How earthworms can help your soil

[DTOM420]

Damn,yeah thats really ashame.I have placed a few ordered from there.ill place one soon too.Damn,I am hoping they guy can keep it around.Thanks for the heads up.

From what I understand, he wants to retire. That’s all. He’s not trying to keep it open but to cash out and enjoy retirement - that’s a fantasy of mine too; but one that’ll never happen. Lol!

Better order soon because once they’re out of a product they will not be getting more.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

yeah I looked around a bit and most things are out.I am limited on cash atm.but once i get some ill look n see what if anything they have left.hope it all works out for him.

 

[Organic Sinse]

Hi guys, I am new here to afn, but have been using vermiculture (worms) in my garden style for auto's very successfully for years. This is a great topic. I am a full blown worm geek, I raise several species to make my own vermicompost to use in soil mixes, and top dresses. I grow autos in10 gal no tills, with solid worm populations, and it works great.

Here are some tips/ info I have learned over the years, when using worms in containers.
The real key is in adding lots of mulch on top and to keep feeding mulch throughout the process. Indoors I use a lot of leaves from my houseplants/ spice plants and canna fan leaves.
A couple things I have found to be key in a soil mix are items that break down at different rates over times, but do break down. Pine bark, in a size labeled 'Small bark nuggets' or 'fines' feeds the soil for quite a while, holds extra moisture, and helps drainage. The worms love bark as it is breaking down. I add rice hulls, they breakdown faster, ie are available sooner than the bark. Rice hulls contain a ton of silica, and also help with drainage prior to being broken down. The worms love this too. It is important to use a higher than normal percent of drainage media (perlite or pumice or whatever) if you do this long term. In normal container gardening I would use at least 33% perlite. In the method I describe, I use at least 40%, often 45%. It drains almost too well in the beginning, but will remain to drain well throughout the long term as things are broken down. This is the trick to keep the soil from getting to muddy over time, especially at the bottom of the container. I also feel the addition of fine rock dust is crucial. The worms use this as grit in their gizzard. The extra win behind this, is that your rock dust gets 'weathered' going thru the worm, and nutrients locked up in the rock dust become available much quicker. The rock dust will also help bind the soil. This too helps eliminate the 'muddy' in the bottom, problem. I use glacier rock dust, I get it free. Greensand or basalt dust work great too.
Most folks believe that you need at least 20 gallon containers to do no till, it can be done in tens, as I do, but requires a few tricks. For the record, I usually run three seed to finish cycles in my containers, then take a few months off for the summer. Then the pots are put back in action, unless I think I have learned something that makes me want to change my soil mix. Even if I change my mix, I still get 3 full cycles with doing very little to my soil.
hope I didn't rattle on too much for ya
cheers
os

 

[MrOldBoy]

You guys should look into Ruth Stout gardening, it's a very applicable no til method she spent 50 years perfecting and wrote several books about.

A nice added benefit of wood chips is that they amend soil in both directions. If your soil is too hot the wood chips will mediate it as they decay.

Good stuff, I add wigglers to all of my tomato and pepper beds.

Bro I can’t believe you mentioned Ruth Stout ..... Make Mine Mulch, Mulch and More Mulch was her thing ..... back in the 70s I read that along with Mother Earth news and even had a Troy Built that I broke up gardens for a couple years, netted about $3k year doing and would always make friends and I’d encourage some to mulch and not have me back but often they did anyways. That book along with organic encyclopedia of gardening and Mother Earth news shaped the way I garden.

Side note .... if you raising worms add a mixture of kelp meal, Neem, malted barley, alpha, rock dust and oyster shells to your worm pile and get this:

Ever since I started adding to my bin the worms have been so so so much more active and actually flip and flop and are crazy fast to go down when my torch light hits them, which I don’t do often..... anyways bro give the mix a try ..... I just put a few tablespoons of teaspoons of each depending on ingredient into a mason jar and roll around, mix and feed a little at a time, small mason jar lasts a week or so in a bin, anyways they love it and their castings are huge on trace elements I’m thinking!

 

[MrOldBoy]

Really good answer @Eyes on Fire . I also believe there is no advantage in having worms in your pot for autos . All the work should have been done before hand . Here are some photos that show wood chip going into its second wet season . I have added nothing and expect it to take 3 wet seasons to break down to where I want it . The pot you guys see has been in the hole going on 6 months , It is full of dirt I made , The worms have done there job and I have taken them out to place else where . Now it is all about the microbes . I have been feeding the microbes to keep every one happy and I plan on adding the soil to worm casting teas . These are hard wood chips . View attachment 989341 View attachment 989345 View attachment 989346 View attachment 989347 View attachment 989348
This next photo is what I am doing with native worms [ soil ] I have noticed in the wild they are under leaf litter , so I am recreating it indoors .
and they are loving it . Plus the microbe life will be huge and he other good thing is cost , next to nothing , only time .
View attachment 989350

I respectfully disagree on worms in the autopots ..... I believe if you top dress you soil throughout the grow, keep mulch on top and keep top moist the worms will continue to work and help areate the soil and provide fertilizer to the plant / roots ..... Key is to keep soil and mulch moist ..... while I do believe the longer the plant cycle the more beneficial the worms, I also believe at 60-90 days autos are more than good candidates for worms. Here are a couple examples of worms in my auto pots.

 

[Organic Sinse]

I thought I would share my recipe for making 'bedding' for worm bins. I have tweaking this recipe a little here and there for years, but it has changed very little.
*Note I make my own leaf mold and compost from scratch at home, so I can't suggest sources to obtain either from.

2 gallons leaf mold (or compost or peat or a combo any/all)
1 gallon small bark nuggets or bark fines (the landscaping/ mulch type available at Lowes, HD etc)
1/2 gallon rice hulls (I purchase at beer brewing store, but may be available at pet or feed stores)
1/4 cup each bone, kelp, neem, and crab shell meals
2 Tablespoons each lime, oyster shell flower, rock dust, gypsum, and malted barley powder.
This mixture is well mixed and wetted to holding capacity, before being loaded in tray style worm bins.
I have used 2x as many amendments in the past with great results, but the above is what I like the best.
Lime and oyster shell flower are used for the same purpose, if you only have one or the other, just double up on it. If you are using a peat base, double up the lime or osf, as the peat requires a touch more pH buffering.
You can leave out any of the amendments I listed and still make a great final product. I use this for both soil mixes and top dressing.

Another thing I have been using in bins is a chicken feed called "Layer Crumbles". It contains soy, alfalfa, corn, wheat husks, and calcium carbonate. This works best sprinkled on top of a bin (like a tablespoon or two), then wetted with a mister, and then covered with damp paper or damp cardboard. This will really step up your game in your bin. Numbers of worms will increase quickly as will their size. Layer crumbles work just fine on top of my mix listed above. The key is to only put crumbles on top, and dampen them. That way, the alfalfa and soy don't make heat (by "cooking" or cycling in the subsurface section of the bin). For those that haven't tried soy or alfalfa when growing, this is a great way to introduce it into a grow. Your plants will love ya for it.
cheers
os

 

[Organic Sinse]

With regard to worms in the pots. I feel it is almost impossible to use castings or vermicompost and not add worms. I have outstanding results with worms in my pots, and feel they are 100% necessary if doing 'no-till' like I do. Mulching is a must!
cheers
os

 

[Organic Sinse]

@MrOldBoy
I will never forget Ruth or her Husband talking about Ruth's routine of naked gardening. Husband saying, " I knew you finished gardening real early this morning, I didn't hear any of the cars driving by slow down this morning. They always slow way down when you are working out there (naked)."
What a great lady Ruth was. Mulch, mulch, and do little else.

cheers
os

 

[MrOldBoy]

@Organic Sinse ...... trip to the feed store is in order ...... I’m also looking to a microbrewery for some spent malted or rye barley and whatever else they may have ...... and just got a source for some horse beddding / manure which I’ll add to my four loads I got last year that is well aged and I mixed oak and hickory leaves along with some clippings in ..... I may also get access to chicken so I’ll add that into pile ..... amazing how this previous Montano Treated area has come back to life .... when I got joint year held ago I immediately started mulching, first thing I did and it’s starting to pay big time - before had to turn ten shovels to find one worm, now one shovel finds ten worms ..... feed the soil!

Another thing I like is to take a flour sack towel ..... soak in compost tea and then put entire soaking wet towel and place over the food I’ve sprinkled on the bin ...... Ruth was amazing, born 1882 I think!

 

[hecno]

@MrOldBoy Fan Bloody tastic mate . This is how I like the thread to go , the sharing of info and learning from others . You can never stop learning , The day you do is the day you die .