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Auburn Maine, USA

Ive been getting coffee grounds. Id like to have a couple tote bins of worms. What ratios of leaves and paper should I mix. Would night crawlers be good bought at a bait shop? Red Wiggler? Are there certain types of paper that sould not be used due to the chemicals used in the paper industry?
thanks

1/31/2007 5:06:39 PM

Bristol, ME ([email protected])

Randall, check out this article from Monty, our local BP vermiculture authority.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/HowTo/WormRaising.pdf

1/31/2007 5:11:29 PM

Montoursville, PA

You most certainly have some of the right worms already in your soil. When you improve the total either in your compost management or your soil management the right numbers of the right worms will appear like magic. You really need not grow or buy any.

To increase the speed of the worm presence you may work like the dickens to get more worms and casts. The casts are literally deposited daily in your patch from the local worms. You can not force the population to increase without also increasing the elements in the patch that will support them.

I work with aerobic teas. The exact same words can be said for the teas. The patch content must be good or improved or the biology added will simply die off to the present level of the soil to support it.

Growing the worms is fun and benificial as you add the casts to the soil or the tea derived from the casts. Somehow
we need to understand that there is no one best way to bring about this improvement.

Worm casts and worm cast tea is certainly excellent. Good compost tea is likewise. Would not a blend of the two excellent practices not produce an even better approach?
This is what I have been doing and will continue. I use so little of either product I purchase the worm casts and use known excellent local compost to make my magic brews.

Finally the quality of the many brewers enters the picture.
There are many choices. One can find the best with personal research. I do not choose to belittle less than the best because all do the same thing if they will consistantly produce the aerobic condition but there are important differences to consider.

1/31/2007 6:23:00 PM

Santa Rosa, CA

Randall,

My choice for worms in my worm bin are red wigglers. A great book on the subject is Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof. Your local library may have one or you can always try Amazon.com.

Chuck

2/1/2007 10:35:15 AM

Montoursville, PA

Chuck..........you are absolutely right. When the worms work is done on their terms you have casts. They are one of the finest additions one can make for the soil or to move on and develop an aerobic tea which is thought to be even better. When their work is done in your bins you need to rebuild the bins to support them otherwise they will die. When you put the casts into the soil your native worms which are a different worm will carry on developing the goodness in your soil. If perchance they can live in your soil you must still have the elements of unfinished compost or the elements of compost, in your soil. Many worm sites state this fact one way or another. There are many worms that differ with each other. They do different jobs in different mediums at different times in the development of the finest finished soil as well as in your compost piles.

For most of us including myself I really don't think it matters a whole lot. It is interesting to me to have realized that all of these changes take place where ever the unfinished elements of compost exist. It really does not matter what we think. The elements of the soil biology work if un poisoned in spite of our presence or efforts to help.

2/6/2007 7:29:21 AM