Worms and vermiculture

[armanidog]

Vermiculture-"the cultivation of annelid worms (such as earthworms or bloodworms) especially for use as bait or in composting".
I have been raising worms in a plastic bin for the past year. It was going well but it required regular feeding and moisture control.
The amount of worm castings I was getting was not that much. I decided to expand but did not want to invest more time and energy in maintaining more bins. So I decided to convert one of my garden's raised bed to a worm bed. It is 4x8 feet (1.2 x 2.4 meters). And then I looked at obtaining more worms but the prices have really gone up (around $60 for a pound of worms plus shipping).
My sister and brother-in-law have a cow pasture behind my property. It rained Tuesday night so I went to a gully that drains the field Wednesday morning. I started raking leaves and cow patties and immediately hit pay dirt for night crawlers. Every time I flipped a cow patty I would have clusters of worms. I filled up 3 one gallon buckets with worms in about an hour.
I turned the dirt over in the bin and mixed in some cow manure that I had also picked up in the pasture. After I introduced the worms to their new home I covered the bed with cardboard and watered everything.
Hopefully I'll get a lot more worm dirt and castings to apply to my plants and have some fishing bait handy. More manure and vegetable waste will be added every other month. There is a fence for my garden or the armadillos would be munching on the worms.
If you are interested in composting with worms, red wigglers are the best but night crawlers will work as well. You can raise them inside or outside.


"In fact, one tablespoon of worm castings can feed a 6″ potted plant for two months or longer.
Benefits of Worm Castings

1. Increases nitrogen levels and reduces acid-forming carbon in soil. Which provides a healthier carbon-nitrogen ratio that helps plants thrive.
2. Acting as a natural mulch the earthworm castings will help the soil hold water and minerals. Which helps prevent erosion and replenishes aquifers.
3. Increases development of micro flora which stimulates plant growth in the soil. In the form of humid acid.
4. Keeps soil pH balanced to prevent too high or low levels.
5. Helps filter organic waste from heavy metals.
6. Prevent plant disease with the use of bacteria and humus being released in the soil.
7. Boosts a plants natural defenses to pests.
8. Insulates plant roots from extreme temps. Helping to prevent weeds and erosion.

Disadvantages of Worm Castings
Worm castings are not a “complete” fertilizer for certain plants. And growth of some plants can be inhibited by some salts.

Acid-loving plants will also not do well in the pH of 7-8 range of earthworm castings.

The solution to these issues would be to mix the castings with another potting material."

Worm Castings ~ Amazing Fertilizer From Earthworm Castings & Worm Tea

Worm castings is the best organic fertilizer! Read this guide to learn what all the fuss is about and how to make worm tea from earthworm castings.

biologicperformance.com

A good video on starting a worm bin inside:

Composting Worms for Sale

Looking to create your own worm farm and take composting to the next level? Look no further! We ship our Red Composting Worms and European Night Crawlers year-round, and they are ALWAYS guaranteed LIVE! Whether you’re composting food scraps and organic waste or making worm castings for your...

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[Jraven]

Keep us posted. Still using the little indoor worm farm here. I can't do worms, red wigglers anyway outdoors here, but earthworms maybe

 

[armanidog]

Keep us posted. Still using the little indoor worm farm here. I can't do worms, red wigglers anyway outdoors here, but earthworms maybe

I will keep this up to date. My problem is that we do not create enough kitchen waste to support multiple bins. There is a worm food available but it's easier and cheaper for me to just get cow patties. They will eat newspaper and cardboard but it's not that nutritious. The nightcrawlers can tolerate cold weather better and seem to love cow patties.
This is the ultimate worm farm:

 

[BigCheezeDog]

Worms are amazing at breaking down plants, I started a couple of bins this past spring when it is really cooking they are hard to keep fed.

I have not used any yet, but it's in the plan for the September grow run.

 

[armanidog]

"Worms are amazing at breaking down plants"
When I die I'm asking them to just put me in a worm bin. Here's a pumpkin versus red wigglers:

 

[hecno]

He is a different take on using worms , This is the start of my worm soil Tropics ] . I use earth worms I find in my yard and in the wet season I get heaps and from the gardens ar work , as you will see the soil is heavy with organic matter . I start with used soil and if need be top it up with evey day bagged soil , this makes my base . I make about 200 liters at a time .

To this I add grated horse manure .

Next to go in is Bush Turky nest . They scap the leaf litter up and make mounds out of it that can be many years old as they use the nest many times and build on it each year .

next I sift it .

Then once mixed I add Bat Guano powder - I use a coffee grinder - . Then wet it all down with liquid seaweed and fish hydrolysate . once it has rehydrated I add earth worms . I feed them with bananas and banana plant from the yard , old leaf litter and what ever I can find from the my yard . I try to keep the feed that is there natural diet in the wild . I like to cook it for at least 3 months before I use it and don't have to add perlite or any such thing . As the soil drys I water it with fish pond water and feed it as if I was feeding a plant . and I use fulvic and Humic acid also . At he end of 3 months I seem to get a ph of 6.5 to 6.8 . To my way of thinking I have cut the traditional worm farm out of the process .
--- Before ---

--- Arfter ---

So far the best I have done - this grow is 7 weeks before needing to add a bit of P-K

There is a bit more to it , but this gives you a idea what I do .