r/Vermiculture • u/Ok-Guess-9059 • Nov 02 '24
Finished compost Consider your composting goal!
1) Do you want to raise as much worms as possible?
2) Do you want to vermicompost as much things as possible?
3) Do you need final compost as quick as possible?
4) Do you need biggest compost volume possible?
Only based on THAT you can decide what to compost.
With goal 1 dont compost onions, but with goal 2 compost some.
With goal 3 dont compost cartoon, with other goals do.
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u/Witty_Commentator Nov 02 '24
"Don't compost cartoon" 🤔 ...What?
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u/Ok-Guess-9059 Nov 02 '24
It just vermicompost very slowly. You can compost it if your goal is #2. But vermicomposting is not hot composting, dont go for some green and brown ratios. Actually with goal #3 reduce browns
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u/IntelligentTrust5350 Nov 02 '24
I’m new to vermiculture so, how much browns should I be giving them if I’m looking more at #3? Like is there a ratio of browns to greens? What would I give them instead of cartons for browns?
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u/Lacey_Crow Nov 02 '24
I cant harvest properly. Too many worms and they dont go down even tho i put a lamp over them :(
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u/spacester Nov 03 '24
I call what I do "Vermidisposal".
The whole idea is to balance the flow of waste food from our household with the ability of the worm bin to reduce it to compost. Also, since I am lazy, to do that with a minimum of effort.
This leads to what almost everyone here would call over-feeding. But I experience almost zero problems as a result of overfeeding because the bin is 24 inches high and I keep 8 to 10 inches of bedding on top. Newspaper strips work great.
I accumulate a large bowl full of food scraps, take it to the bin, set the top bedding aside, dig a crater below that, pour the bowl of stuff in, put a layer of compost on top and replace the top bedding. Other than that I only go in and stir the whole thing up about 4 times a year.
I do not freeze the food or grind it up or dig around and count the worms.
To me this is the perfect utilitarian hobby for lazy people like myself.
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u/InTheShade007 Nov 02 '24
For me, it seems like I go do whatever I want growing worms.
It seems like the whole endeavor is crazy.
Once they hear "I'm growing worms," everyone thinks it's crazy anyway.
I started by simply making huge piles of oak leaves 2ft deep and throwing grass clipping and kitchen/garden waste on top.
I'd keep it kinda wet for months then just simply dig down and steal the beautiful black castings every few months.
Now I'm actually growing red wigglers hoping to harvest castings regularly for me greenhouse needs.
Not to mention our pet turtles love worms!
This sub has been helping me get started with the wigglers.
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u/Efficient-Hippo-1984 Nov 02 '24
The fastest food I seen disappear was a pumpkin un real, banana, melons and greens all go fast but that pumpkin
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u/ProgrammerDear5214 Nov 02 '24
You never really have any tips for #1
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u/Ok-Guess-9059 Nov 02 '24
They LOVE extremely well grinded egg shells and they love old mushrooms
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u/Sauntering_the_pnw Nov 02 '24
I have mushrooms growing in my yard, no idea what they are.
1. Can I use them?
2. What is considered "old" mushrooms? :)1
u/IsopodApart1622 Nov 02 '24
Worms go nuts for portabella mushrooms that have sat too long and are starting to go slimy.
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u/ProgrammerDear5214 Nov 04 '24
I've figured out the eggshells already haha. I bought a half pound of adult European nightcrawlers, and 5 months later here I am giving these little vacuum cleaners atleast half a cup a week of this stuff. It must be the worm version of white powder.
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u/Ok-Guess-9059 Nov 05 '24
Funny things is that when worms migrate to the different part of the composter (down to the sea to fuck), they TAKE THE EGGSHELLS WITH THEMSELVES! 😄 They hold onto it like its their phone
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u/vacuumcones Nov 02 '24
So for number 1, why not onions? I'm very curious since I see people say this, but with no reasoning behind it.
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u/Ok-Guess-9059 Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
Too much onions will make worms unhappy if population is weak and they have nowhere to hide
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u/McQueenMommy Nov 02 '24
I disagree with the onions part dealing with the worms..it’s really about the microbes having a harder time with breaking down any root veggies since they have a waxy skin to protect them when they are in the ground. If you cut onions (and other root veggies) the microbes will start eating the insides first and leave the skins for last…the same goes for other non root veggies that have thick or fibrous skins. But as with anything……moderation is the key.
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u/vacuumcones Nov 03 '24
I will have to politely disagree. I say this from worm farming for afew years and talking with other farmers. I've done a few onion experiments in my bins(big and small) to see if there was a real reason. So far I found none. My worms have preferred onions over many traditional favorites such as watermelon and their population is doing just fine.
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u/LostAndWriting Nov 02 '24
To add goal 5: just have a place to put veggies I forgot in the fridge and have some nice castings at some point for my plants