Worm juice

[Hydroponics Curacao]

Hi,

I've started my worm compost bin again with new bedding. Which is a mixture of newspapers and dry leaves. Now everyday I pour a little bit of water on the bin to keep it moist. And the water then comes out through the drainage holes below. I've put a bin below to capture the worm juice. Now I see this water in the bin below. Is this the worm juice maybe?

[Hydroponics Curacao]

I used it raw

[Jason Eaton]

Thanks for the information Converse. Thats a great post.

[Bradly]

Converse.... Bradly from southern California here.

I was wondering what a good link for me to read would be... in setting up a worm growing situation.

I would use the worms in the AP grow beds...and also the worm "droppings" :-)  in my regular in the ground veg. garden.

I'm thinking maybe feeding a worm or 2 to the tilapia every once in a while as a treat too.

Any or all of these ideas too far out there?

Bradly

 

[Converse]

Greetings Bradley,

    You are not "too far out there" at all.   Many people feed their worm to their fish, and also harvest the castings to make worm casting tea. We do that at our place too.

   We are in the process of getting our farm website up.  Farming keeps getting in the way of that.  Like TCLynx has pointed out many times on this forum, those who are busy farming do not really have a lot of time to spend on the internet...they are actually doing the farming...as is the case with us.  In addtion to our redworm farming endeavor, we just upgraded out quail operation too, getting the eggs out in restaurants and stores...So our website just is not ready for a public debut just yet.  I will be happy to send you some Word Doc. files with the information on it that we are putting on our site  though.  This information should answer your questions.  I'll send you a 'friend request' so I can get the info to you.

   At our place, our redworms  are food for our fish, & our farm fowl.  The worm castings (or, "droppings") feed our plants - the in-ground garden.  We actually cut out the middle part of the equation and are growing our in-the-ground vegetable garden right in some of our wormbeds. Wow! Does it give amazing  results.! No tilling needed.  No taking the worm castings from a separate pile and moving it to a garden spot. Redworms only eat dead and decaying matter, so your plants and roots are safe in a wormbed.  We even over-winter carrots in our wormbeds with no problems.

   You can set up a 'worm growing' situation in a bucket, in bins, in  a garbage can.  You can also create a wormbed on the ground.  It can be a fancy raised bed or just a lump on the ground.  The redworms really do not care what it looks like, as long as their needs are met.

  Hopefully our website will be ready for public debut soon.  We'd hoped to have it up ealier, but actually doing the farming takes priority.

  I'll be glad to help out where I can with providing the info. to you.

- Converse

Converse.... Bradly from southern California here.

I was wondering what a good link for me to read would be... in setting up a worm growing situation.

I would use the worms in the AP grow beds...and also the worm "droppings" :-)  in my regular in the ground veg. garden.

I'm thinking maybe feeding a worm or 2 to the tilapia every once in a while as a treat too.

Any or all of these ideas too far out there?

Bradly

 

[Bradly]

You are too kind. Thank you for the tips...I'll open up that "friend" notice right now and do what it tells me  :-)

I really like the idea of the worms being in the garden... also have some big container boxes with water resevoirs underneath so there is always moisture doen at the bottom...I might try those boxes too along with the dirt.

Bradly

 

Converse said:

Greetings Bradley,

    You are not "too far out there" at all.   Many people feed their worm to their fish, and also harvest the castings to make worm casting tea. We do that at our place too.

   We are in the process of getting our farm website up.  Farming keeps getting in the way of that.  Like TCLynx has pointed out many times on this forum, those who are busy farming do not really have a lot of time to spend on the internet...they are actually doing the farming...as is the case with us.  In addtion to our redworm farming endeavor, we just upgraded out quail operation too, getting the eggs out in restaurants and stores...So our website just is not ready for a public debut just yet.  I will be happy to send you some Word Doc. files with the information on it that we are putting on our site  though.  This information should answer your questions.  I'll send you a 'friend request' so I can get the info to you.

   At our place, our redworms  are food for our fish, & our farm fowl.  The worm castings (or, "droppings") feed our plants - the in-ground garden.  We actually cut out the middle part of the equation and are growing our in-the-ground vegetable garden right in some of our wormbeds. Wow! Does it give amazing  results.! No tilling needed.  No taking the worm castings from a separate pile and moving it to a garden spot. Redworms only eat dead and decaying matter, so your plants and roots are safe in a wormbed.  We even over-winter carrots in our wormbeds with no problems.

   You can set up a 'worm growing' situation in a bucket, in bins, in  a garbage can.  You can also create a wormbed on the ground.  It can be a fancy raised bed or just a lump on the ground.  The redworms really do not care what it looks like, as long as their needs are met.

  Hopefully our website will be ready for public debut soon.  We'd hoped to have it up ealier, but actually doing the farming takes priority.

  I'll be glad to help out where I can with providing the info. to you.

- Converse

Converse.... Bradly from southern California here.

I was wondering what a good link for me to read would be... in setting up a worm growing situation.

I would use the worms in the AP grow beds...and also the worm "droppings" :-)  in my regular in the ground veg. garden.

I'm thinking maybe feeding a worm or 2 to the tilapia every once in a while as a treat too.

Any or all of these ideas too far out there?

Bradly

 

[Bob Rogers aka The White Lion]

I would have to say that’s a BIG NO ! … Worm leachate from a Vermiculture unit is almost black like a very strong cup of dark coffee.  What you have in the picture looks more like water that has been sitting in cardboard and other paper waste.

Again, worm tea is very, very black like coffee or “ Blackstrap Molasses ” and it is a great nutrient rich source of food for your plants. When you use it for your plants, you will want to dilute it with a little water.  It is also good for foliar feeding of your plants and can help to fight fungus and other pest issues.

There are several sites on the internet that can provide good information on growing worms. There are also several good books on the subject as well.

Once you see the Worm leachate, you'll never forget what it looks like. It also has a great deal to do with what you feed your worms. You shouldn't be having to add any water to your worm beds if you are feeding them properly. The Leachate will eventually come from the moisture in the waste material you feed your worms, unless all your feeding them is paper. A paper only diet does not a happy worm make.They need some yummy foods, like veggie cuttings, grass clippings molding and rotting friut. If your short of these things, drop by your local supermarket and talk to the person in the veggie department. Find out what they do with the bad and rotten veggies and fruits. You can probably take some of it home to feed your worms !

[TCLynx]

Remember Bob,

that worm leachate is very different from worm tea.

I would be a bit cautious about using leachate from a worm bin to spray on my plants since as Converse so aptly says, it is the peatry dish effect.

If you want to spray something on your plants, brew up a good aerated worm tea from the finished worm castings.

Now if you are collecting the drippings from under a good worm bin and you are keeping those drippings very well aerated (as in air stones constantly running in the pools under your worm bins), they may be ok to use depending on what you feed your worm bin.