Good morning, Sandra, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA This video is brilliant! The more friendly Isopods, the better! It's like having friends come to your party and bring good treats, eat 'n' poop!🪱🦠🪱
Fun fact, pill bugs are the only terrestrial crustacean, more closely related to crabs and lobsters than insects. Had crab legs the other night, drying them out to pulverise and add to my worm chow. In my opinion, a healthy worm bin needs all these "critters" to optimize your finished castings, this is why I choose to use mostly natural bedding. Very informative video as always Sandra! Have a nice weekend, Stay Well!!!!
Haha, I toiled over using the word bugs and insects, Brian! Those little crustaceans are amazing. Turns out their big clumps of poop slow down microbial incursions. Amazing! ~ Sandra
Some really interesting research that you've done here Sandra 🙂The only insect it would seem that has a negative impact on an enclosed worm bin, is the millipedes. Do they come into the bin when outside matter is introduced like the leaf mulch?
Hi Krista, ants are also lumped together with millipedes in terms of reducing nitrogen, etc., in the vermicompost. These critters come in on natural bedding, but can also arrive on vegetable scraps, tools, our hands, etc. it hard to avoid them altogether. ~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms Thank you! You've shared something very interesting, and I think in time, very valuable. I've heard from other conversations that castings produced using different feedstocks are more or less beneficial to different crops. I'm sure I've heard it in more than one place, but most likely one of them would be a podcast hosted by John Kempf. Perhaps this is a piece of that puzzle.
Most interesting. My outdoor compost bins are as full of rolly pollies as they are worms and I noticed the food breaking down much quicker compared to bins without them. But I have also seen them eat seedlings so maybe a good idea to age out the vermicastings so they leave before adding to our garden?
Thanks Ann. The research showed they needed a continual supply of organic material to stick around, so spacing out or stopping feedings would definitely reduce their number. ~ Sandra
I bet they work in tandem with the worms, Donald. I've been reading how worms are used to detoxify heavy metals, so it sounds like they are all needed. Thanks for the info! ~ Sandra
Me too! I don't know whether you saw, but there were a couple really big ones in that bin as well as a lot of their younger relatives. I was going to relocate some to Gilligan before I decided to leave them alone. They are the reason the bin cycles quickly even though I feed my big leaves! ~ Sandra
Apparently, their little piles of poop are ferociously attacked by microbes, leading to mineralization (the conversion of nitrogen, etc., to a form available to plants). Here's a definition of mineralization "Mineralization refers to the process by which organic matter is decomposed into minerals, primarily driven by soil microorganisms. Its consequences on the soil include, among others, nutrient enrichment, improved soil structure, potential nutrient loss, and implications for the carbon cycle." ~ Sandra
@@PlantObsessed Oops, I'm sorry, I just saw you referred to "dead mites," not alive ones! As far as I know, the dead ones just serve as a source of chitin. ~ Sandra
Good morning, Sandra, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA
This video is brilliant!
The more friendly Isopods, the better! It's like having friends come to your party and bring good treats, eat 'n' poop!🪱🦠🪱
Thanks Peggy. I never thought about the role of isopod poop before. Fascinating!
~ Sandra
Fun fact, pill bugs are the only terrestrial crustacean, more closely related to crabs and lobsters than insects.
Had crab legs the other night, drying them out to pulverise and add to my worm chow.
In my opinion, a healthy worm bin needs all these "critters" to optimize your finished castings, this is why I choose to use mostly natural bedding.
Very informative video as always Sandra!
Have a nice weekend, Stay Well!!!!
Haha, I toiled over using the word bugs and insects, Brian! Those little crustaceans are amazing. Turns out their big clumps of poop slow down microbial incursions. Amazing!
~ Sandra
A true reflection that worms will tolerate the onion family and turn it into a lovely material.
🪱Happy gardening, Terry King.
Yes, they just take a bit longer to get into it. This onion smelled awful, but there was no hint of it once it was buried in the bin.
~ Sandra
@NanasWorms 🪱😋🪱
Hi Sandra the more the merrier.👍😁👌♥️
Yes, I'm glad I rethought moving them outside! 😉
~ Sandra
Love that you bring the science. You're awesome!
Thank you so much!
~ Sandra
Some really interesting research that you've done here Sandra 🙂The only insect it would seem that has a negative impact on an enclosed worm bin, is the millipedes. Do they come into the bin when outside matter is introduced like the leaf mulch?
Hi Krista, ants are also lumped together with millipedes in terms of reducing nitrogen, etc., in the vermicompost. These critters come in on natural bedding, but can also arrive on vegetable scraps, tools, our hands, etc. it hard to avoid them altogether.
~ Sandra
Really great stuff once again Sandra!
Thanks so much, Joel!
~ Sandra
@@NanasWorms Thank you! You've shared something very interesting, and I think in time, very valuable. I've heard from other conversations that castings produced using different feedstocks are more or less beneficial to different crops. I'm sure I've heard it in more than one place, but most likely one of them would be a podcast hosted by John Kempf. Perhaps this is a piece of that puzzle.
Yes, I'm sure some materials will promote isopods and their diversity and others not so much. Just like the microbes themselves.
~ Sandra
That was very interesting! Thank you! 💚
You're welcome! It makes sense that the worms are not the only ones who contribute to the nutrients of the bin.
~ Sandra
Most interesting. My outdoor compost bins are as full of rolly pollies as they are worms and I noticed the food breaking down much quicker compared to bins without them. But I have also seen them eat seedlings so maybe a good idea to age out the vermicastings so they leave before adding to our garden?
Thanks Ann. The research showed they needed a continual supply of organic material to stick around, so spacing out or stopping feedings would definitely reduce their number.
~ Sandra
🎉nice sharing 🎉
Thank you!
~ Sandra
I've read that the isopods/rolly polys/wood lice remove heavy metals from soil/compost making it safer for growing edible crops.
I bet they work in tandem with the worms, Donald. I've been reading how worms are used to detoxify heavy metals, so it sounds like they are all needed. Thanks for the info!
~ Sandra
That's an amazing info sandra.❤
Thanks so much, Faye!
~ Sandra
@NanasWorms your welcome.🤗🥰
Hello Sandra
Hi Debbie!
~ Sandra
Love my pill bugs🪱🪱🪱
Me too! I don't know whether you saw, but there were a couple really big ones in that bin as well as a lot of their younger relatives. I was going to relocate some to Gilligan before I decided to leave them alone. They are the reason the bin cycles quickly even though I feed my big leaves!
~ Sandra
Wow great video. I wonder if there is information on how the dead mites and such add the higher NPK as your studies found.,😃🪱👍🏼
Apparently, their little piles of poop are ferociously attacked by microbes, leading to mineralization (the conversion of nitrogen, etc., to a form available to plants). Here's a definition of mineralization "Mineralization refers to the process by which organic matter is decomposed into minerals, primarily driven by soil microorganisms. Its consequences on the soil include, among others, nutrient enrichment, improved soil structure, potential nutrient loss, and implications for the carbon cycle."
~ Sandra
@@PlantObsessed Oops, I'm sorry, I just saw you referred to "dead mites," not alive ones! As far as I know, the dead ones just serve as a source of chitin.
~ Sandra