Clumpy Castings Progress!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- Hello!
You guys are the best! With your help and suggestions I’ve been able to make good progress in de-clumping the muddy castings on my big worm trough Black Beauty. Yea!
I share the various actions I’m taking to improve the castings on my way to being able to sift out Black Beauty and give a big bedding refresh.
Here’s the link the original status of Black Beauty:
Why Does This Happen? Siftable Castings vs Clumpy Castings??
• Why Does This Happen? ...
Thanks so much for watching!
Yours in the dirt,
Jayne
Jayne, the late night worm wrangler! I don't hesitate to introduce powdered materials to dry out castings if I need to get the worms out. They just won't migrate when there's so much moisture. Go figure!
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra! Yep, I work the worms when I can, often at night as you noticed 🙄. We need to repair the screening (again!) because the bugs are getting out of control as they’re attracted to the lights. It’s now officially hot and humid season in southeast Florida and working at night is also easier as it’s not as hot 🥵.
I know, right?! Worms follow the moisture and won’t leave if there’s food as well. Little buggers 😂. So that why I’m trying the dry food in the clumpy end - to see if I can get them to help me instead of making things worse. 🤞🤞
Hi Jayne. Great video as usual. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jayne, We are spending a few days up at St. Augustine, but I had to see how your Castings are drying out. They are looking good 👍 Another week will really help them mature 👍
❤Peggy❤
Hi Peggy! Oooh St Augustine was fabulous when we did the whole tourist thing many years ago. I hope you have a wonderful visit there. 😊. Thanks for checking in and I hope you’re right 🙏🤞🪱
I really enjoy watching a "problem solving" video. And I really appreciate the "use what you have and figure it out" mentality. Great stuff Jayne!
Hi Katie! How is the new thermometer working? My bucket went ambient a few days after my last shared check in.
If you like problem solving videos stick around here 😂. I always seem to have something going on that needs to be dealt with! 🪱🪱. Thanks for stopping by 🤗
@@RockinWorms New thermometer is working! My bucket went ambient, so I turned it into another bucket, to add some air, as it got smashed down, added some chicky poop cardboard shreds from my baby chick bin, and we're cookin away...close to 100. I found another great use for those cardboard shreds is bedding for my baby chicks. Makes for some great pre compost.
@@katiem9644 Excellent!
I’ve been using cardboard shred as nesting box material for quite some time now. I don’t use bedding per se for my chicks. I lay shelf liner over thicker cardboard sheets and they live on that. The shelf liner gives their legs and feet good support. The liner can be rinsed as well as put thru the laundry. The cardboard is easily replaced and composted. 👍🪱
@@RockinWorms I used to bed the chicks on pine shavings, but I figured since I have so much cardboard, I might as well use that, and after some research, I saw where worms can compost chicken manure, so it seemed like a good idea to save some steps. And, to be honest, I cleaned out the chicken bin I had, put it in a bucket until I could figure out what to do with it. When I got back to it a few hours later, it had heated up like crazy! For grins, I stuck the thermometer in it, and it was over 100 degrees! In a few hours! So an idea was born. Here Id been doing all different things to try and heat up my pre compost bucket, and instead I accidentally figured out the best thing to heat it up.
@@katiem9644 Worms will indeed compost manures. Perhaps not immediately though as it can get too hot for them with all that fresh nitrogen interacting with carbons and moisture.. But if they’ve got time and room worms will do a great job!
Let me remind and caution anyone reading this: it is a bad idea to put fresh manure into regular worm bins! You’ll cook the worms. Aged manure, where the nitrogen and carbon have expended themselves, is fine.
🪱🪱
Good video! I agree, use the worms to work the castings! I always get great info from your videos! I enjoy our time together in the dirt! 😉
Hi Michael! We will see if they’re good helpers or not! I’m giving them a chance to redeem themselves from making the clumpy muddy castings 😂.
I appreciate you and everyone else joining me in the dirt too! 😂🤩😍🪱
The castings already started looking better just from adding in the dry food and you working through them. I think that's part of it though, keeping them moving and helping the worms to break them up before they dry on the surface in those balls. You're sure going to have a great supply when you get harvesting these systems though.
Hi Suzanne! The castings did look better 👍. I agree with you that getting into the trough more frequently (ah, that’s the challenge!) and agitating them more often will also help the whole situation. So far having dry hard ball clumps hasn’t been an issue in any of my other systems - when I get the ball clumps due to sifting I mix them back into the bin and the worms take care of them. It certainly may be a different story in the larger worm totes. Thank you for the heads up on that! I appreciate your input!😍🤩🪱
I so enjoy your vids. So informative. Thank you.
Thanks Theresa! 🤩🥰😍
Hi Jayne in the dark, glad you are getting solutions to the clumping issue. The extra dry materials definitely seem to be a good help. Great follow up video. Have fun, Mark : )
I know! I have to do so much worm work at night. Also filming as Cameraman has a more than full time job plus the evening animal chores. We usually just don’t have the time to film until late at night. 🙄. But we get it done as best we can! We both appreciate everyone understanding and forgiving us for some really low production videos 🙏. Castings Crew rocks! 🤩🤩🥰
@@RockinWorms 😍
Hey Jayne, good luck with the clumps, I'm sure you can resolve the problem. It's not a problem I have at the minute, I'm still a small time producer and all the castings are being used on my gardens and I must say, have made an amazing amount of difference. I don't really know how popular worm castings are here in the UK, perhaps some of your readers could let me know, but I've never seen them for sale or advertised anywhere. I think it must be a growing business in the USA.
Hi Bill! The clumps are de-clumpifying more and more as I work in the worm water trough tote. I’m learning some lessons here! 😳🙄😎. The ideas from the Castings Crew has really helped set me on a good path forward.
It seems that using castings as a natural fertilizer and plant food/supplement is gaining traction in the USA. More people are aware of the benefits castings bring. I hope this trend continues and spreads to the UK and elsewhere! 🪱🪱🪱
I’m in the uk mate, south east cost.
Don’t really see it as a big thing like the us atm and very few sellers, I have had a few bad but 1 very good.
And I’m just building my crew up to get enough to mean I don’t put food in the compost bin- as we get rodents so I use a tumble one atm but obviously it’s small and space runs out, I want enough worms to produce the family’s food waste. Even tho no I’m on my own I want to do mums and nans to help prevent landfill pollution and to feed my large garden.
Anyways that’s my story. Lol
Good to find people in the uk as don’t see that many.
I have the same system you are using, 100 gallon water trough. I harvest once a year. I start a migration to one end at least a month before I harvest castings. I use a digging fork to start harvesting one end. I break up the big clumps onto a 1/8 screen and set on a bin or compost pile. The worms migrate out of the castings. And Bob's your uncle.
Hey Ric! I keep saying Black Beauty is 110 gallons but she’s really 140 gallons. The smaller size is what I thought she was a t first and I can’t get my brain to remember otherwise 🙄😝.
I started her off in a horizontal migration position with all the worms and old bin bedding/castings at one end (half) and fresh at the other end. I totally expected them to migrate quickly and just have a few stragglers. That’s not what happened! Way more stayed behind 🤷♂️. This is my first go around with her so definitely figuring it out. Maybe I’m pushing it too much on top of all the other factors? It’s been a few months but nowhere near a year. With such a high proportion of castings in the old bins that were dumped into BB … well it didn’t go like I thought as I’ve already said. Oh well! Live and learn.
I don’t know if I’m brave enough to try your method directly with my outdoor worms. I’m scared of worm predators if I leave the troughs open for any length of time, especially overnight. 😳😱. And ants. 😡. I’ll very keep your downward migration method in mind as I do think I’ll probably end up trying it at some point 👍🪱🪱😎. Thanks for sharing Ric 🤗
I didn't mention that I installed a top to the water trough. Good luck. Still loving your channel
@@rickjay4639 A top would be helpful 😊. I kinda did a ‘top’ when I did the bait out in Big Boy. I was able to place the baited sifter and still have the burrito top cover it for the number of days it was in there. I guess I always think of the downward migration being set well above the bedding surface as opposed to directly on top of it. If the screen sits on top then I could still cover it with the burrito. Hmmm ok! I’m getting it now. I’m was being slow - please forgive me 🤗. Thanks for giving me a second chance at understanding! 👍🤩🪱
Great video! I also have a couple of those big stock tanks as worm bins and ran into some challenges with the depth. So I cut the top 8 inches off with a jigsaw and they are working really well for me. I really like to use the wedge system in these bins, which would help prevent the worms from over processing the castings. @Plantobsessed has some pretty great videos showing how she does her wedge system.
Hi! Ann’s wedge system in her big blue tote is awesome! I’m so jealous of her set up with that tote 😊.
What challenges did the depth give you? Too contacted? Anaerobic conditions? Simply hard to work in? Please share the challenges 😎.
I don’t think I can bring myself to cut off or into these water troughs! 😳 I use them for so many different things. 🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms yep! Those were the exact challenges. I have it propped up on milk crates to save my back, but then the top was a bit high for me to easily get in there and work. The depth also lead to compaction and some anaerobic pockets.
@@RosWigglers We share the exact same challenges then. Ann’s blue barrel isn’t as deep as my troughs and that makes a big difference on all those issues - easier to work in, less compaction, etc.
I don’t know if you saw my latest (🙄) worm die off video in this black beauty trough but yeah, it got hot on the patio and most of the worms cooked 😩. So I’m back inside but am looking at a couple of ideas for heat management but that won’t solve the awkward side height and compaction issues.
I guess at the bottom, I’m still in search of the perfect big tote for my worms. Oh to have a basement! 😂🪱
@@RockinWorms I’m so sorry to hear that! I think we are always continuing to learn when it comes to worms. I do have a blue barrel cut in half, and I really like it :)
Love you showing the problem…. This is what happens to that bin and I added cardboard… wrong choice.
But it is drying down and I will split the bin when back from holiday and let them carry on and eventually I should have castings I can stift and then they will finish the cardboard
We all face issues at some point - and if like me, at most points 😂. There’s always something going on. When I get a perfect bin though, I’m so excited! And then I try to remember what may have made that bin different… and usually I can’t 😩. Too many bins! But it’s a fun time seeing small and big issues and working thru them. Keeps it interesting!! 🪱
Why was the cardboard a wrong choice? I usually don’t like to mix fresh cardboard in either - it sits around too long - but I’ve started to add it again in some bins cause… it sits around a long time! That makes it a slow food as well as fresh bedding. The boots in the established worm ecosystem will find the fresh carbon and get to work ❤️🪱
@@RockinWorms the reason I said was wrong is coz I wanted to change the bedding and put new bedding in as was over processed but too wet when I added water direct as was bone dry for some reason but anyways started with 1 issue to fix that I made another and to fix that I’ve made another, still can’t get the tiny worms out, so I think split and let it go and them grow and keep adding food each week like you have and let them be.
@@cherylhowker1792 Urs that happens - by fixing one issue we create a different one 🙄. I have found that as long as I remember to feed the nursery bins on a regular basis (😳) I can eek them along until the wisps are big enough to sift out at least enough to get a lot of castings volume out and add in a decent amount of fresh bedding mix. Sometime I do have to split bins to get the room needed though. You gotta roll with what the situation is and be confident that in the end, it’ll work out 🪱🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms thanks for the positive response…. I am so worried in life that I mess up that I don’t do things and so I mess up!!!!! Lol
But with more positive people in my life and positivity I do more and achieve more- in any way shape and form.
Xxxx
@@cherylhowker1792 I get that! Sometimes when I’m trying to be very careful and I end up being even clumsier! 🙄😡.
What you’re describing is called a positive feedback loop - it’s very powerful. It’s the basis of the saying ‘nothing begets success like success!’ You’ve got a clear goal and you’re taking the steps to achieve it. There will be setbacks - that’s life! - but you can see the progress you’ve made and always keep that front and center ❤️. That’s my pep talk for the day 😆😎🥰🪱
How rough can you be with the worms? I just started me a bin a month or so ago and habe done 2 feedings and I try to fluff the bins once a week but alot of times there are a bunch of worms on the bottoms and corners and I feel like I may be squashing some of the worms when trying to drag the material out of those areas.
Worms are pretty resilient as far as rough them up. Their squishy bodies can ‘melt’ and absorb a lot of force. Digging them out with a finger won’t cause fatal harm in most cases. I won’t say one might not get damaged but that’ll be the exception. Of course we should all be as careful as possible 😊.
Good question! 🤩🪱