Heal Your Soil - DIY Magic Soil Amendment - Red Wigglers

[@lindap9079]

Amen! to the hardest thing is getting your ecosystem up and running. I was so discouraged for most of a year. Yes, the worms were eating my garbage but I wasn't seeing harvestable castings like the KZbinrs produced. I am a small scale vegetable gardener and home canner. The worms weren't consuming the food very fast. In order to keep the food to bedding ratio right I ended up with 4 deep Rubbermaid totes. I think the key was warm temperatures. I live in the Pacific Northwest and started my worm bin in the fall. The outdoor bins were cool and developing slowly for 8-9 months before they got consistent warm weather. Now in my 2nd year, everything seems to be working well. I recently harvested 5 gallons of castings from one tub. I love your "conversational worms" Ann.

[@PlantObsessed]

I'm glad you got to the stable point. Lol trying to give the little trouble maker a voice. 😀🪱👍🏼

[@ausfoodgarden]

Yes you're in a pretty cool area compared to me and even in a warmer climate, I started in the fall so didn't get much population growth until late spring of the following year. So good that you didn't just give up like many do and you're hopefully getting good results now.

[@JhonnyCrash1]

@@ausfoodgarden I started my bin last fall. I had a couple of cocoons before winter started. Once temperatures dropped in the single digits (which is between 50 and 32 F) i noticed production slowing down significantly. When temperatures went below freezing i started placing a heat mat on top of the bin because i feared my worms would die. With higher temperatures the production increased too, however i do think the worms will slow down in the winter anyways. Maybe because the temperature isn't concistent or because the humidity changes.

[@mikkosgarden]

Great video and encouragement to not freak out with extra critters in you worm systems, Thanks for the reminder, I have to harvest my finished tray in my 360.

[@PlantObsessed]

Your system looks great 👍🏼🪱😀

[@mikkosgarden]

​@@PlantObsessed thank you. Fyi just finished emptying my finished tray. Now to set it up for more "black gold"

[@Cobbmtngirl]

My worms live in an industrial size sink. It’s perfect especially if you use the drippings as I do. I enjoy watching your channel. Thanks!

[@PlantObsessed]

Wow that is cool. I have been hatching a plan for a bath tub bin. Is yours metal? I was concerned it would bother them👍🏼🪱😀

[@Cobbmtngirl]

@@PlantObsessed I’m not sure what the sink is made of. It’s not metal. Something manufactured with rocks in it. Its super heavy.

[@Vermicompost]

Love seeing your take on the worm tower!!!! Great discussion on the benefits of worm castings for the soil and I love the little comments the worm was making as it was trying to find its way back!!🪱🪱🪱

[@PlantObsessed]

He was a sassy one for sure. I don't think I will ever make it look as easy as you and Autumn.😀🪱👍🏼

[@memprime]

I just wanted to thank you for answering all my questions previously. My worms are still surviving! 🎉

[@PlantObsessed]

Excellent 👍🏼 my goal is to make sure everyone can have a successful worm bin.👍🏼🪱😀

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

Good morning, Ann, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b 🇺🇸 This video was excellent and easy to understand 👏 ❤👏 Spring is just around the corner I'm sure you'll be happy to turn off the furnace 👍 ❤Peggy❤

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you. Funny thing is we don't actually turn off the furnace here. The only months we are sure to not get temperature low enough to kick it on are July and August. This is why all our older generations move to your state. I personally have been thinking about it for 20 years. 😀🪱👍🏼

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

@PlantObsessed it was 47°F at 5a.m. Rick left for his 3 hours of early morning photography with his favorite lake Facebook, Rick Helbling He was wearing a heavy leather jacket with a hoodie. Gloves and hand warmers. This has been a very cold February. I have a 20th century Asian Pear tree that requires 150 hours of chill time. I think it just might bloom and fruit this year 🤞 Take care, Ann ❤️Peggy❤️

[@A-V]

I was watching that little wormie @03:11 thinking to myself that he's going to get missed, will fall to the floor & that he was a gonner. Then the balloon dialog popped up making me chuckle! Haha! Good use of the balloons elsewhere in the video too :) FYI - @08:54 you mention linking something above but no card pops up. The tower is doing well. It's great that you gave gotten the hang of operating it effectively 👍🏻

[@PlantObsessed]

I have noticed that several of my cards do not show up. Weird. Ps...No worm left behind 😀🪱👍🏼

[@A-V]

:)

[@brianseybert192]

Worm castings have definitely changed the way I garden. You are so correct, they are so much more than a fertilizer, although they are very high in trace elements. The biggies for me are the hormones and biology they add to the soil winch ultimately feed our plants. Every organic gardener should be raising worms. Nice video, Stay Well!!!

[@PlantObsessed]

I can't even remember how I gardened before. 😀🪱👍🏼

[@SarahK-d6o]

I'm convinced my worms are sloths. They do a great job. When harvesting, I aggravate them and they are sloths😂

[@PlantObsessed]

Lol sloth worms 🤣🪱👍🏼

[@melodylamour6123]

What I notice is like most things, as we learn by doing, we tend to get better over time. Same with our soil. The more we tend to it, feed it, it gets richer. My winter garden was better than the last as well. So, it's mostly about patience, being observant and a lot of talking to bugs and plants, lol.

[@PlantObsessed]

Yes!! Patience.. something I'm not great at. Lol. Good worms🪱😀👍🏼

[@dnawormcastings]

Nice looking worm castings your garden will love them🪱🇳🇿

[@PlantObsessed]

My garden runs on worm power for sure.👍🏼🪱😀

[@grcas8440]

Can you use mushroom compost? And it's so what ratio would you use with Cardboard?

[@PlantObsessed]

Where I live mushroom compost is mostly wood. It will take forever to process. If you can source grazon free bags of aged cow manure ( doesn't smell) that would feed them better.🪱😀👍🏼

[@grcas8440]

How about just old cow manure? That's been piled up in a big heap. For years?

[@PlantObsessed]

@@grcas8440 if you know it doesn't have broadleaf herbicide in it absolutely

[@kinsjsmggoiktaylor5659]

Surely It Easy Enough To Cut The Windows Out With A Pair Of Scissors,I Always Do Ann Flower 🌹 👏👏👏♥️♥️♥️

[@PlantObsessed]

I should do that. Thank you. It would teach me patience 😀🪱👍🏼

[@janniehanagriff]

I was checking mine today and saw a bunch of them going after an apple. I was so excited.

[@PlantObsessed]

They do love their apples.🪱😀👍🏼

[@fbuys]

Hi, thank you for your videos. I keep my worms in a bath tub 🛀

[@PlantObsessed]

I keep thinking about doing that for an outdoor bin. 👍🏼🪱😀

[@janniehanagriff]

😮

[@janniehanagriff]

@fbuys indoors or outdoors?

[@fbuys]

@@janniehanagriff I have the bin outdoors, but I live in south africa so I don’t have to worry about snow. It is in permanent shade to ensure the temperature remains constant.

[@helenstewart2085]

Have been cold composting in New Zealand for many years, with composting worms added about 12 years ago, they shift to a new heap when they have broken the oldest one down, now have started hot composting in 10, 15 and 45 litre buckets/bins. Plus have a worm bin. It seems that each system is working extremely well. The buckets/bins are loaded with household scraps, cardboard and shredded paper, once a month turn them, if no worms present add some, plus some horse or sheep manure.

[@PlantObsessed]

Cool, a natural wedge system. I don't know about over there but somehow the worms always find the horse manure here. 🪱😀👍🏼

[@davidguenzel1441]

I would love to know more about your bonsi plants. could we see them??

[@PlantObsessed]

I will post some more pictures on the community page. They are not massive 200 year old botanical garden quality but I love them. Ps I also posted in the community page a Facebook page I post all my garden photos. Anyone can share what is going on in their garden.🌶️👍🏼😃🍅🌶️🪱

[@anicefan]

I have had a tower going for about a year. For most of that time I have been sticking to the Vermicompost learn by doing rotation method, which I really like. My only problem has been that the finished castings were always way to damp and I would get minimal harvest. After coming across your tower series I changed it so that I still leave my pre-harvest tray as the second bin for 2 months, but then I put it on top for 2 weeks before my actual harvest. By doing this method I probably harvested as much as had previously combined. The other advantage is that there were no worms in the top tray when I harvested. Iwill keep riffing on this hybrid method to see how I can maximize even more.

[@PlantObsessed]

I'm new to the tower too. I also started with Patrick's method. The difference between Florida and Illinois temperatures might be why I need to leave the pre harvest longer.🪱😀👍🏼

[@karischmoyer7276]

I love "I like worm chow"

[@PlantObsessed]

👍🏼😃🪱

[@Cobbmtngirl]

I never considered the possibility of native or non native worms, surprisingly because I’m active with eradicating my local non native invasive plants. Had to look it up. Red wigglers aren’t native to North America but aren’t considered invasive. Phew! 😊

[@PlantObsessed]

It's true, no earth worms are native to the US. Weird right? 👍🏼😀🪱

[@ClickinChicken]

I always like how you say, "You Tube thinks your going to like this video over here." I'm just a simple conservative, but that really sticks with me.

[@PlantObsessed]

I may have stole that from one of the experts lol🪱👍🏼😁

[@scrapzwtf]

We get vine borers pretty bad. Will the tea help with that? I’ve use castings as soil amendment but I’ve never used the tea.

[@PlantObsessed]

Agh no sorry the casting didn't help with the borers. I'm trying the foil trick this year.👍🏼🪱😀

[@brianseybert192]

@@PlantObsessed I did the foil trick last year on my zucchini, it kept the vine borers out, but I also allowed one of the roots to rot, ultimately lost the plant. This year I will still use the foil, but will monitor the stem and let air out a bit if need be.

[@wormweirdo340]

I like to take my junk mail envelopes with plastic windows and let the worms eat the paper around the film, then when they’re finished I just pull the large windows out whole.

[@PlantObsessed]

That is smart. I get some free shredded paper, I think that is where they came from. Free isn't always better 👍🏼😀🪱

[@ClickinChicken]

wow, you're a worm charmer! you tick them off and they are like, 'I'm getting out of here' and go down HA! Timing is everything. Do it over winter, Cuz then you have moist castings for garden. The 'good' bacteria typically don't have Gram negative endospore shells. It's a fresh fertilizer. If you let it dry out, it's minerals only, which are good! It's all good, but it's a practice.

[@PlantObsessed]

For sure😁👍🏼🪱

[@vagueoldloon7985]

Any recommendations on a paper \ cardboard shredder

[@healthyfitmom]

Worm castings are probably high in calcium since most ppl grind eggshells for grit. Calcium is then digested by worms probably turninh itore bioavalable. Adequate calci um is preventative against powdery mildew. Thats my guess. Also the microbioligy and enzymes outcompete the fungal powdery mildew spores. Also a guess. Last year growing season wss super rainy and cold i had alot of PM. Did alot of studying on it over the winter. Plants love foliar feeding. And they will definetly absorb nutrients through leaves. Another thought. I wonder if there is humic acid in worm castings which also helps with absorption of certian compounds? Just looked and google says it does! 🎉🎉🎉

[@PlantObsessed]

Nice. My plants agree they love their worm tea and tea showers👍🏼😀🪱

[@explor360]

Where do you get the Worm Chow? Thanks.

[@PlantObsessed]

Here is a video on how I make it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYiWhKKclM6IiNU

[@memprime]

So I have a tray that has shredded cardboard and compost. It's sort of sticky when I try to break the clumps up. Is it too dry or too wet? How can I fix it?

[@PlantObsessed]

It might be too processed. To try and dry it you might need to break them up daily while it is drying. Its why I don't let mine go for more than 4 months now.🪱😁👍🏼

[@memprime]

PlantObsessed It's only been a couple of months, but it also still has shredded cardboard in it. I'll try to dry it out. Thank you!

[@tiffany7023]

I FINALLY started my worm tower. But they're tiger worms, are they any good or did I make a mistake? I looked for red wigglers but no one had them.

[@PlantObsessed]

I believe tiger worms are red wigglers. When they stretch out you can see the bands of red/ yellow. You are all good. Happy worming!!👍🏼🪱😀

[@tiffany7023]

@@PlantObsessed Yay! Thanks for being a Professor in worming 101

[@JhonnyCrash1]

Hey Ann, I have a question. First a bit of background: I have a single bin system that i keep in the garage. Temperatures are quite low here in the Netherlands, zo i use a seed starting mat to keep the bin nice and warm. I feed them every week. Last week i fed my worms a slightly bigger feeding, including a whole banana that was going brown. I froze the food and let it thaw out. When the banana went into the bin, it was already muchy. A couple days after, the bin started smelling. Not very bad that you dont want to be near it, but if you dig around the bin, you get hit with a slight rotting smell. I always hear people say your bin shouldn't smell at all because that would mean you overfeed. However i dont think that was the case this time as the food was only a couple days old. Is it normal for food to start smelling a bit? The worms did end up eating everything.

[@brianseybert192]

Sometimes a high density feeding can go anaerobic pretty quickly. When this happens I just distribute the food throughout the bin and that takes care of the anaerobes and the odor. Even one whole frozen banana can start to ferment in a bin. That is why you need to be aware of how the worms are going through their food and try not to over feed. Once in a while I check the material at the bottom of my 50 gal grow bag bins under the microscope for anaerobic protozoa, so far so good.

[@PlantObsessed]

I agree with the other comment. Certain foods will smell for a short time. ( Like the broccoli) I try and buffer large feedings with lots of bedding to make sure there is no dangerous amount of off gassing. 👍🏼🪱😀

[@AJsGreenTopics]

Great information about worm castings. 🪱

[@PlantObsessed]

Glad it was helpful!😀🪱👍🏼

[@Tippler0611]

Those of us without a Blue... Suggestions on how to get castings dry enough to shift without turning to rocks?

[@PlantObsessed]

I also put them in a mortar tray and mix every couple of days. Works well if I can keep the cats out👍🏼😀🪱

[@Soilbuddies]

My red wrigglers live in a 3tier large stackable tote bin

[@PlantObsessed]

Nice 👍🏼 that is what these worms live in for years. 👍🏼😀🪱

[@atwaterurbanhomestead1244]

I just opened mine up after 30 days. Ots about 60 days old. The top was mostly casting but ot was filled with whisps... 100s of them. How do I get them to go to the food. Lol

[@PlantObsessed]

Putting some melon or squash rind off to one side is the usual way I get to draw them out. Good luck👍🏼🪱😀

[@atwaterurbanhomestead1244]

@@PlantObsessed thank you, ill try it.

[@melodylamour6123]

Old igloo cooler without its lid so I use an old Rubbermaid tote lid.

[@PlantObsessed]

Nice. Up cycling is the best!👍🏼😀🪱

[@JasonEdelman66]

Just kicked off a large subpod in newer rasied bed, using an over stuffed compost ball that was seaded with RWig castings/eggs. Going to check/airrate/feed/water my indoor 20gal Horz flow thru/3lb RWigs ❤🪱🪱🪱❤

[@PlantObsessed]

Sub pods sound great. Maybe someday I'll get around to get one. Good luck!🪱😀👍🏼

[@JasonEdelman66]

@PlantObsessed yeah the 'discounted' cost was a streach, but desperately needed the space. now I look and they are having a cosing down sale.. but all pods are sold out.

[@GardeningwithBarchuckin]

Haha did you ever find the worm on the mortar tray? I seen it was still down there when you removed the bottom tray and showed the basin. 😂🪱(“I’m free”) Your tower is looking good Ann, interesting feeding for the worms. I’m starting to try to run my Vermihut a bit on the wetter side to see how the worms like it.

[@PlantObsessed]

I actually made some prepared bedding in the tray. So he gets to be an only child for a few weeks.😁👍🏼🪱

[@ClickinChicken]

I always like how you say, "You Tube thinks your going to like this video over here." I'm just a simple conservative, but that really sticks with me.

[@PlantObsessed]

They know don't they?😁👍🏼🪱