How to Test Worm Chow Ingredients + New VermiHut Tray Feeding | Vermicompost Worm Farm
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- Before you mix a new worm chow, find out how well your compost worms like it with this easy technique!! Soon your worms will be turning expired pantry grains, beans & nuts into natural organic fertilizer & soil amendments in the form of worm castings for your garden!
This video takes you through the weekly process of feeding my worm bin or worm tower, how much & what type of bedding I use and how I aerate it to allow for better oxygenation. Finally I show you how I set up my worm chow ingredient test to find out what I want to mix into my worm chow feedings for my red wiggler and blue compost worms!
Epigeic worms or composting worms are fascinating natural composters & fertilizers that are in most homesteaders bag of tricks to make free organic fertilizer & soil amendments as well as fishing bait. If you've ever thought about vermicomposting or composting with worms to make organic fertilizer & natural soil amendments with your plant based kitchen scraps or food waste, this is the channel for you. I have 3 worm composing bins which you can watch from start to finished worm castings on the 3 playlists following each worm bin. If you haven't started yet, get started now and vermicompost with me!🪱🪱🪱 Visit my Channel at / vermicompostlearnbydoing
Happy Vermicomposting Everyone!!!🪱🪱🪱
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel's videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) amzn.to/3gwEzb4
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
GoPro HERO11 amzn.to/3jkRpLa
Flexible Tripod amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
#Vermicompost #wormfarm #VermiHut #redwigglers #selfsufficiency #homesteading #vermiculture #wormcastings #baitworms
00:00 | Intro & what to look for & recap
00:46 | Worm ball right away!
01:29 | Mango seed update
02:19 | Aerating the bin
03:30 | Setting up feeding zone
04:13 | Adding my favorite bedding
04:47 | Food scraps added & how much to feed
06:30 | The Executive Producer saves me from myself
07:22 | Burying food scraps
08:03 | Setting up worm chow test...various flours
09:39 | Lentils & pine nuts
10:44 | Help! How do you incorporate nuts in your worm chow?
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel's videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) amzn.to/3gwEzb4
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
GoPro HERO11 amzn.to/3jkRpLa
Flexible Tripod amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
That is why I didn't get a cross cut shredder. It's bad enough I can't spell. I wish someone would do a glass time lapse of the different meals. I have been putting in whole nuts and the they work well too.
🤣😂🤣I'm not sure I've said it correctly once...and it doesn't help that Autumn is always cracking up behind the camera when I say it!! Thanks, good to know whole nuts work as well!! I appreciate you stopping by to watch Ann!!🪱🪱🪱
She sells sea shells down by the sea shore, she sells sea shells down by the sea shore, she sells sea shells down by the sea shore :)
That forgotten, massive, siamese twin carrot top was cool!
@09:49 - thanks for the shout out! :) My chow ingredient test video can be seen here: ruclips.net/video/f_JZ6W0hmHU/видео.html ..and another interesting one here: ruclips.net/video/vk0KYcsJgzc/видео.html
When I ground up mixed nuts I combined them with dryer stuff like bird seed, neem seed meal, corn starch & sunflower seeds. What ended up working really nicely was diatomaceous earth. The packaging of the DE shown on the World Composting channel says that the stuff works as a declumping _(is that a word?_ agent; the packaging of the stuff I got does not mention that that way of using DE. I tried it & it helped get my chow become more loose & granular 👍🏻 I wonder if other similar powdery dry stuff _(perhaps dolomite lime?)_ can possibly also help make pasty material more flowing...
🤣😂🤣 I always have at least one failed tongue twister in each video!! Thanks for throwing the videos into your comment!! Easy access for folks to see it!
I have a lot of DE for my pool filter...but none of it food grade...I'll give some other super dry stuff a try. I'm guessing a really small ratio of nuts to the dry stuff will probably also help??!? Thanks for all your help & thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
I could be wrong... but I thought that for vermicomposting the DE doesn't need to be food grade :)
Oh, then I am in business!!
👍🏻
Av has been using some nuts in his worm chow, he used diatomaceous earth to make it flow better. The de also breaks down into silica for your soil and plants
Thanks for passing that on!! His experiment was so interesting!! I know he has been incorporating nuts in his worm chow, but didn't realize he used DE to make it flow better. Thanks so much for stopping by to watch and let me know!!🪱🪱🪱
Oops - I just posted a comment that repeats this :)
just a fyi, the stuff auto stores sell like stay dry, absorb, etc are made from natural diatomaceous earth. read the label on the bag it will say 100% Fuller's Earth. they bake it to harden the particles but you can pulverize it again. i use it for aquarium gravel.
I use all expired raw peanuts, oats and brown rice in my worm chow. Like your pine nuts, when I ground the peanut, they turned into more of a paste. They did loosen up a little after adding the oats to the mix. I separately ground the rice then hand mixed them all together and have a good loose mix, however not all that fine like my eggshell or the dry ingredients by themselves. The worms eat it up.
Like you, I feed some of the forbidden foods like onion, citrus, etc... just no meats. However, I am going to experiment with meats at some point in the future. I will say that I do have a compost bin that I throw everything in, and I do mean everything, as the BSFL love it all. I harvest the larvae to help feed a neighbors chickens and they in turn bring me eggs every once in a while. A good trade off I think.
I plan to build a bin just for the black soldier fly so I have a larger larvae harvest that and they eat everything. Just like the castings from worms, the frass from the BSFL is also beneficial in the garden.
Very cool!! Thanks so much for letting me know how you deal with the paste of nuts I got!! I'm hoping the worms still go for them even though they are pretty clumped up in here. I still have some of the chunky paste left over so, I'll mix it together with some oats if I see that the worms like it!
I have a compost bin as well that gets some black soldier fly larvae, but not in some of the amounts I've seen other people get where I could harvest the frass separately. They are crazy fast eaters!!! I have caught (& released far away) numerous raccoons in my back yard so I'm hesitant to experiment with meat in my compost bin!!
Thanks so much for letting us know how you dealt with the nuts in your worm chow!! I really appreciate you taking the time to watch & comment!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost I guess that I could've mentioned 2 other things;
1) I live out in the country, so not any real concern for wildlife such as raccoons as it's all around me anyway
2) I bury everything from the kitchen in the compost pile so A; the frass is already mixed in & B; it keeps the odor down or to nonexistent
All I do is go out to the pile every couple of days and dig down to the buried stuff and harvest the larvae for my neighbors chickens.
Good morning Patrick, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸
🪱🍌☕️🧅🥚🪱🧅🥚🍌☕️🪱
Whoa! Lots of food. You really buy interesting ingredients 👩🌾👍
Good morning Peggy!! We occasionally try some off the beaten path recipes...unfortunately the ingredients always come in what seems like huge packs so we end up with leftovers!! And of course they get pushed to the back of the pantry & expire!! I hope you have a wonderful day!! Thanks for stopping by Peggy!!🪱🪱🪱
Keep up the great work Patrick. 👍
Thank you!! I hope you and your family are doing well AJ!🪱🪱🪱
After feeding all kinds of kitchen scraps for yrs have changed to a dry mix formula which my worms love. The reason for me wanting to change is to eliminate gnats and fruit flies which has seemed to work , pretty much nil now.. My dry mix has been oats, corn meal , wheat flour and more recently trying chicken crumbles. The oats and crumbles get ground to a flour in my coffee grinder which is only used for this process. I just remembered that I have some dried meal worms which will be added in my next feeding batch.
Also forgot to add that I on occasion add or sprinkle some diatomaceous earth on top.
Sounds like making the switch really helped eliminate your gnat & fruit fly problem!! So far none of my bins have gotten infested with them but I know it is not if, but when!! My outdoor Urban Worm Bag is the one that will probably succumb first. That worm chow you make is very similar to what I use! I'm sure dried meal worms will go fast as well when you add it to your mix!! It's so good to hear about different experiences with different folk's worm bins...it gives us the confidence to switch things up if needed!! Thanks so much for watching & telling us about your worm bins!!🪱🪱🪱
👍👍👍🪱🪱🪱
What about mites?
Sorry it took so long to respond. Mites are ok in a worm bin, they help break down and shred the food for the worms. But their populations can bloom fast if the worm bin is overfed. So it is best to feed worm bins less than you think you should and always add more fresh bedding. You can reduce their population if you feel you need to by putting a small torn off piece of wet sandwich bread on the top surface and come back in 4 hours. It will be full of mites. Throw that piece away. Do this a few times with a new small piece each time & this will reduce the population. If you don’t get a lot on the bread, then you really don’t have a lot of mites! Thanks so much for watching!!!🪱🪱🪱
Good evening.. very nice information.. thanks for sharing.. Big like.. stay connected friend 💞
I'm glad you liked it!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
this helped me. i have been looking for what to feed worms. i am just starting worm culture with some worms i bought at walmart as fish bait. good to know about the veg scraps and to put them in fresh. i have bedded them in leaf mulch/compost and garden soil topped with wet leaves i raked up in fall. now i'll start feeding banana peels, fruit and veg scraps.
I'm so glad you found the video helpful!! I like to freeze my veggie scraps as well to help break them down a bit for the worms, when they thaw out, they turn to mush. I started my outdoor worm bin with bait worms as well!! It is fun to see a little population get super big over time!! Sounds like your worms are in good hands!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Cool experiment, Patrick! My money is on the coconut flour. The closest I’ve come to feeding nuts is shaking out the crumbs in the bottom of a nut bag into a worm bin. I know the nuts disappear, but I don’t know how long it takes! Looking forward to the results of your experiment.
~ Sandra
Thanks Sandra!! Coconut flour makes cents with its sugar content & fluffy easy to digest texture!! Ok, so that's good you've fed them nuts. I don't think I ever have so I'm glad you let me know they at least have eaten the crumbs!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Now that's a feeding !!
Interesting to see all the castings on the side on the bin. I've thanks to you and Urban Worm Bag bro, not a big deal, especially with Blue worms. Apparently they really like the condensation build up on the side of the bin.
They're gonna destroy all 4 of those things !!
Let's go Patrick and Autumn!!
Cheers J&C 🌱🪱🌱
Autumn saved me from myself with that feeding!! Worms use moisture as a super highway of exploration so any bin with a lid that retains some moisture will have explorers. I'm hoping they chow down on the potential worm chow quick!! I can't wait to make the mixture and use it!! Have a great week J&C!! Thanks for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost awesomeness brother, you can copy and paste this response to our latest video (don't even need to watch it) and go watch Manda Moos video !! I tried to help but she needs some O'Brien magic !! She butchers you channel name like I do 🤣🤣🤣
You're bins going to be full steam ahead now !!
Cheers you two !!
J&C 🌱🪱🌱
@@clivesconundrumgarden 😂🤣😂I'll check both out now!!
@@Vermicompost saw your suggestions!! Awsomeness brother !!
What I do with some items that have moisture but I want to grind down, is set it in the sun on the porch. I cover it netting. It dries it out, also I’ve put them in the oven on low temp. It’s very helpful. FYI, one of the reasons it’s not suggested to give citrus is due to the oils in the rind, same as avocado, something about the way oils could coat the worms, thus disabling them from breathing through their skin. I have found that in moderation, there isn’t anything I can’t give my worms, however there are times I prefer to put some foods in my city green bin strictly because I don’t want to smell it or deal with it within a week. If I’m going on vacation or going to be busy for 3 weeks or more, then it’s anything goes! Lol
That's a good point...most anything in moderation but some stuff is better left in a regular compost pile or city green bin if your city has one (mine does not just paper/cardboard/plastic recycling.) I didn't even think to roast the nuts!! That would probably have made a difference...I'm on day 2 with the experiment and let's just say the results are a bit surprising, but as of now the pine nuts are not a worm favorite!! Thanks so much for passing on your experience & knowledge!! And of course thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Anything damp like those pine nuts would clump up your worm Chow. Because they will never dry. Oil won't dry. I would leave them out and maybe give them as a special treat. I will be watching to see the next video on this one!
That's a good idea...as a special treat may be the best place for these pine nuts!! Thanks for watching and passing on good info Cookie!!🪱🪱🪱
High fat things, like nuts, that are commercially turned into flours, are generally de-fatted, to stop that clumping, and to extend shelf life. When you want to grind nuts, it's best to pulse them in very short bursts, and let them cool, because it's the heating from the grind that brings out the oils. Also, because you're wanting to make this into a chow, you can add to something that has no/little fat, like oats, and pulse with that, so it absorbs any fat that does leach in the process. Even my egg shells get hot when I grind them, so nuts are always going to do that too. You're a bonnie couple, btw 😀
Thank you so much we appreciate the kind words!!
When I started to blend it, I tried to give it a good shake, but I didn't even think of the heat making it clump up even worse as it helped extract the oils!! It was probably too far gone when I tried to pulse it as the concoction was all stuck around the blades!! I'm on day 2 and it's not going much better for the pine nuts in the worm bin🤣😂🤣 I'll probably give a sneak peak in a post on my community tab because it is quite a sight!! I like your idea of using oats to mix in when I blend stuff...they blend so easy and come out so well for me!! Thanks for all your help and tips!! And of course thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
If you put a piece of PVC pipe in between each tray like a spacer it will prevent it from compacting stand the PVC up and drill lots of holes in the PVC you'll get a lot more space in each level
That sounds like a good rig to hold up the tray. Are the worms are able to still transition between trays as well if/when the bedding settles and creates a gap underneath? I've noticed the trays are tapered, does using spacers create big gaps on the sides? I suppose it wouldn't matter because the worms will avoid the dry air between the tray sides. I need to try this on one of my trays so I can see the difference!! Thanks for the suggestion & thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Should try some silken tofu (soft soy protein). The worms seem to like the soy ink used in newsprint especially the young hatched worms...seeking protein.
Very interesting!! I have some miso, do you think that will work? Thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
I will be waiting for the results, I just set aside some pistachio nuts that went totally stale. I'm guessing that the coconut flour will be going the quickest.
The results should be interesting! I may leave out the pin nuts in my worm chow concoction unless I see a significant chow down on them. Or I'll use a very small ratio of nuts to grains to keep the worm chow "flow-ie." Some commenters have said they feed nuts to their worms with no problems. Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Hey man, love your channel. I have that same vermi hut system. I bought 1/2 lb red wrigglers. They said that was 600 worms. I bought your shredder with the affiliate link. I have a question about reproduction. I think you said you have about 4000 worms in that setup. How long does it take the worms to like double in population assuming I feed them similar to what you are doing. I don’t ever see tight balls of worms like you do, but they are eating what I put in there.
Oh wow!! Thank you so much for watching and supporting me through my affiliate link!! I went a little overboard and started this system with 2000 worms...I think I very quickly, within about 3-4 months reached its carrying capacity of about 4000 worms. I could have more worms in there but based on the size of the trays and how they look in the bin, 4-5K is probably the limit as they self regulate their populations. You can expect their population to double the first 2-3 months and then double again easily in another 1-2 months as the first worms continuously lay cocoons. A typical baby worm to mature cocoon laying adult lifecycle is around 2 months. If you see the food gone at each feeding continue to increase the amount of food you feed as well as continuing to add more bedding. If you start to see a few left overs like a banana peel or apple slice/core after 7-10 days then stay with that amount. If you feed like that I would think after 7-8 months you will be at or close to the carrying capacity of the VermiHut. My trays are on a 60 day cycle of rotation and they travel up in mass to any new tray I put on top very quickly (5-7 days). I hope this helps get an idea of how fast you can expect the worms to "fill" the VermiHut. Mine filled pretty quickly because I started with so many but my outdoor bin kept doubling in size about every month and a half until it reached 6000 worms!! Thanks again for all your support, I'm looking forward to checking out your videos!! I'm fascinated by bees & I'm a wanna be suburban homesteader!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost hey thanks for the response. Sounds like I’m doing something wrong. I think maybe they were too hot in my garage. I moved them inside my barn in a room with AC that I have set on 85. I also noticed there is a little bit of warmth from active composting. I have an inoculation tray below with the cardboard so I’ll flip them after this last feeding and see how many are actually in there. Maybe they are just all spread out. I like your idea using those grow bags. I might do that too if I can get some more worms going. I’ll have to bring it Inside in the winter though here in Central OK. Thanks again. Oh, I have a wildlife channel as well, “Game Cam Wildlife”. All shot on my ten acres in central Oklahoma. It’s amazing the wildlife I have in this small space. Take care man and keep on wormin.
I think you are right, they probably spread out with it being a little too hot around the food when it gets a little too warm. The grow bags make for an awesome grow bag!! I spent a lot of time in Altus, OK when I was in the Air Force...I don't think I've ever been hotter than trying to preflight an airplane in summer in Altus, OK!! Central OK is much better!! I'll check out your other channel as well!!
I have tons of weird expired flours (never again going to ask a guest in advance if they have food restrictions 😂.... long story) Someone claiming to be both gluten and dairy intolerant! So am very interested how this turns out so can get rid of these.
🤣😂🤣 I remember whatever I cooked being good, but apparently not good enough where I made the recipe again!! Thanks for the good laugh and of course for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Oohhoo I can see huge wormies....apple and juicey things good for them..lots of worms in this tray..I can see
This is a really productive worm tower for sure!! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch my friend!!🪱🪱🪱
I like the worm chow experiment 😁🪱
I’m thinking about getting a worm tower. It may not be soon. But I’m thinking about it. With the Delaware Master Gardeners we do talks with elementary school kids. They mentioned about composting and vermicomposting to show to the kids. But it won’t be for about another year, so it gives me time to grow the bin out.
Thanks!! I'm a big fan of worm towers, I've only tried the VermiHut but getting 10 Lbs of castings every 60 days (after you get 3-4 trays up and running) is almost like a conveyor belt popping off product in regular intervals...a huge plus!! They also keep the castings & bedding at the right moisture level 100% of the time no matter what stage of life the bin is in. I don't think you can go wrong with getting a worm tower!! Thanks so much for stopping by Rick!!🪱🪱🪱
I grind my nuts with oats, bird seed, expired rice, beans and quinoa. There is still a little clumping but far less than nuts by themselves.
Thanks for the tip on how you do it!! I'm guessing the more dry stuff to less nuts ratio makes for a better consistency as well? I knew I was in bad shape as soon as I turned on the blender🤣 Thanks so much for the help and thanks for taking the time to watch!!
@@Vermicompost yes I use mainly other non fatty grains to 10:1 or less. Usually less.
Thank you for the ratio!!
My worms love almond flour.
Great to know, it's my first time trying almond flour!! Thanks for passing on the info & thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Hiya wormie friend!!! Ohhhh worms straight up!!! Yeeeeew!!! Oh I love this four corner experiment! These worms are living a very “woke” diet of nutritious food!! I think pine nuts are just very high in oil so it wouldn’t have mattered what you used, it would turn into pine nut butter!!! Hahahaha take care guys and have an awesome week!!! 💝🌼🌻🌻☮️🙌🏼
Hellloooo Anita! I love when the first handful digs up a red spaghetti noodle handful of worms!! This really goes to show how much our fad diets lasted...not very long at all🤣😂🤣 Yes, I started to get very bad at making worm chow out of the pine nuts, but very good at making pine nut butter😀 I hope you all are doing fabulous and turning the corner on winter!!! Have a wonderful rest of your week!! Thanks so much for watching!!!🪱🪱🪱
Do you put paper on the bottom of your feeding tray so they don’t go into your enoculating tray or not
I tried that once and it got matted down within the holes and along the bottom, so I stopped. The dry bedding acts as a natural deterrent until it becomes wet enough for them to go exploring in it, so I just leave it up to them to figure out! When I rotate my trays I do find worms through out the now super damp inoculating tray. Great question!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost thank you sir
Over time you'll notice more blues than reds I try and separate them..
I started with a mix of Blues and Reds in this bin a little over two years ago and it seems like sometimes there are more blues than reds and then other times there seems to be more reds than blues even though it is an indoor bin and the temperature is pretty stable! I thought the Blues might totally outcompete the Reds but they seem to have found a good balance so far. I wasn't expecting Blues when I bought these particular worms...I have two other bins that I keep just Red Wigglers in as they are my favorite for sure!! Thanks so much for watching and letting us know how you manage your bins!!
Do you wash your egg shells before drying?
I rinse them out to get any gelatinous egg remnants out but nothing too thorough. I let them dry out completely in the sun or on my countertop and then just through them in a jar waiting to be pulverized! I hope this helps!!! Thanks so much for watching Jeanne!!🪱🪱🪱
This is what I did for almost 2 years before to put together the "perfect " worm chow
That's fantastic!! Experimentation is the best way to perfect a product!! Thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
How do you keep the flies away, mine gets fruit flies.
I've never had any trouble in this VermiHut Worm tower, but I do use water from my rain barrel which has a mosquito dunks puck in it to mist and water in my other worm bins. The mosquito dunks do a fantastic job of taking care of flying insects (gnats, fruit flies) long term as they disrupt the larva stage of their life cycle...you just have to get get through part where there are still some fruit flies around until they die off or you vacuum them out of your bins. But ultimately after you start using that water with the mosquito dunks you will not have problems in your bins! Here is an amazon link to see they are: amzn.to/3QIGEPd I hope that helps! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Thank you very much for your, response, that sounds great, I have some on hand ,I never thought of it working on flies, I will try it, have a wonderful day by the way you have a great Chanel.
My pleasure! Thanks for the kind words!!
blend with water?
That is definitely an option, but I find my VermiHut retains the perfect amount of water from the food scraps...but for my outdoor bins that might work out real well!! Thanks for passing on a great suggestion and of course thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
I am from Kanyakumari, India. Am going to start my first vermicompost tank day after tomorrow. I have been filling the tank with layers of dry mango leaves and then fruits/ vegetables for more than a 60 days. I have made 6 layers till now. After each layer I add diluted cow dung on to the layer. I am going to introduce the worms day after tomorrow(African). My question is do I need to add work chow for my tank? Is it mandatory?
That sounds like a great setup yo have for your worms! You do not need worm chow for your worms at all. It sounds like you have plenty of food for them, in fact they may take a while to eat all that food as they get used to your worm tank. If you ever have expired grains like flour or sugar or dry rice, instead of throwing it away you could grind it up and feed it to the worms as a worm chow, but this is not necessary, just a way to use what we would throw a way. Some worm breeders feed their worms only worm chow to make them fatter with the carbohydrates. Thanks so much for asking a great question!! I'm very interested to hear about how your worms do with your great setup in the future!! Thanks so much for watching from beautiful Kanyakumari, India!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost wow... Wow... Wow... I didn't expect such a detailed answer. Thanks a lot. My tank is 3ftx6ftX3ft one.
Oh wow!! That is going to hold a lot of worms!! Once the population rapidly expands it will be able to consume lots of bedding/leaves and food scraps!! Good luck my friend!!
@@Vermicompost I have 2 such tanks. Now one is ready for worm introduction. Planning to use 1kg of african. Will it be enough?
Planning to populate the next tank with the reproduced worm after 3-4 months.
I think that is a good plan! 1kg of ANC's is plenty to get started; your containers can probably hold 5-6kgs or more but they will reproduce rapidly! Given the right conditions they can double the population every 2 months or so.