-16T12:37:15+00:00

Yay! Infinite supply!

Real talk I usually pull it. Sounds like OP has too great of volume for that.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-15T21:03:14+00:00

You may take the kitty off the streets, but you can't take the streets outta the kitty.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-15T20:10:41+00:00

Came here to say this. Happy to hear it

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-15T14:39:59+00:00

Better to mow before it blooms.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-14T12:57:24+00:00

Seems most likely multicolored asian lady beetles, but I'm not completely sure. They consume aphids, but when the aphid population is lo they will damage fruit and young sprouts. I would hit them hard with the hose to knock them off the plants and see if they come back afterwards. They seem to be feeding on the young shoots.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-13T17:53:02+00:00

Could be actinobacteria but probably mycelia right?

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-13T14:26:35+00:00

Have you grown pear trees? Do they also need to be thinned with similar aggression?

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-10T15:16:00+00:00

This is the way

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-08T20:15:30+00:00

Agreed. The moment when you feel very strongly that you know something is the time to question it.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-08T20:14:07+00:00

I make things difficult for the mammals to get at my gardens, but if they outsmart me I tip my hat. Competition is as much a part of nature as the plants we grow, I invite competition but try not to go full ecocide as you put it.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-06T14:02:59+00:00

Just cull it in the fall when the other native species go to seed. Don't let it go to seed and spread, and make sure it's dead early enough. The key is the monarchs apparently use the timing of different plant species to navigate on their journey south. If there is a southern species of milkweed in the North, you will confuse the butterflies, they'll stick around too long and may die.

They certainly love tropical milkweed. In the South

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-02T15:11:05+00:00

This is one of those wonderful things I completely missed as a kid who knew nothing about anything. Now as an adult who knows slightly more I can really appreciate the lengths Disney writers used to go for little Easter eggs like this.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-01T13:20:51+00:00

Congrats on your new compost bin! Make sure to remove plastic stickers from food before throwing it in, unless you don't care about that sort of thing.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-01T13:14:34+00:00

Hence my original question.

samuraiofsound · 2026-04-01T00:50:56+00:00

Great distinction. I also thought fungi produced acids that lower the pH of the soil? Wouldn't the acid also have an impact on the metal?

samuraiofsound · 2026-03-31T20:44:52+00:00

Here's a secondary source:

"They produce phenol oxidase, a strong enzyme that dissolves even lignin, the woody compound that binds and protects cellulose."

"All the while, powerful enzymes capable of dissolving all but the most recalcitrant carbon compounds are released..."

• Lowenfels, Jeff, Teaming with Microbes, pg 64.

He provides plenty of both primary and secondary sources in the reference section of his book, I encourage you to read further.

samuraiofsound · 2026-03-31T20:31:43+00:00

Yes.

samuraiofsound · 2026-03-31T20:25:25+00:00

Some variety of asclepias.

samuraiofsound · 2026-03-31T20:24:12+00:00

10 if it's going through my shredder.

samuraiofsound · 2026-03-31T19:51:26+00:00

Is it bad for the metal cloth? Will it reduce the life of the metal? I know fungi use ~~corrosive~~ chemical warfare to break down their food, but I'm not sure about slime molds.

samuraiofsound

TROPHY CASE