My web site now has been updated and more information added. I have just contibuted to the I wanrt to Build a Worm Farm thread. Have a look and you will learn how to build a cheap and very productive worm farm.
You should be a worm farmer lol. Yes I would feed smaller amounts and dig them down into the bedding. You could try Diatomaceous Earth lightly sprinkled over the top. It is a natural pesticide but it must be food grade. http://www.plantdoctor.com.au/pet-an...t-clone-2.html
The only problem I have with my beds is the dog when I put fresh manure in. Maybe a Lead sedative might help. She is still young and getting better so I shouldn't complain.
I have just started some Bokashi to feed my worms. Basically food left in an air tight container for a few weeks. I had some manure sitting in a bucket for 2 weeks and got some out today. Still stinks so might give it another week. I did however put some in some beds so tomorrow I will see if the worms are into it. If so I will do another manure run this week and start another drum off. I just got 5 full bags last week and it is all gone.
On another topic I had a bath tub full of worms down on the prperty where my daughter has her horse. Well in the recent floods it was under about 1.5 metres of water for about 2 days. The water dropped for a few hours then more heavy rain and it rose again to about 1.5m for another day or two. The end result was the worms were fine. I don't know how but I got a bag of them and bought home and they are feeding ok. Wonders never cease.
Interesting. The Aquaponics guys that use Constant Flood beds also have worms living in the growbeds besides the fact they are constantly filled with water. Something to do with how aerated the water is.
Seems now I need to manage my kitchen waste. I've been lazy, building it up over several days, freezing it, waiting and then burying it in there. The BSF get it every time. Lots flying around the garden now, food for the spiders. Amazing how hot the larvae can make their small area.
Brian, would love some more advice or suggestions.
You spoke of population reduction in other posts and strategies to complete that through casting removal and sieving. In my situation, I'm yet to buy a sieve (I despise Wesfarmers and Bunnings but use them if I have to) so recently, my bedding was lowering so I shifted all of it to one side, and filled the new side with horse manure from the side of the road ($1 a bag - take that!). Of course, most of the worms moved straight into that, and still are. On the side that was all castings, I have a few larger worms and lots of hatchlings and tiny worms. If I removed the entire casting side, would that be akin to the population control needed i.e. leaving only the feeding larger, more mature worms in the horse manure side?
I can take a photo if needed. Edit: Left side castings, right side horse manure.
Looking fairly dry so a good watering will help. Leave them for about a week and they will move across to the horse manure. I would leave it uncovered if you find the manure side is heating up. If so dig over the top 150mm every couple of days and water it. A better option would be to have gone length ways so you have a better chance of the worms migrating across.
After a week dig out the castings side and put them into the garden or another tub. The young worms will hatch out after a few weeks so you can have two farms if you wish. The other option is tip the castings onto a table under a desk lamp or on a plastic sheet on the ground in the Sun. Leave it sit for about 30 muinutes then start pulling away the castings. You will see little grape like worm eggs in there if they are breeding. Just keep slowly removing the castings till all the worms are exposed in a clump. Place the worms back into the bath tub. The lack of eggs in the bathtub will start another breeding cycle. Put the castings in you garden and cover with mulch.
You could lay stips of 70% shade cloth about 200mm wide across the tub about 150 mm apart. Put the food on the shade cloth only and cover with the cover mat. Wet layers mash is a good option. Leave this in place for about 3 days. After this time the smaller worms will be in the food after passing through the shade cloth. They can then be harvested to another bed or the garden. This is one way of keeping the worms breeding and reducing overall numbers. The remaining worms will grow bigger as a result. The young worms will grow at a rapid rate if all kept together and well fed.
I recently bought a Worm Farming Management book. Hmmm seems I am not as clever as I thought. Doesn't matter as I am learning more every day and am starting to re organize to maximise production. The book is way over the top for the average Compost Bin worm farmer but essential for anybody thinking about getting into breeding worms for sale
Last edited by briansworms; 04-04-2012 at 08:01 PM.
Okay, that mix is in no way dry, if anything it's bordering on too wet. It's just the direct flash that may be giving it that impression. I'll see if a full-size picture, one that is zoom-able will show that (...and.....it doesn't).
They have already moved into the horse manure by force, 99% of adult worms are in there and I'm also adding food to the manure side. The casting side has only hatchlings and zero food, tiny almost see-through worms and the occasional adult.
I think, judging by when you say "harvested to another bed or garden", it means that my casting side, with nothing but tiny worms could easily be harvested out, and replaced with horse manure. The current adult population on the right-hand side would, I assume, quickly move into the new bedding. Lengthways makes sense, and I will do that next time.
Edit: I just had an idea. For something different, would you like me to take a video of me digging through it so you can see?
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