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ghans2305

New to Vermicomposting

gHans2305
9 years ago

Hello everybody!
I am interested in getting into vermicomposting, as it seems like a very good way to get nutrient rich soil for gardening. I'm just asking for a few good tips on how to get started. Another thing: I was considering the possibility of having two worm species in one bin, such as red wigglers and earthworms. Would that enhance the quality of the soil or just be a waste of money?

Comments (2)

  • sbryce_gw
    9 years ago

    The first good tip is to go the the library and get a copy of Worms Eat my Garbage by Mary Appelhof. There is no point in mixing species. The one that is better adapted to your bin environment will eventually take over. And earthworms of various types are not well suited to the worm bin environment. So you will buy earthworms just to watch the wigglers take over the bin.

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    9 years ago

    sbryce took the time to post an excellent reply to you. In 1881 a book "The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms" was a big hit. Posters here have found, as Darwin did, that not only are worms fun but âÂÂworms have played a more important part in the history of the world than most persons would at first supposeâÂÂ. Thus our fascination with vermi and our time spent in study of the topic. Like our prolific posters he did not hang back in the shadows but took an active part in the frey of advancing the topic, he worked actively "To uncover how they play this role Darwin threw himself at his worm studies with as much childlike enthusiasm as he could muster; he was, until the day he died, eager to learn and full of ideas to help him do so. He set about a series of experiments to test the senses of worms; he had his children play instruments to them, his wife (who was trained by Chopin) played the piano to an audience of worms, light was shone on them, and they were vibrated, blown on and tickled. His conclusions:" "Darwin measured how much material they would ingest (eat), and how much they egested (pooped). He estimated how many worms there were on average in a given amount of soil, showing that all the soil in Britain âÂÂhas passed many times through and will again pass many times through, the intestinal canals of wormsâÂÂ" This sounds like exactly the topics of discussion the great minds have been hashing over and over again on this board. No doubt Darwin himself would be an active participant here due to the lively nature of the posts and responses on his favorite topic.