Worms

Is it ok the introduce worms into my garden to enrich the soil more?
MY soil mix has been 1/3 peatmoss, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 compost (Cow, Hen, Mushroom, Enriched potting soil)
The heat has been really high down here in Jacksonville, in fact my temp gauge is reading 99.8 degrees as I type this.

My summer squash plants are now pushing through, so we'll see how they do.. Also my green onions are poking through as well.
Any tips would be great..

Pete :?:

Sure can! Those worms are outstanding in an SFG. Lots of people here encourage/invite them in. Some feed them. Some grow them in buckets and toss them in. However, if you didn't install a "bottom" on your SFG, or a weed cloth, the worms will find YOU. Give them a season and they will be in there.

Each time my kids go digging in the backyard, they know to toss any worms they find in the SFGs and cover them up nicely. The kids know they can't play in the SFGs so they make up their own game of "farm."

I was just video chatting with the DH today about buying nightcrawlers at the bait shop to put in my boxes. There is a 2-6 inch drop per 4x4 box on my hillside, so I put bottoms in them so I could level them with bricks. If I get the harvest I am expecting and SFG becomes a permanent fixture in my yard, hopefully the DH can dig them in properly in the spring.

You may be able to rig a worm tube into those.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1603-worm-tube-for-the-sfg

Do some reading about composting worms, these are the kind you want in your garden. All worms are not created equal, and the big huge fat night crawlers are not the same as the red wigglers that are called composting worms. I have both in my garden, night crawlers that were here naturally, and the red wigglers that I introduced. In the garden they are fine I suppose, but in a worm bin you the night crawlers will die. I know you were only talking about putting them in the garden...but just thought I would make you aware that there were different kinds.

This is a great link to get you started. http://www.redwormcomposting.com/

Here is a link to where he talks about your different types of worms.
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/quick-facts-about-worm-composting/

I am no expert for sure just hoping to pass on some good information.

Here is a link to the worm tubes Josh makes for his SFG. I made some from 4" pvc because that is what I had laying around my holes were 5/8" if I recall and probably had a dozen or so drilled up to almost the ground line. I keep a cap on them to provide darkness below. Whenever I find worms around I just place them in the tubes with a few new leaves from lettuce or some grass. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1603-worm-tube-for-the-sfg

middlemamma wrote:Do some reading about composting worms, these are the kind you want in your garden. All worms are not created equal, and the big huge fat night crawlers are not the same as the red wigglers that are called composting worms. I have both in my garden, night crawlers that were here naturally, and the red wigglers that I introduced. In the garden they are fine I suppose, but in a worm bin you the night crawlers will die. I know you were only talking about putting them in the garden...but just thought I would make you aware that there were different kinds.

This is a great link to get you started. http://www.redwormcomposting.com/

Here is a link to where he talks about your different types of worms.
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/quick-facts-about-worm-composting/

I am no expert for sure just hoping to pass on some good information.

Thanks for the info. It is what I needed. Since I have bottoms in my boxes, I don't think the night crawler idea will work with their burrows being so deep. After that, I thought maybe some endogeic types since they burrow laterally (and I don't see my DH agreeing to worm farming in the house for the winter after rounding up wigglers from the tubes), but more research showed that they aren't really available for any commercial use. The site below explained a lot, including the "non native species thing" that came up on the worm tube thread (native species thought wiped out in the last ice age) and why only babies were found in the spring (adults can't survive freezing temps, but the worm cocoons can). If is is any more complicated than dumping nightcrawlers into the box, I don't know if I will get to it this summer, but it is fascinating anyway. For now, I am pretty happy with how my plants are doing, so I may put the idea on hold. And there is always next year.

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/bbb/id17.html

[quote="camprn"]You may be able to rig a worm tube into those.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1603-worm-tube-for-the-sfg[/quote] I'm just south of you in St.Augustine. Josh's worm tube is a great idea that I am going to use soon. I was just talking to him about the worms. My garden is a TT so he recommened I use red wigglers since the others go deeper to escape the heat. I will be getting mine from the bait shop, lucky worms will not be skewered on a hook and end up fish food.
So glad you found the forum. What are you growing apart from summer squash? Can you post pics? We love to see garden photos.

I just watched your vids and I must say . Did you skip the part in the book where it said start out small? LOL
It looks pretty good, love the trelis on the fence. I was wondering two things what home remedy did you put on your toms, and why did you choose perlite over vermiculite? Your garden puts my little garden to shame. One more thing, what no datils????

shannon1 wrote:I just watched your vids and I must say . Did you skip the part in the book where it said start out small? LOL
It looks pretty good, love the trelis on the fence. I was wondering two things what home remedy did you put on your toms, and why did you choose perlite over vermiculite? Your garden puts my little garden to shame. One more thing, what no datils????

Thanks for the great comments - I guess I did skip that part of the book. :drunken: about starting out small.
I have since switch to vermiculite, I was able to find some at ACE hardware in the LARGE bags.. the remedy I "tried" to use was the soap and water mix.. guess I put to much soap in, put the plants are coming back nicely. So far I have squash, egg plant, tomatoes, red/green/yellow peppers, hot pepper, pole bean, cucumbers, herbs, lettuce, carrots, green onions.. most are poking through now.. I hope they keep on growing..

The compost mix I am making is Cow/Hen/Mushroom and a soil mix from ACE.. Once I can afford it I plan to and worm castings as well.

Datils??? huh

It may have been too strong also, I was told not to use degreasing soaps like Dawn for example. Datil peppers are a famous hot pepper around here. I joke whith my fellow gardeners in the "Old City" you get a ticket if you don't grow them