Worm Tube for the SFG

Hi Bbrroom,  I'm short on time this morning or I would give you a longer reply.  I still have 4 worm tubes going strong.  I also have a "free range" bottomless thick wood box on the ground in a fairy shady area.
I bought some at a bait shop (little red wigglers) and some from a local "worm man" when jckeeper told me about him.

You don't need worm casting for SFG.  It's a nice addition but not required.  If you get a place with a back yard you can try them cuz it's fun.  You can also buy worm castings at hydroponic stores and online.  Some recommend keeping the worm castings at less than 10% of the compost mix.  A little goes a long way.

Thanks for the great replys guys.
I think I need to look for one more compost for my mix then.  I thought I was set.  But I bought some worm castings online to go in my mix as 1/5th of my compost for the 1/3 part.  Which answers another question I had for you guys for a different topic/thread.  But I guess since I brought it up...I bought these 5:  Worm castings, duh. from worms etc online, mushroom compost from lowes, black kow from Home Depot, garden compost from walmart, and I went and got the free horse manure someone told me about (thanks a bunch).  I've just been letting the horse manure sit in buckets on my patio trying to let it break down (i read it could burn the plants otherwise).  So what would you guys recommend that is easy to aquire for my 5th?  Cause it took most of my brain power to come up with that list.
When I bought the worm castings, I also bought tea bags.  I thought I would use it as a supplement or instead of regular watering.  I haven't made one yet tho, because I'm still using the 5gallon bucket for the horse poopy.
I was thinking I could get a small worm bin going in the corner of my den/pet room (It's like a really big closet we use for storage and the pets that eat the greens I grow) OR I could get a handful of worms and place 2-3 in each container.
I can't wait to get a house so I can do/try all the cool things you guys do.  I wanna be just like you when I grow up!  We were thinking this year, but we don't think we have enough money for a down payment   so it might be a while.   
But this worm thing sounds like something easy with low maintenance that I could do with my situation. 
Thanks all

I hope someone can come up with a 5th compost that can be used right away. The one I would use is Ecoscraps compost at HD or Lowes. It's made from composted produce and wood, NO peat moss. It is composted to a fine dark texture.

sanderson wrote:I hope someone can come up with a 5th compost that can be used right away.   The one I would use is Ecoscraps compost at HD or Lowes.  It's made from composted produce and wood, NO peat moss.  It is composted to a fine dark texture.

Thanks.  I'll check this out.  
Technically I'm not supposed to be spending any more money on my fake garden than I already have.  For 1- we're saving for house, and 2-I've spent a lot already sadly and I'll admit it.  But!  Maybe a couple bucks for one or two more bags instead of lunch...

bbroomm wrote: Worm castings, duh. from worms etc online, mushroom compost from lowes, black kow from Home Depot, garden compost from walmart, and I went and got the free horse manure someone told me about (thanks a bunch).  I've just been letting the horse manure sit in buckets on my patio trying to let it break down (i read it could burn the plants otherwise).

What you are trying to do with the horse manure in buckets is let it compost.  Why not mix together your other ingredients with the horse manure and worm castings and let it do a bit of further composting in a sort of communal way in your buckets?  It will all mellow together.  I am suspecting that the garden compost from walmart is high on wood and low on nutrients.  I bet the greater amount of worm castings will be fine as your 5th element. 

Turan wrote:

bbroomm wrote: Worm castings, duh. from worms etc online, mushroom compost from lowes, black kow from Home Depot, garden compost from walmart, and I went and got the free horse manure someone told me about (thanks a bunch).  I've just been letting the horse manure sit in buckets on my patio trying to let it break down (i read it could burn the plants otherwise).

What you are trying to do with the horse manure in buckets is let it compost.  Why not mix together your other ingredients with the horse manure and worm castings and let it do a bit of further composting in a sort of communal way in your buckets?  It will all mellow together.  I am suspecting that the garden compost from walmart is high on wood and low on nutrients.  I bet the greater amount of worm castings will be fine as your 5th element. 

ya?  That sounds like a great idea!  I do have a bigger container that I was going to use to mix all my 5 composts in.  That would free up at least one bucket I could use to make my worm tea in.  then I could use that really fast as an ammendment to the pots I already have set up?
Awesome, thanks! 

 

I should of added to moisten your' ingredients, so like in a true compost pile the microbes can play happily.

Turan wrote: 

I should of added to moisten your' ingredients, so like in a true compost pile the microbes can play happily.

bbroomm, when Turan says moisten, she does not mean drown them, which is so easy to do, even though worms are very forgiving.

  I admire your tenacity about missing lunch so you can spend a little more on your short-term project and not take away from your long-term project, getting a house.

cotton burr compost is another compost usually found at the big box stores.

Thanks for all the help everyone.
Can I admit that I sifted through the worm castings a bit to see if I accidentally received some worms too?   
But alas!  I did not  .  Worms, etc was good at their job. Booo

bbroomm wrote:Thanks for all the help everyone.
Can I admit that I sifted through the worm castings a bit to see if I accidentally received some worms too?   
But alas!  I did not  .  Worms, etc was good at their job. Booo

Did you find any cocoons?

I assume I have worm castings since all our garden boxes and compost heap are crawling with night crawlers the big lively ones.  One shovel turned over yields a dozen or more.  Every time I go get a few for bank fushing I have plenty help from the kitties. 

Kelejan wrote:

bbroomm wrote:Thanks for all the help everyone.
Can I admit that I sifted through the worm castings a bit to see if I accidentally received some worms too?   
But alas!  I did not  .  Worms, etc was good at their job. Booo

Did you find any cocoons?

I didn't think to look for cocoons.  I just quickly looked to see if anything was crawling.  Think it's too soon to turn it again and look ?  How long do you think they'd last without anything to eat?

Bump

There are several new members and I want to introduce you to the Worm Tube.

An interesting concept. Its going to take a while to get through all of this. In the past I have just "released" some bait in the garden, but I never thought of feeding the little guys and girls.

By the way: if you're using bait, worms are good, but minnows and crayfish don't exactly thrive in the garden.

But they DO feed the worms...

For those new to the worm tube concept, I've done it now for 2 or 3 years (lost count) and can answer questions if need be.  

My beds are table tops.  The coldest temp we get is low 20s.  Highest close to 115.  They have not only survived but have thrived.  I pull a large handful or two of worms out of the tube along with the collected worm castings once or twice a year and spread them elsewhere in my garden and they have taken over the world.  I put kitchen waste in my tubes about once a month.  I also thick mulch for moisture retention and they work on that mulch.  That's all I do.  Well... except talk really nice to them when I have to move 4 or 5 aside to plant 

In the garden I feed them by using a heavy mulch layer.  They break down the mulch and put their lovely waste where it's needed, at the roots of my plants :-)  

I have a cold composting pile that I feed them in using straw, fresh cow manure, coffee grounds, egg shells and kitchen produce leftovers including my juicing pulp.  They are so thick every forkful probably has close to 100 worms (no exaggeration).

My weather is similar to Audreay's.  The little red composting wigglers in the worm tubes in the raised beds and table tops survived just fine this winter.  The larger earthworms in the wood chip and ramial/horse pooh dirt areas are now increasing.  https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t16858p752-northern-california-coastal-valleys-what-are-you-doing-this-month#217870

Yep, worm farming... this is the next big over-the-top gardening geek thing I swore I would never do but am now talking myself into.

CitizenKate wrote:Yep, worm farming... this is the next big over-the-top gardening geek thing I swore I would never do but am now talking myself into.

LOL!  It's the easiest farming ever.  I don't have bins in my house or yard to attend to.  All I do is check in on the little guys once a month or so.

My compost piles are worm farms in them selves. 2 piles 4 x 4 x 3ft high, I don't know where they came from, their all over except in the cold winter when their deep and in the center....They seemed to appear not to long after I added cow and horse manure, I also have about a 300 lb pile of coffee grinds in the middle and their loaded with these little red skinny worms..

Sounds exactly like mine Jimmy  They LOVE the fresh cow patties.  They break them down in just a couple of weeks when I build a pile.  

I just picked up about 1.5 cubic yards of llama, chicken manure, and used bedding from a local family.  I have two other neighbors with material to pick up from so I'm going to build a large pile and let it sit over the summer.  I'm going to plant about a pound of red wigglers in it and let them feast!

A pound!  Woohoo!

Starting to explore this idea... a worm tube seems pretty easy to do.  But when I went to the local nursery and asked if they sold red wigglers, the lady there looked at me like I came from another planet.  Where do you guys go to get these little rock stars?