Worm Composting

Well I had the worm castings experiment up and running until I knocked over the one planter containing the worm castings. I tried to replant the seedlings which had popped up however they began to go through some shock therapy. Hence, in fairness, I decided to restart the experiment.

I plan to carry this experiment a bit further than most should all go well with the first part. Once the plants are established and large enough, I plan to take some of the plants and transplant them in and around the garden area. For example, take the plants grown in clay and transplant some into clay soil while others into my mix of vermiculture, peat moss, worm castings… The idea will be to see if the transplanted plants to the castings soil will take off and flourish or will they remain more stunted…

The below picture is of the three planters used in this worm castings experiment.

The planter on the left contains organic potting soil I purchased at a local nursery. Yes, I really did buy some

The planter in the center contains some clay soil from the yard. I tried not to dig down but rather only grab the top inch of clay soil since this should be the most fertile part of the clay soil.

Lastly, the planter on the right contains a mix of different worm castings I collected last week.

I planted open pollinated beefsteak tomato plants in each planter. I doubled up the seeds in each hole with each planter having four holes for seed, evenly spaced.

Each planter will receive the same amount of sunlight and water during the span of the worm castings experiment.

I planted the seeds on March 9^th of 2010. The listed germination period for the seeds is 7 to 10 days, however would expect this to happen sooner with the current temperatures, especially in the worm castings and organic potting soil containers.

Well that’s all for now on the worm castings experiment. I will post more pictures as the seeds begin to germinate as well as throughout the experiment.

Bruce

Being that most of the white computer paper available today is bleached, I tried an experiment by raising some worms in a bin containing some shredded newspaper amongst some shredded computer paper. I began by making my bedding material as usual and placed some bleached computer paper on one side.

The result was that the red wigglers avoided the computer paper side of the bin like the black plague. I decided to fool around with this experiment further by taking bunches of the shredded computer paper and moving it to where the worms has settled in comfortably within the worm bin. This actually chased the worms away from these areas to other areas of the worm bin.

Unlike years ago when households relied mainly on well water, today most homes depend on local municipalities and utility companies for their drinking eater. It is suppose to be better water which could be correct due to contamination of thousands of wells across the country.

In order to be sure that our tap water is free of any unwanted bacteria, the water treatment companies add chloride to our drinking water.

This is when it hit me when a number of people have had problems with worms trying to escape and they state their pH, moisture and temperature levels are all correct. There was a common denominator here; they all used tap water straight from the faucet.

The tap water can actually have more chloride than the residue left behind during production of computer paper.

So how does one resolve this issue? It is actually pretty simple and does not cost anything.

First I have seen where some people state that you simply aerate the water to remove chlorine. This will NOT work!

Anyone with a pool can relate to the consumption rate of chlorine on sunny days compared to overcast days. This is because the chlorine is broken down under the influence of the UV radiation in sunlight.

One of the simplest ways to remove chlorine from your tap water for your worm bin and garden areas using worm castings since they too consist of bacteria and fungi is to set a bucket of water out in direct sunlight for a day or two.

Another way to obtain chlorine free water is to collect rain water. One problem with rain water can be the impurities within the air that are washed out when it first begins to rain. These impurities can be harmful to your worms especially if you live near a factory for example putting out a lot of smoke or other atmospheric pollutants.

Another way to obtain chlorine free water is to purchase a gallon jug of natural spring water. Just be sure they have not added chlorides to help preserve the shelf life. For the average worm bin, a one dollar jug of water can go a long way!

A last note, if you are trying to produce the best possible worm castings, the chlorides will kill off a majority of the beneficial microbes you want. When watering plants using the worm castings, always use chloride free water otherwise you are defeating the purpose.

Good Luck in Your Worm Composting & Gardening Adventure…

Bruce Galle

With the latest cold snap over the past several weeks many have asked for ideas on keeping their worm bin or worm farm warm. There are a number of ways to assist in accomplishing this depending on your individual situation.

Of course the most obvious is to try and relocate your worm bin if possible. If your home is a little cool, and your worm bin is inside, try locating it by a heat vent. Do not block off the heating vent but rather enable the worm bin to absorb some of the heat when the heater is running.

Be sure your worm bin is not sitting on the cold floor nor on anything that is a good conductor of the cold if on a cold floor. A good trick is to either use a couple small Tupperware type containers on the four corners of the bin or old egg cartons to support the worm bin.

If your worm bin is in a garage or basement which stays a little cool, you can first try to build a worm bin heater which I have previously posted. You can find the post here.

Another way to help keep your worms warm is to add more green products such as your vegetable scraps which will produce heat as they decompose. Now I need to add a word of caution here as if you add to much, the acidic levels will increase for one as well as you may end up heating the worm farm too much, hence cooking your worms.

The best way to accomplish heating your worm bin this way is to dig out a trench on one side of your bin. I would not take up more than ¼ of the worm bin for the trench in case something goes wrong, the worms will still have plenty of room to be comfortable in.

Add some layers in here starting with some shredded newspaper and or cardboard so as to absorb some of the liquid which may form from decomposing scraps as you will be adding extra here.

Next add a layer of vegetable scraps. Follow this up with a layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard as well as some spent coffee grinds if you wish. Follow up by sprinkling some finely crushed eggshells.

You can repeat these steps until the trench is about level with the surrounding bedding. Top off with some damp shredded newspaper and cardboard and keep it damp to help eliminate any odor that may try to escape from the decomposing scraps. Once the food begins to break down, the worms should begin to move into this area to keep warmer.

A few tips to speed up the heating process are to first use a blender or other machine to pulverize your vegetable scraps. This helps to speed up the decomposition process as the scraps can decompose faster as well as give more surface area for microorganisms to attach too.

A second tip is to freeze your food scraps and thaw out prior to adding to your worm bin. Be sure the thawed scraps are also at room temperature before adding. The freezing helps to modify the molecular structure enabling the decomposition to have a head start as well as break down faster.

By chance if the acid levels begin to increase in your worm bin, the fastest way to help neutralize it is to use some hardwood ashes or even charcoal ashes from the grill. Use moderately as a little goes a long way.

Good luck in your worm farming adventures,

Bruce

P.S. Be sure to sign up for your free issues of the Worm Composting Newsletter.

I have received a number of emails asking why I state the African nightcrawlers must be raised in temperatures of 70 degrees to 85 degrees Fahrenheit when other sites state that they can live in temperatures of 60 degrees, some 45 degrees and others state they can survive freezing temperatures during the overnight hours.

Let me begin that many websites offering information, not just African nightcrawlers but other worms as well, do not even raise worms. Rather, they simply use a drop ship company or companies to fill and ship all of their customer orders. That being said, I personally raise red wigglers, African nightcrawlers, European nightcrawlers, Alabama Jumpers and Mealworms. I also have two dogs

Why would some websites state that you can raise African nightcrawlers in colder temperatures? Your guess is as good as mine however many probably due to lack of knowledge and experience. I have seen a number of websites which have literally copied and pasted, word for word from other websites.

Rather than me simply restating what I have before, which is in direct conflict with some other websites, I figured I would prove it to you so as there would be no question in your mind. I decided to run an experiment which by the way I had informed a friend would only last 24 hours due to my experience in raising worms. After all, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Now before I proceed, let me inform you that the last picture is kind of graphic which may not be suitable for some…

That being said, I decided to use a refrigerator which I store mealworms prior to shipping which is set at a constant 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Now mind you, I only used four good and healthy 6 – 8 inch African nightcrawler worms since I did not wish to waste a bunch, which by the way I hated to part with

You can see the four worms in the bait cup, which I then placed some castings which were straight from the original bin I had pulled the four worms from. You will notice the worms look in great shape. I proceeded to place the African nightcrawlers into the refrigerator at 7:48pm January 1, 2010.

Now for any skeptics out there, I used my automotive multimeter which also has a built in thermometer that I now use full time on my worm bins as it is easy to read the temperature especially when your eyes begin to deteriorate as mine have. As you can see when I placed the sensor on the end of the wire inside the refrigerator with the door shut, the reading was at 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

I checked on the worms 12 hours later and they were already just about dead as they had begun to discolor turning a pale white towards the tail ends. Basically the circulation to the tail end of the worms has either stopped or slowed considerably. Mind you twelve hours is basically the time for an overnight temperature. At this point, even if the temperatures had risen up to the eighties, these four worms would not have made it as they were already too far gone.

I did not get a picture of this stage as I found out the batteries in the camera had run too low, hence I placed them on the charger.

I had some running to do this evening, January 2, 2010, hence I checked on the worms a little later than I had anticipated. I pulled the worms out of the refrigerator at 8:29pm just about 24 hours and 49 minutes since the experiment had begun.

As you can see from the picture below, the African nightcrawlers are dead. The pale white color has spread throughout their bodies while a bulging red color separates the paler areas. These worms are not only dead but have been for a while since they are now beginning to decompose.

One major item to notice is the fact that all four worms are the same. In other words, the temperature did not affect 25% or 50% but rather 100% of the worms!

Even if you tried to raise African nightcrawlers at 60 degrees Fahrenheit they would die, most likely surviving up to a week before keeling over, however the end result would be the same.

This is mainly why I state the African nightcrawler needs 70 degrees minimum. In fact, this is the low end of the spectrum. If you really want your Africana nightcrawlers become active and prolific, get the internal worm bin temperature up to 80 – 85 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what they prefer!

I hope this helps to clarify first the temperature range by which you want to raise your African nightcrawlers and secondly that I will not throw you a bunch of misinformation, but rather facts from my years of experience in raising worms.

Now go and tuck your worms in for the night to keep them warm

Bruce

I get asked many times a month, how much food I should feed my red wiggler worms as well as African and European nightcrawlers. There are many variables which come into play, hence each environment is different.

For example, if your worm bin internal temperature is at 60 degrees Fahrenheit your worms will be less active, hence eating less food. This is also a reason I do not recommend refrigerating red wiggler worms, African nightcrawlers, European nightcrawlers or Alabama Jumpers. As they become less active and eat less they begin to get thinner and leaner, which is not what fishermen and women want.

Moisture and pH levels will also affect your worms and how much they will eat.

Red wigglers can eat half their body weight per day in decomposed food scraps, shredded paper products… under the correct conditions. So one pound of red wiggler composting worms can eat half a pound of food a day under ideal conditions in a homeowner style worm bin. In a larger style bin, 32 square foot continuous flow system for instance, under ideal conditions; red wigglers have been known to consume more food per day.

Now your African nightcrawlers and Alabama Jumpers are probably your most ferocious eaters. The ones on our farm indoors are fed daily under ideal conditions. Now I do not feed these guys food scraps but have shifted to Purina Worm Chow as their main diet. I do not have to run out constantly to pick up scraps and manure from local vendors some of which is smells pretty bad. African nightcrawlers are not as big a composting worm as the red wiggler on food scraps; however are excellent manure worm. I do not recommend chicken manure, however rabbit manure is superb as it does not require the process of heating. Horse or cow manure is also excellent however be sure the manure has been heated prior and that the animals have not been on de-wormer.

Now grain mix differs from food scraps as you do not want to feed your worms ½ a pound of Worm Chow per one pound of worms. You simply sprinkle on the surface area and do not mix in or the bin will become sour and begin to kill off your worms. Not only do the African nightcrawlers devour the chow, but damp shredded newspaper which we keep on the surface area and replace as needed. This ends up turning into the dark, rich worm castings known as “Black Gold”.

European nightcrawlers one of the favorite worms by those that fish, are also another good manure worm and are not as great on food scraps as the red wiggler. They also do not have the ferocious appetite as the African nightcrawler. I feed them with the grain mix by Purina, however anywhere from once every day or two while maintaining less feed in each bin compared to the African nightcrawler. The European nightcrawler bin is probably the easiest to sour by adding too much food. Do not expect these worms to eat as much, however they are extremely prolific and do produce a nice worm castings.

This should give you a good basis as where to begin feeding your worms, however keep in mind the conditions of your worm bin due play a large role in how much to feed your worms.