An Amazing Vertical Garden Powered by Worms!

Fabian Toro from / darknectarcooperative gives me a tour of their vertical garden system that is powered by worms. It's like hydroponics only worms provide some of the food, call it vermiponics. Each Food Mural is powered by the Worm Tap.
Learn more about the Worm Tap. • The Best Vermicompost ... . The Worm Tap might be the easiest to use worm-composting system in the world. It and the worms do all the work. No time wasted sorting out castings. Just add scraps and get worm tea for your garden. The system integrates nicely with their food mural - • Simple DIY Vertical Ga... Learn more about the inner workings in this video - • Super Easy Worm Compos...
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[@maderightamerica3216]

We are looking for a (closed) system that is not reliant on having to constantly go buy some kind of plant fertalizer to feed our plants. Your system is exactly what we're looking for. Already watched two of your videos and we love what we see. if we only had one word to describe your vermiponic system that word would be "AWESOME" 👍🏽👍🏽

[@GardenerScott]

Interesting and innovative vertical gardening. Thanks for sharing.

[@thisorthat7626]

I am planning my greenhouse and wanted to utilize more vertical space. This is my answer!! Thank you Fabian.

[@bigsqueegee2516]

I have been working with a system like this for about 5 years. I don't use the teapot and have had pretty good results. It's interesting and has given me some ideas for improving my own system. Thanks for sharing.

[@benthere8051]

Good find, Diego! Thanks.

[@Squick99]

If I could make a recommendation - seal your end caps. Around the 4:30 point in the video you have worm tea continuously dripping onto the lettuce leaf, right up to harvest time.

[@broadforkacres4844]

This is a badass system!

[@xxtranZerxx]

Thanks for finding and sharing such interesting topics Diego! Kind regards...

[@21Ginko]

This is fantastic!

[@vgreengarden9164]

Awesome, we are facing a problem about growing space. Your video has solved my problem. Thank you so much for sharing this video.

[@user-hq8bq9vx6n]

this out of sight !!!!!!! Great job i really love the worm tea cabinet!!!!!

[@toxicrune]

This is incredible. I love this.

[@danielallen8011]

This is the future! No chemical salts that have to be dumped and no commercial toxic fish food for fish. Adding some ammonia from aged urine should give a big boost.

[@mimo1767]

Next level. You guys know what's up. Great work.

[@richstone2627]

Now this is really cool.

[@honeycaffena4897]

Terrific story!!

[@claytonlynch6288]

That dude's the ultimate hipster farmer

[@chrisl7608]

Microbrew worm compost

[@DaveSmith-cp5kj]

lol I was thinking the same. He even has the scarf tied around his neck.

[@misaventuras6995]

Complicated but ingenious, and better than traditional hydroponic.

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Can I say .. Totally awesome? I would like to see more people moving away from high population centers, and living close to where their food is produced, but some people will still need to live in cities, and there is no reason why, if they can't go to where the food is, that the food production cannot be brought to where THEY are - and what a great way to do it!

[@thisorthat7626]

Jason Avers, and it is easier protect the plants from predators when they are all lined up like that. I like it.

[@rameshu01]

Very interesting and encouraging will try to implement 👍

[@HayleeBaely]

Amazing! Great solution and demonstration. I love how accessible this process is on varied scale. I will definitely prefer this to a home aquaponics setup now as I was held up on the aspect of directly stressing the animals. Thank you! 🥰🌱🌻🌈🥬

[@ratemyboard]

Haley Woehrle yes!

[@lloydedmonds8775]

Very cool system for space saving. Saving water saves nutrients... win/win

[@lindamcdonald6560]

Very cool!

[@1231dre]

I love it!!

[@davidsawyer1599]

Thanks Diego My issue with aquaponics has.always been the nutrient systems/sources. This is more to my liking. Now if I figure out away to hide the industrial look. See if one has worked in heavy industrial environments. The last thing they want to look at, at home is more of what they work with and around. I know,I know first world problems.

[@firehorsewoman414]

I agree. A functional system does not have to mean it can’t be aesthetically pleasing as well.

[@circamagoo]

inspiring!

[@jhnoakez]

This seems like a great addition to the back wall of a passive solar greenhouse.

[@thisorthat7626]

Absolutely. Can you imagine how many greens you could grow this way?

[@TheRainHarvester]

Just protect from mice.

[@user-vz8yl4xr8n]

Awesome. You got me as a subscriber.

[@metalinbothlegs4656]

cheers

[@outlaw0987654321]

This is interesting. When growing in water i always hear about hydroponics (chemical based) Aquapoinics (using fish) and aeroponics (same as hydroponics but you just spray the roots.). I'm personally going for hydroponics since dealing with both fish and even worms will be nearly impossible for me but i've never heard of this method. If you guys came up with this you should be proud of yourselves

[@13ccasto]

Very cool, I've always wondered if you could do this

[@janetanked6288]

Diego, I love how you explore, introduce and challenge so many ideas, theories and concepts in understandable format for your viewers. Thank you! Just wish you lived in 7a! So if I use water from my tropical aquariums to rinse the worm castings and put it back through the nitrogen cycle and then run it through a gutter...

[@chantallachance4905]

ingenius system, it is son NICE I like so much worms tea I have a small installation in my basement here in québec and I can have worms tea all year round for free thank you guys :)

[@thornhedge9639]

Interesting!

[@geldanem.t.5515]

Great feature Diego^_^

[@TrimTab87]

Yes!!

[@pcofranc]

Years ago when taking a tour of La Milpa Organica I was show a trash container where "tea" was made. When I was told grass was thrown in there and left to rot I asked "isn't the tea bitter?" and I was told that doesn't matter. I then said so the tea tastes ok? At which point I was told it was for the plants lol.

[@SFlaidlaw101]

Nice!

[@HassanThelander]

Many thanks - could you explain the nitrogen conversion a bit more?

[@rjohnsonxx]

This is amazing!!! I was unable to get into the website.

[@alexc1105]

Can anyone else hear it? First the violin... then the bass... then both, touch of drums, the piano... then the banjo... then the backing vocals ringing out like as if across a valley otlr a large church.... “Come.on Eileen?!" Is it a question! It's a statement? Then again.... then the lead vocals.... nobody can remember what they say until the chorus but they punch the words home like Mohamed Ali.... just to be clear: I - LOVE - THE - LOOK! Never change!

[@yusufmariogermino2360]

Wow...amazing. But have you done an analysis of the nutrient content of the tea?

[@SlackerU]

Cool Story but I'd probably use large tubs instead of the power-house. Maybe a 3x3x8 or something as I'd get annoyed searching through or trying to remember what is in what drawer. Like possibly a wicking-bed-worm-bin instead of that sump-pit & power-houses.

[@willm5814]

Seems brilliant - turn kitchen scraps back into healthy plants - thanks!

[@friemolpiemol6111]

Just build a compost heap, sow seeds in the compost, and harvest. And skip using all these plastics and wood.

[@claudielemoine4864]

Do you cover your tea reservoir? How do you keep the ratio when it rains?

[@sweetchilli6993]

thats the 1st. time i see a hydroponic system running on organic nutrients, and i like it really! It's a real cool design and how u utilized the wormbins to feed the plants ia absolutely genius. the only thing im courius is the worm compost (not the tea) did they stand any reminds or is exery bit of the compost washed out into the tea pot and if not constantley refilled the bins would run empty?

[@adiamilany8179]

Very inspiring! What are the measurements you take from the tea pot? Like aquaponics? Nitrite, Nitrate and amonia? Thank you very much for sharing this information!

[@juliusmercado9291]

What is the ph and ec of the wormtea?

[@aniketpawar18]

Great system , just one think wats worm liquid : water dilution ratio ?

[@randomgoodnessca]

Could you potentially setup a smaller system inside on a south window? Just asking for us up in northern climates.

[@tylerhutchings529]

Do you have to adjust the PH? What PH do you try to keep it at?

[@yuukpakpa]

Interesting stuff. Where do I find more information on this system. Their website seems to be down and I don't have instagram.

[@GreenLove1]

Very intriguing and ingenious. Now how to I scale this down to my home garden 🤔

[@ANDREMANIGO]

Yes, it could be interesting a small scale version for my winter production in the greenhouse. The only issue I see is that the advantage of this complex system compared to planting in the ground and covering the salad crops against frost is not so immediate. And being a water based system frost could be a great problem

[@alanmartin7729]

How much would a system cost to build to this stage?

[@claudiov.6575]

Grande Fabi!!! Is that a nail clipper beside the pen and the phone? ahahahahh

[@codysmith605]

Yes ultra hip.

[@fabiobono5513]

Great job! Have you ever noticed nutrient deficiency on the crops? How do you balance worm's diet?

[@aussieandrew]

worms eat scraps and the juice from them is all the nutrients that is needed.

[@cbonesini]

Where do you buy the channels? Thanks

[@boriswortmann666]

You mention the microbiology containing bacteria as well as Fungi. What F/B ratio do you obtain in you system?

[@slaplapdog]

Is there a medium like gravel in the "teapot" for the nitrifying bacteria to live in?

[@DiegoFooter]

Yes, Hydroton in bags.

[@lukecarneal3227]

Incredible video! What media are you using? I'm trying to move away from the rapid rooter/horticube for a more truly organic medium. Also - hello Diego from a former interviewee! Thanks for continuing to put out great material.

[@fabiantoro9898]

we start our seeds in ellepots and from there they pop straight into the channels

[@ElectricBoogaloo007]

Forellenschluss

[@Steve-cn5up]

Great video as always! I love seeing sustainable operations like these as it gives me hope in our future. I've always thought there was a fair bit of denitrification that went on within worm bins and hence their relatively low nitrogen castings. I'm curious how much nitrogen ends up in their solution? Also, were they able to get OMRI certified with this operation?

[@kendalbyron5648]

hey good day how's this system going? any updates on it I'd like to transition my hydroponic system to organic using worm tea and i wanna know if it makes sense?

[@thekroginatorsmovies5876]

Do you only use the worm tea or hydroponics nutrients as well?

[@DiegoFooter]

If you search the comments, this is answered.

[@tunkara-pu2pu]

Very interesting. How hot is your climate during summer and what % is your Shadenet?

[@DiegoFooter]

You can find climate data by searching it for Bonita, CA. That’s actually not shade net, I thought it was but it isn’t, it’s bug netting. But if it was shade not it would probably only be around 30%. You could definitely grow greens under a lot higher density net.

[@darrendwyer9981]

Hello my friend. So many people say that worm tea should not be used on food plants for hygiene reasons. What do you think. Also how do you know what the "right concentration" is. This has always been a question to me. Very clear and informative video by the way

[@DaveSmith-cp5kj]

Worms actually cleanse the soil of a lot of bad organisms (which is the only "safe" way to use poop if you have it). But it is true that the worm tea and any compost tea for that matter is toxic to humans and you will get very sick if you are exposed to it. The plant will convert it into edible form, but for example lets say you have hydroponic potatoes, you don't want to eat a fresh potato with the liquid still left on it, you want to wash it really well. You don't want the potato to be splashed with it any more than it has to either. Like people sticking their hand in the compost, don't do that. Wear a glove and use a tool like a cultivator to sift through it.

[@igrowmelons979]

Have you tried growing any other greens in the NFT channels besides lettuce? This system is awesome I could imagine a farmer bringing whole channels filled with living lettuce to a farmers market. Having people choose their own head of lettuce that you harvest right before their eyes

[@fabiantoro9898]

that's the plan! we have grown fennel, basil, bok choi and strawberries successfully in these.

[@igrowmelons979]

@@fabiantoro9898 Wow strawberries and basil could be amazingly profitable grown vertically especially during the off season. I'm an avid worm and vegetable farmer so I can't wait to try to implement this. When you say the worms provide 80% of the nitrogen the plants need is that an issue of concentration? Like if you had twice as many worm taps running the same size system could you increase the nitrogen concentration to provide 100% of the plants needs?

[@marshallscreekfarm3833]

very clever. What happens if you put fish in one of the drawers?.

[@DiegoFooter]

It would probably stink.

[@marshallscreekfarm3833]

@@DiegoFooter I was thinking of fish emulsion solution in the water.

[@kwlweapons]

What is the recommended dilution ratio for the worm tea to run the system? Interesting technique, seems to be running amazing!

[@trevorhickman6075]

@Clitckity Clank Just dilute to the EC level you need for your plants and check with a meter

[@kurt5490]

@@trevorhickman6075 balancing EC with pH in a known quantity of water to top off total volume of the system to hit target EC & pH the first time will be A LOT of algebra, trial & error. You want to hit it the first time. Microbes get killed off by pH swings. Topping off 2x/day? The attraction to vermiponics is low/no cost. But I have to wonder about adding kelp, general organics CaMg+ as pH up or nectar for the gods herculean harvest with out the grey gum as pH down or amino acids would be worth while & cost effective.

[@whatcani2]

How the amonia to nitrate work

[@kurt5490]

@@whatcani2 There are 3 types of bacteria that convert ammonium to nitrite then another converts the nitrite to nitrate. Nitrate is the form of N that plants absorb. There is a third type of bacteria that can directly convert ammonia to Nitrate, but hats an extremely specialized species. Don't let your pH drift too far from the high 6 range and you'll be fine. It's the same process as starting the nitrifying process for a fish tank.

[@gilreitsma7348]

Do you add nitrogen

[@skylerjoaquin8666]

How does he clean the lines? Them pipes gotta get gross at one pt.

[@fabiantoro9898]

Since the feed lines run intermittently we have very little issues with solid build up. For worst case scenarios, all of the channels and lines are modular and can very easily be taken apart for deep cleans. We have not had to do this as of yet.

[@skylerjoaquin8666]

@@fabiantoro9898 just curious if soil would make sense as well. Hydro soil seems to be where it's at as far as looks and taste in the cannabis world. I thought this might be the same in the lettuce world.

[@logankeech]

How does the teapot connect into the overall system? Is it functioning as the sump or is it decoupled from the growing part.

[@fabiantoro9898]

there are various sumps that power the murals inside the teapot

[@logankeech]

@@fabiantoro9898 I see that makes sense. Video wasn’t clear if teapot water was the actual water circulating undiluted through the murals. Are you regularly testing the teapot water and just adding the appropriate amount of bone meal to bump up the nitrogen and that’s it?

[@natureboy6410]

What ratio of filtered wormtea/aged urine/water would be a good base line to start on a continuous flow system, such as on the video, or in a kratky method???

[@codysmith605]

Kratky doesn't work well with organics

[@natureboy6410]

@@codysmith605 as long as its fully aged/or sterilized/ pasteurized so there is no longer any microbiological activity, and filtered properly, why wouldn't it work???

[@Gardening-FarmtoTable-andMore]

What type of plastic are you using and what number is it

[@DiegoFooter]

You can learn about the NFT channels at Crop King.

[@mimo1767]

Could you add fish or a small scale fish farm to the teapot?

[@UlTiReV]

I guess you could set up a separate fish tank and have the solids filtered and then let the water go to the teapot like most aquaponics setup. That would add ammonia and will get broken up in the bio reactor aka teapot.

[@bigsqueegee2516]

I have added fish to the worm tea to keep the misketo population in check. They seem to do well. We lost some due to them getting into the pumps.

[@Marchis117]

Question, is there any controls for outside temperature and rain into the reservoir?

[@cherylbishop7657]

How can this be done in the high deserts of OREGON ? Can you make bio gas as well 🤔. GOD BLESS FROM CHRISTMAS VALLEY OREGON

[@ratemyboard]

Same way, but you probably need a greenhouse.

[@bigdope4722]

Does it need extra supplements?

[@DiegoFooter]

Yes. Other amendments are added to supply things like nitrogen.

[@fabiantoro9898]

Hi @big dope we supplement the nitrogen with blood meal at our farm, but it is possible to run these systems with urine supplementation for personal use if you want to minimize your inputs.

[@davidsawyer1599]

I somehow find blood meal more to my liking then urine. Thank you.

[@bigdope4722]

Thanks jajaja can you use industrial urea instead of urine (it s organic no?)

[@thisorthat7626]

@@fabiantoro9898 Perfect, that is what I was thinking when you mentioned supplementing with nitrogen.

[@juliusmercado9291]

How can i tell if i have the right dilution of the worm tea?

[@fabiantoro9898]

we measure the total dissolved solids with an EC meter and regulate the concentration depending on the weather and other variables that change the plant nutrient uptake

[@UlTiReV]

@@fabiantoro9898 thanks for the reply. Is there a guide or research material looking into ec levels and variation in concentration?

[@juliusmercado9291]

@@fabiantoro9898 Thanks, care to share the EC if it is not too much too ask

[@robertduffy5805]

Regenerative Vertical Gardening - Sounds like once you are set up you don't have to spend money on chemicals to feed plants. Might work for preppers.

[@Verfolnir]

Naw. It's not a closed system. If chemicals, Calcium, Magnesium, Nitrogen, etc. are being removed from the system by removing food - They system will eventually suffer nutrient deficiencies which /will/ need to be cured by adding synthetic sourced nutrients. Sure, the worm-tea and recycling does help, but eventually some critical nutrients will be missing as they are being removed as food stuffs. Nothing comes out of the system but what that he doesn't, in some form, first put in. So you have to spend money on something. -- Physicist.

[@Loleeone]

What if the compost doesn't have the nutrients?

[@DiegoFooter]

The compost is part of the total nutrient input, not all of it.

[@fabiantoro9898]

As long as there is a steady supply of organic matter for the worms you wont run into any issues meeting 80% of your nutrient requirements. For nitrogen supplementation you can use blood meal (or other soluble nitrogen fertilizers).

[@warker6186]

p

[@Ceodayone]

Looks like a magnet for rodents

[@stevenfeil7079]

THis is funny. Running that much water through a worm bin would KILL ALL THE WORMS.

[@DiegoFooter]

Except it doesn’t. 😂 They are fine.

[@ratemyboard]

Diego Footer Thanks Diego! We’ve ran the systems for three years, and the worm population multiplies incredibly fast

[@shyniskowronski2670]

Thanks for the great information. Really liked this. Hey, you need to stop wearing your cell phone next to your heart, or anywhere on your body, that thing is going to give you a nasty heart or lung condition in time. Never keep your phone on or near your body for long periods of time.

[@alkasoli4002]

I don't like vertical garden