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organic_kiki

Help! Yikes........

20 years ago

I decided today would be the day to harvest sooooo as I type my bin is dumped on the tarp in the yard. The coir still has a bit of a coirlike look and feel to it, but darker. I do see worms, big worms and little, fat and skinny, fast and slow. I looked closely at 2 coffee filters and it is full of teeny tiny WHITE worms. They do not look like maggots, but like tiny, white Red Wigglers.....are they wigglers or something else? I covered them over in case they are indeed good worms. They are maybe 1/4 inch long and skinny looking and white. I have wondered if my worm population went down due to I don't know what.....I suspect shock from shipping and then cold from the basement They were on the porch till cold weather and then went downstairs....I don't know how many may be under this heap. I already have about 1 gallon of 'dirt' separated and now am letting them move toward the center. I won't know till the end how many actual wigglers are in there.

Kiki

Comments (4)

  • 20 years ago

    Kiki..sounds like "potworms". They are good guys, and telling about what's going on in your bin.
    Go to : happydranch.com and look at their "invertebrate" page.

  • 20 years ago

    Thanks, I had just found a thread about potworms, but it did not give much info. Okay, I hurried the process along as I began to imagine the worms wiggling thru the tarp and off into the mole tunnels. As I suspected I did not have an overabundance of worms which is why I let them go for about 8 months without harvesting. They always looked healthy, but never appeared to have multiplied much....maybe they have a math disability. I always wondered about the coir. It was mixed with just a bit of shredded paper. There was no visible paper in the bin today and most of the coir looked different, but there were some 'lumps' that when crumbled looked much the same as day 1. I can say that it seemed to be great for moisture as I never had liquid come out of the bin and it was never too dry...at least according to how I understood the quidelines. I fed heavy on coffee grounds and used lots of eggshells as those are what I have a lot of. I did give them other things, tho, but not every time I fed. They do love mushy bananas. Today, I made up this summers bin of shredded paper, shredded leaves, dryer lint and a handful of Bumper Crop and, of course, the coir that the small mass of worms was in. I dampened it all, added the worms and poured a can of Libby's pumkin into a cabbage leaf and covered it beside the worms. The bin is sitting in the yard with the lid cracked as I remember how badly they wanted to escape when I got them. I will probably put them on the porch under the light at night for a while to try to encourage them to stay in the bed.
    If anything I have done sounds unhealthy for the worms will someone please let me know quickly? Thanks.

    Now as for the castings, they are on the tarp spread out to dry and then I will put them in a bucket, I think I have about 2 gallons. Should I use this as a fert for my flowers, just scratch in a couple spoons around the plants or what.
    Sorry to be so long, never tried this before, thank you for any help.
    Kiki

  • 20 years ago

    Well, I had 6 gallons of castings, wow! How should I store them?

  • 20 years ago

    Vermicompost is full of beneficial biology and should be stored moist and in a way that allows air.

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