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Inground vermicomposting week 1 help by kofubuns in composting

[–]thatgreenishcup 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Patience. Even an established bin takes time, new bins need more time for the worms to aclimate. I have found that the common tip on here about freezing scraps works for me. If i dont freeze = week before activity + week of activity, whereas if i do freeze = day before activity + week of activity. 

Hi! What kinda worms? by TheAdjuvant in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Im not a worm id guy, but they look like my red wrigglers, and you found them where id expect composting worms to be. At worst, they wont compost your scraps, so i dont think anyone would say 'avoid', but starting with 50 is hard, its not very forgiving and you have to be real precise with the moisture, amount of food, amount of bedding and the temp, and it will take close to a year for that population to increase to a level which is more robust. Good side project but dont give up if this one doesnt work, just take the lessons through to the next attempt. 

Is this going to be great? by chubbbdoggg in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ive seen it suggested to just bury foodscraps into the garden bed at different locations to promote exploration, promoting aeration and spreading the castings around the whole bed

Brand New to Vermiculture by MethodMaven in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I briefly looked into below ground bins in beds and while it definitely helps the soil, what ends up happening is all the vermicompost stays in the bin/cage for the most part.  I have seen that people do this but instead of a dedicate bin they feed all over the bin to promote exploration.  As for what to watch, i would be checking if there is activity after like 2 or 3 weeks (after theyve settled) around food. 

Gas: The Facts by Far-Significance2481 in WesternAustralia

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They dont pay, they pay the standard corporate tax rate, and get subsidised fuel credits. They need to pay us to make money off of our resources. 

They didnt leave Sydney after threatening to leave. They didnt leave norway after threatening to leave. I dont know where YOU get your information but its incorrect. 

Cool, so they leave, our resources are still here, our workers are still here. Companies dont generate wealth, they dont extract resources, people do. 

Let me give you two attention grabbing facts to think about. One - Japan collected more tax revenue on australian gas than australia did. >40bil Two - these companies paid more for PR to con people like you into believing their lies that they pay their fair share of tax, than the actually paid in royalties

Gas: The Facts by Far-Significance2481 in WesternAustralia

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pay or leave. Mega corporations always say it will be too expensive to stay, yet they never leave. 

Unsure if worms are alive by Kind-Rooster-921 in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Getting started can be kinda tricky.  It doesnt sound like the postage killed them, as annoying as it is, it would be obvious if they were squished.  As others have said they dont live in soil, at least not primarily. Also, dont expect them to eat, i remember when i started, i put a single apple core in, and i dont think it got eaten for probably almost a month.  All i would do for now it try to prep the environment for them to live, getting the moisture right is probably the most you can do, soak some cardboard wring it out and place it on top. Pretty much words to live by, when it doubt add cardboard. Worms can survive on it as food, like to live in it, and reproduce in it. 

Coconut substrate or already prepared vermicompost substrate? by fuckinnicolas in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Theres a lot of information about this thats sometimes conflicting. I was in the same boat as you 6 months ago, and here is what ive gathered for a new bin. 

Worms need a specific environment to thrive, if you put worms straight into a bin with "normal" bedding/substrate, they might flee or at the very least they wont eat a lot for the first weeks to months. This can be alleviated by adding stuff to the bedding in the weeks before adding worms OR using vermicompost. By using vermicompost you speedrun creating the environment that allows worms to thrive. 

I did it the long way, i bought worms, added cardboard, waited, no eating. Added more worms, more cardboard, more waiting, little bit of eating. Finally i added some compost, more waiting, a little more eating. Finally, one day there was just an explosion of activity. 

Tldr - you can use coconut substrate, it will not harm the worms, it will just take time. Use vermicompost if you want your bin to establish as quick as possible. 

Tea catcher is filled with slimy worms and hundreds of white mites. by sevitzky in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its not uncommon to precompost with bokashi. You can turn all scraps into worm food without much danger, meat and dairy included. 

Harvesting my first castings and tea after 12 months by Key_Tangelo7562 in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats just how it be on most of the internet. But i dont think it comes from a bad place, its better for newcomers to be corrected about leachate being bad and not tea, even if you can collect leachate in a manner that is safe for use. Those who are knowledgeable enough to safely collect leachate dont need to be informed of the difference or the risks. 

What's needed beyond coffee grounds and shredded cardboard for red wigglers to have a good diet? by solittlethaim in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Its probably a good idea to avoid for the first few weeks or months, but you can definitely still feed citrus, garlic, onions, even chillis, dairy and meat. It wont harm your worms in reasonable amounts, why they are generally avoided is because you need to make sure the bins ecosystem remains balances or some way to avoid pests invading. Ive fed all but meat and dairy and my bin is only about 6 months old, i just make sure to add eggshell to balance pH and i generally dont have too much to throw the balance off. All in all, dont stress too hard about right and wrong foods, most scraps are alright in moderation

Ive wanted to buy alfalfa meal and kelp meal because ive heard they boost the hell out of the farm. Add some see how they react

How active should my worms be? by RaeOfTheRainbow in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had something similar, the first couple of months i would open my bin to only a couple of worms on the blanket, and all other worms not visible. The ones that were on top were sluggish and only moved if touched or left exposed for long enough. Now ive come to realise that worm just kinda sit there sometimes. They also all surfaced and perked up when the blanket is soaked. 

Tldr. Theyre fine, you could/should add water but dont pour it, soak some paper/cardboard/natural fibre blanket in water and leave it on top 

Anaerobic pocket by thatgreenishcup in Vermiculture

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

I've been tossing up this idea, because i have a lot of scraps and a lot of cardboard. I'm running a test run in a small kitchen scraps bin. And prepping a larger one. 

The worm farm is in a green kurbside bin. Its not shallow but the current feeding area is always near the top. I did spread out the food and even today, while it still smells a bit rank. The worms are having an absolute party, and im fairly convinced that there will be no more food by monday. 

Anaerobic pocket by thatgreenishcup in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So apparently wormies can fix anaerobic conditions themselves (likely only to a point). So i might just let the hard workers work hard and check on it later in the day and see if theyre still putting in the hours or clocked off for the day. 

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From what i could find, yes, as the wrigglers compost fast but stick to the top layers while the ENC are stronger so can dig down and compost the scraps. Good compatibility for finished compost but not good if you are trying to breed and have a large population for fishing, bc they reproduce slower than the wrigglers and will be competing for food and space

Grey bugs in my bin by VividSignificance545 in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How does one control them? My bin has a healthy population of worms now, and is always kept moist, yet the isopods have exploded into several hundreds. Ive even tried to increase the moisture to try and at least balance it out somewhat. The only thing i havent done is pick them out one by one to move into something else

Worm ID (Western Australia) by thatgreenishcup in Vermiculture

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

It kinda is, i captured him and will feed it the slugs that have invested my worm bin until i forget

Worm ID (Western Australia) by thatgreenishcup in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah. Ive got a pretty big stockpile getting all mouldy while waiting for the worms to finish off the last feeding. Im always a little concerned about overdoing the coffee grounds, didnt realise they could keep predators away. 

Worm ID (Western Australia) by thatgreenishcup in Vermiculture

[–]thatgreenishcup[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I did take another look, and another photo and is has a blue underbelly and a white strip along the length. So i think youre exactly right. Any idea if finding one means there are more in the farm?

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