[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Vermicompost info from www.cts.com/~netsales/greenhut/



Forwarded message:
X-within-URL:http://www.cts.com/~netsales/greenhut/gvcathom.htm
Subject:gvcathom.htm

                           VERMI COMPOSTING AT HOME
                                       
  INSTRUCTIONS FOR VERMI COMPOSTING RECYCLER & RAISING EARTHWORMS
   
   These instructions are included with our worm bins and live worms.
   They are reproduced here to help out those with a serious interest in
   worms.
   
    CONGRATULATIONS!
    
      You have taken a giant step towards helping yourself and the world
      recycle its organic wastes. By recycling wastes mother natures way, you
      are putting the most beneficial possible ecological forces to work on all
      of our behalfs. No need to worry about it working, recycling organic
      wastes into plant food via worms is a time tested technology, now many
      millions of years old. In the agricultural world it is known as Vermi
      Composting.
      
      These instructions are for the single or double bin, the following simple
      guidelines will help you use your recycler to help convert your organic
      wastes into the worlds greatest plant food, castings. The castings can be
      used to feed any type of plant at any stage of its life; from seeds to
      giant trees..
      
      Click here to return to Green Hut Home Page. Click on any of the
      following items to see more:
      
          + Bedding
          + Vermiculture In Bins
          + Materials To Vermi Compost 
          + What Not To Vermi Compost 
          + Feeding the worms 
          + Temperature 
          + Atmospheric Humidity
          + Casting Cycle
          + Worm Growth 
          + Harvesting Castings 
          + Castings 
          + Using Castings
          + Top Dressing
          + History
          + Specialized Information
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
      Bedding
      
   Bedding material for startup and future re-starts can be; Canadian
   peat moss (US peat is too tough & stringy), yard clippings, animal
   manure, (not fresh), dead leaves, wood shavings, newspaper (torn up
   and soaked in water).
   
   Garden and yard clippings should have "aged" beyond the green stage.
   Any moistened organic material can be used for bedding. Look around,
   there is usually plenty nearby, inside or outside of your house. Just
   use your imagination.
   
   The bedding and worm food (organic wastes) should be kept damp, almost
   wet. When you first place the worms into their new home, (their
   bedding) they will burrow into the bedding in a short time, 5 to 15
   minutes. They may arrive in a clump and may clump from time to time in
   your bin. This is nothing to worry about. They will still go about the
   business of recycling your wastes, reproducing and producing castings
   as expected.
   
      Vermiculture In Bins
      
   These instructions are for either the single or double bin. Now,
   getting down to it, the following simple guidelines will help you use
   your recycler featuring Lumbricus rubellus worms to help convert your
   organic wastes to the worlds greatest plant food, castings. The
   castings can be used to feed any type of plant at any stage of its
   life; from seeds to giant trees.
   
   Bedding: Bedding material for startup and future re-starts can be;
   Canadian peat moss (US peat is too tough & stringy), yard clippings,
   dead leaves, wood shavings, newspaper (torn up and soaked in water).
   Garden clippings should have "aged" beyond the green stage. Any
   moistened organic material can be used for bedding. Look around, there
   is usually plenty nearby, inside or outside of your house. Just use
   your imagination. The bedding and worm food (organic wastes) should be
   kept damp, almost wet.
   
   When you first place the worms into their new home, (their bedding)
   they will burrow into the bedding in a short time, 5 to 15 minutes.
   They may arrive in a lump and may clump from time to time in your bin.
   This is nothing to worry about. They will still go about the business
   of recycling your wastes as expected. Their desire for large family
   meetings is nothing to be concerned about.
   
   Double bins: Follow above bedding instructions but remove the top bin
   first. Put the bedding into the bottom, (main) bin. Put the top bin
   back into the bottom bin when the castings have reached a point that
   they can touch the bottom of the top bin with only a small amount of
   compression. Then feed the Wiggles family by placing the food into the
   top bin.
   
   The family will work their way up into the top bin, and by the time it
   is full of castings, harvesting of the castings in the bottom bin will
   be extremely easy. Just dump those castings into whatever container
   you will use for castings storage or put the castings to use
   immediately. Then dump the material, including the worms, from the top
   bin into the bottom bin. Leave the top bin aside and continue to
   recycle normally.
   
      Materials To Vermi Compost
      
   Your little recyclers can be fed all forms of food waste, animal
   waste, (yes, dog & other pet droppings too), yard & garden waste,
   paper, cardboard too wet to recycle otherwise, (plant and root
   material are OK but not too much dirt),etc.
   
   Don't worry about how nasty some waste matter may seem to be, worms
   have strange tastes. In fact, they are at their highest level of
   activity, consuming and procreating with glee when recycling cow
   manure or sewage sludge.
   
      What Not To Vermi Compost
      
   Do not feed the worms; onions, citrus & other acidic foods, metals,
   foils, plastics, chemicals, oils, solvents, insecticides, soaps,
   paint, etc. Also, avoid oleanders and other poisonous plants,(if you
   are unsure about a plant species, ask a nurseryman). All these things
   are toxic to worms. Note; Onions are so bad the earthworms will
   actually crawl away under any horrible conditions to get away from
   them.
   
      Feeding the worms
      
   The worms will need a little help from you in the preparation of some
   of the materials. Be sure the overall mix, (or any individual waste),
   is moist, about like a blueberry muffin or sponge cake. Most food
   waste can be put directly onto the worm bed just as it comes from the
   table. Just scatter it around the top of the bed.
   
   Before feeding, the waste matter can be mixed together or not,
   whichever is easier for you. Avoid soaking or flooding and by all
   means keep the worms out of the rain. They will drown and/or scatter
   all over under rainy or humid conditions. Under conditions of high
   humidity, it is best to place a 40 watt light bulb over the bed to
   prevent fleeing. The earthworms "crawl" whenever the atmospheric
   humidity is high.
   
   Sautéed mushrooms, watermelon and cherries topped with bread, beef,
   herring, candy and banana peels make a scrumptious meal for the
   versatile little creatures. Coffee grounds too, they love the grounds.
   Grinding (via a blender or food processor) or cutting things up to
   1/4" size particles or smaller will speed recycling time by up to 50%.
   Don't bother to bury the waste since they will come up for it, plus,
   it is easier for you to see when it is all recycled, and thus, feeding
   time again. Spread the material around, but not too evenly, leave the
   little recyclers room to "pull back" from the food when they feel like
   it. A loose coat of food up to 2" high is OK.
   
      Temperature
      
   It is best to keep your recycler in the garage, or anywhere else that
   will protect it from high & low temperatures, rain and other inclement
   weather conditions. The worms are at their best in productivity and
   virility between 60 & 70 degrees F. They slow down just as we do when
   it is 99 degrees or 45 degrees in their house. This is not necessarily
   a problem. It may not matter to you whether they finish a banana peel
   in 2 days, 7 days, or 3 weeks. Note: Earthworms will freeze and die if
   the temperature is near or below freezing.
   
   Open the cover of the recycler when it is necessary to feed the clan
   and to provide more ventilation during warm periods of the day. Leave
   the cover off when it is 80 degrees or more inside the recycler bed.
   Don't worry about "escapees", they will burrow down to get out of the
   light since they like the darkness. Nor will they flee at night if
   they are in comfortable conditions. If an occasional stray takes off,
   well, an ingrate is an ingrate. He will soon find out how harsh the
   real world is.
   
      Atmospheric Humidity
      
   It is best to always leave the cover on during periods of high
   humidity, such as when it is raining outside. A small light, (40 W)
   over the cover will keep them contained whether the cover is on or
   off. The light can also serve as a partial heat source during cold
   weather. Increase the wattage as necessary to maintain 60 to 70
   degrees F. in the bed. Leave a light on, (40W minimum), any time you
   are unsure about the humidity. Electricity is less expensive than
   repurchasing worms.
   
      Castings Cycle
      
   In single bins, try not to let the castings accumulate beyond 90% full
   point since there will be too little ventilation inside. The speed of
   recycling waste matter to castings is a function of the total weight
   of the worms, their comfort level, (temperature & moisture), vs. the
   amount of matter to recycle.
   
   By reducing the size of the waste particles, the recycling time will
   be reduced substantially. Generally speaking, 2 lbs. of worms will
   recycle 1 lb. of organic waste in 24 hours. In absolutely ideal
   conditions of comfort and ground up, moist food, they will recycle
   their own weight in wastes every 24 hours.
   
   Note: You may not want to feed them much wood, twigs, sawdust, etc.
   Those things will require a long time to break down. Grass clippings,
   leaves and such are fine. Again, remember the moisture requirements.
   
      Worm Growth
      
   The more matter you wish to recycle the more worms you need. There are
   two ways to increase the size of the herd. The first is by letting
   nature take its course and they may double in overall weight
   approximately every 12 weeks. If you do the arithmetic for a 2 year
   period, you find that the herd can grow at an astounding rate. A 1 lb.
   starter pack can expand to approx. 21 lbs. That will be a combination
   of count and individual growth.
   
   The second way to add to the herd is to purchase additional Lumbricus
   rubellus species of worms. Order directly from us. 
   
      Harvesting Castings 
      
   If you have a single bin recycler, follow these instructions. When
   your single bin recycler has filled about half to two thirds full of
   nice, dark castings it is time to harvest them out. This is a simple
   process; just put scoops of the castings into an old household
   strainer or colander,(with holes 1/4" to 3/16" dia.), and strain out
   the castings. You will want to catch them in a plastic or metal
   container for ease of further handling. As you go along, dump each
   strainer of earthworms into a separate container until you are done
   harvesting. After taking all the castings out of the recycler, dump
   the herd back into the bin, along with some new bedding and "food",
   (any handy wastes).
   
   An easier way is to scoop off the top 6" of material for re-use since
   it will contain most of the worms, eggs, etc. What is left is
   castings, ready to make all of your plants flourish. If a few worms,
   egg capsules, etc., wind up in your plants, don't worry, they can only
   do good things.
   
   If you have a double bin setup, harvesting is simplicity itself; just
   remove the top bin, put the castings from the bottom bin into a
   storage container or directly to use as a plant food or soil
   amendment. Then put some fresh bedding into the bottom bin and start
   feeding again.
   
      Castings
      
   Castings are the droppings produced by the worms as a result of the
   recycling process taking place inside the worms intestines. Castings
   are the best soil amendment known to man compared to any other natural
   or man made fertilizer or plant food. They do not have an offensive
   smell, in fact they resemble a fresh, rich planting soil, which is
   just what they are.
   
   Castings contain beneficial bacteria and these will go to work
   breaking down the nutrients in the dead organic material around the
   roots of your plants. The earth worms intestines are one of the best
   sterilizers in all of nature. On this point, if you wish to be certain
   of the sterility of the castings, they can be heated in an oven in a
   metal container to 200 degrees F. until completely dry. Any lingering
   germs and weed seeds will have been killed. Sterilization via heat is
   recommended if you are going to use the castings on food plants. There
   is a bit of controversy on this point in the agricultural world. By
   sterilizing the castings the beneficial bacteria are also killed.
   There is no pat answer, just use your judgment.
   
      Using Castings
      
   For Potting; The castings can be mixed with any general purpose
   potting soil in the ratio of 1/4 castings to 3/4 potting soil. The mix
   can be used to plant anything at all in, from seeds to started plants
   to flowers, to trees. They will not burn even the most delicate of
   seeds and plants. When plants are transplanted into this mix they show
   almost no transplant shock. Do not use any other plant food for
   approximately six to eight weeks after planting anything in a castings
   mix. When the time comes to feed the plants again, use castings as a
   top dressing.
   
      Top Dressing
      
   Castings can be used as a plant food by putting one quarter inch to
   one half inch thick top dressings on your plants, lawn and garden
   about every six weeks. You will be surprised at the vigor, growth and
   health the plants derive from the castings. Do not go over one half
   inch since it would only be wasteful, it isn't necessary. Castings
   help the soil retain water thereby reducing the amount of watering
   needed. For accurate changeover of watering schedules, monitor the
   plants' soil for moisture by whatever method you have been using and
   water when they need it.
   
   If you use castings continuously, the need for insecticides will be
   reduced substantially. Vigorous, healthy plants are able to shake off
   the effects of most insects. That doesn't mean you should be any less
   vigilant, its just that you will end up using 50% to 85% less
   insecticide than you are used to.
   
      History
      
   The first known recorded results of earthworms effectiveness was in
   Egypt about five thousand years ago, the historic fertility of the
   Nile basin was due to the huge presence of earthworms. Aristotle was
   the first to point out the importance of earthworms to the earth's
   ecology & to man. Many years later, Charles Darwin spent 25 years
   researching earthworms and confirmed Aristotle's writings.
   
   Today there are earthworm "writings" in every agricultural university
   library and major public library, as well as Vermi Composting projects
   all over the world. Check under agricultural and horticultural
   listings.
   
      Specialized Information
      
   For specialized applications contact us directly. If you need to
   recycle small or large amounts of any organic waste, any single
   residential or commercial component such as manure, bread, fat, grass,
   food waste, leaves, tree cuttings, sewage sludge, waste paper fibers,
   etc., we can help. We have instructions, equipment, and management
   plans available for the most efficient and economical methods of Vermi
   Composting any volume of any type of organic waste.
   
      GOOD RECYCLING, GOOD GROWING & GOOD LUCK!
      
      Go to The Catalog or return to Green Hut Home Page
        ____________________________________________________________________
      
    Copyright 1995 Green Hut
    Produced by Net Sales, LLC netsales@cts.com
    1719 Tacoma Lane, Vista, CA 92084 USA
    orders (800) 388-7800
    phone (619) 631-2890
    fax (619) 631-1687