Bio char

Hayron1088 said:
Yes exactly! That is next on my read list for sure. I assume that it will be a staple in most organic gardeners here. Can you briefly talk about some of the main methods/actions that you have learned from it so far?
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You'd be surprised then as there is not much interest for the anaerobic concoctions, except from the plants. They positively love this stuff. You can check out the link in my sig, but I'm happy to answer any questions, though it's straying a bit from @seaofgreen18 's thread topic. I only brought it up since that's what I use to charge my char.

I like them from many perspectives. First, they work great given the right inputs, next they're very easy to make, are sustainable (most of my inputs are yard plants), and have basically a 'forever' shelf life.
 
No meat, citrus,for dairy for mine . They get alfalfa meal,Neem seed meal,kelp, oyster flour for grit (worms got gizzard's), pot leaves, mushroom stems and pieces (for fungal content) 2 row malted barley from the wine store cheapest they got,baby oatmeal,and all my scraps banana peels, lettuce tomato leaves so on. I also get a mushroom compost and leaf mold for $30a truck load from the landscape store then my carbon content is saw dust from the mill, straw,char,coco coir, shredded carboard and paper through our paper shredder and so on e leaves from outside along with grass clippings in the summer for the protozoa. I treat them well and they return the favor ✌️
Azimuth said:
You'd be surprised then as there is not much interest for the anaerobic concoctions, except from the plants. They positively love this stuff. You can check out the link in my sig, but I'm happy to answer any questions, though it's straying a bit from @seaofgreen18 's thread topic. I only brought it up since that's what I use to charge my char.

I like them from many perspectives. First, they work great given the right inputs, next they're very easy to make, are sustainable (most of my inputs are yard plants), and have basically a 'forever' shelf life.
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Don't worry about going off topic it's all relatable 👍 Keep it going it's cool by me ✌️
 
seaofgreen18 said:
No meat, citrus,for dairy for mine . They get alfalfa meal,Neem seed meal,kelp, oyster flour for grit (worms got gizzard's), pot leaves, mushroom stems and pieces (for fungal content) 2 row malted barley from the wine store cheapest they got,baby oatmeal,and all my scraps banana peels, lettuce tomato leaves so on. I also get a mushroom compost and leaf mold for $30a truck load from the landscape store then my carbon content is saw dust from the mill, straw,char,coco coir, shredded carboard and paper through our paper shredder and so on e leaves from outside along with grass clippings in the summer for the protozoa. I treat them well and they return the favor ✌️

Don't worry about going off topic it's all relatable 👍 Keep it going it's cool by me ✌️
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Do you use just red wigglers? I use European night crawlers and red wigglers and for almost two years now they have provided me the absolute best nutrients money can buy.
 
Both + some Africans I like that mixed biology. Been thinking about adding some blues I put my spent tea brews bags back in there to they LOVE that shit 👍

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I forget to mention I do have some nematodes and some pot worms in there and I forget to mention I like to use ,frass so I feed them that to ,meal worm frass and black solider fly frass I use Alot of the ingredients for my bed amendments and teas so I don't really buy anything special for the worms so to speak of
 
I want to expand on my worms I've been working with a couple grocery stores and coffee shops on free spent grounds and throw away outdated food scraps famers take all the food scraps around here for their compost piles and pig feed but the coffee house has and endless supply man it's CRAZY to me how some folks don't have a problem spending $6 on a cup of coffee wtf?? No wonder ppl are in food lines and shit! Can't eat but I got coffee and a phone and smokes and tattoo's and weed 🤔🤔🤔
 
seaofgreen18 said:
I want to expand on my worms I've been working with a couple grocery stores and coffee shops on free spent grounds and throw away outdated food scraps famers take all the food scraps around here for their compost piles and pig feed but the coffee house has and endless supply man it's CRAZY to me how some folks don't have a problem spending $6 on a cup of coffee wtf?? No wonder ppl are in food lines and shit! Can't eat but I got coffee and a phone and smokes and tattoo's and weed 🤔🤔🤔
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...you live a sheltered life...that's all many will get today and today will be their last day on earth.
 
Mudballs said:
Just having the pretentious entitlement to type what you typed is all i need or want to see of you and what you think of others
That was fkn disgusting to read
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Well good deal I really don't care what you think of me to be honest you don't make no difference in my life you have a good day now✌️
 
Hayron1088 said:
Do you use just red wigglers? I use European night crawlers and red wigglers and for almost two years now they have provided me the absolute best nutrients money can buy.
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Different breeds of worms occupy different levels of a worm bin, so depending on how deep yours is will determine the best type of worm to use. The red wrigglers are surface dwellers and often can be found in manure piles. They also breed faster than other types.

My bins are pretty shallow so that rules out the African night crawlers and other types as well for me.
 
Azimuth said:
Different breeds of worms occupy different levels of a worm bin, so depending on how deep yours is will determine the best type of worm to use. The red wrigglers are surface dwellers and often can be found in manure piles. They also breed faster than other types.

My bins are pretty shallow so that rules out the African night crawlers and other types as well for me.
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Yeah that's what the book says I got the urban worm bag so it's pretty deep I seen a piece on the shallow farming method in The handbook there are a couple different methods in which to raise worms I think the African crawlers would be ok in a shallow bin they are composting worms see I see ppl putting composting worms in their pots I disagree with that method because like you said different worms do different things I tried them in my 4×8 living soil bed and they survived but that's it I'm still digging them out and putting them in my bin now Some Worms eat soil and some eat compost don't and some burrow vertical and some horizontal it's all on that book so African crawlers are composting worm's and I think they would be ok in a shallow bin Now Candian crawlers eat soil not compost and they burrow as red wigglers, Euro, African and blue worms don't they stay in the top couple inches of compost that's why they don't work in pots not wet enough for their needs in the top couple inches and you can't put enough food in a pot or bed for them to thrive now I'm not saying they won't live but they won't THRIVE! It's all in the worm farmers handbook ✌️
 
I put worms in my pots. I veg in 1L containers and flower in 2 gallon buckets. Whether or not they thrive I don't really care since while they are active they generate their unicorn poop and tunnel around aerating the soil. Then, when I harvest a new batch I add some fresh worms and cocoons to the pots to keep things going.
 
I have a 30 gallon plastic bin for my vermicompost and I have found that the European night crawlers are more finicky than the reds. What I mean by that is when I open the lid every week or so, there’s always more European than red on the lid so I’m constantly, gently placing them back to their home. And yes I do understand why they are doing it but I know why they are. After 6 months of wondering why my thousands of friends were trying to leave me, I discovered that my son has been putting whole bananas, large portions of lettuce, and also at one point two whole avacados. What did this do? It creating a rush of moisture at the top of the bin which drew the worms out to the lid. The look on your teenage daughters face when she discovered a couple worms dried up on my floor trying to find shelter. No worries though, we had proper funeral services for my faithful friends.🥸😎
Nothing against BAS because I absolutely love there products, but I would love to be able to crest my own nutrients from now on. I have tried just worm castings but it’s never enough it seems. I’m not against buying nutrients from time to time obviously because this is my hobby and lifestyle but would love to save as much money as I can. So far I can source for free: worm castings, leaf mold and leaf compost(is there a difference?), aloe(can explain benefits if need be), hay mulch layer(sourced from a friend that owns a farm) and if I want I can also source chicken poo from the same farm but I haven’t considered it yet. I’m still in the infantile stages of learning about this plant and how it grows but damn is it exciting! My grow elevates ever cycle and I save more and more money as a result which is amazing. The best part besides the end product? Knowing that I can pass knowledge that I have learned and watching people apply said knowledge and see success.
 
That's cool my friend 👍 research doing chicken 💩 it has alot of ammonia in it as they pooo and pee out of the same orphis .The 💩 needs to cook for awhile or it will kill your worms because of the ammonia in it will kill plants to for the same reason ammonia and sodium content that's why urine isn't a good idea and other obvious reasons. But it's a good source of food salmilnia is a issue with chicken as well. Straw for worms is for carbon and bedding not food so it's good to mix a carbon and bedding source ( straw,saw dust,leaf mold which is composted leaves,char,and a good ph balanced salt free coir) And use crushed oyster shells or oyster shells flour to help maintain a good ph balance in your bin. when you feed your worms don't feed them till all the other food is gone. I precompost scraps so it has time to cook down because when you put scraps in your bin it heats up and the worms want to escape that's why it's a good idea to have bedding in there so they have a place to escape to Incase it gets to hot in there for them! And I'm not sure about aloe but what I do know is you want to mix up your food for a diverse biology alfalfa meal Neem seed meal insect frass grass clippings clover sour dough starter oatmeal spent coffee grounds if the grounds aren't spent it will Lower your pH in your bin malted barley that is The kinda stuff I feed mine + my kitchen scraps maybe you local store has some old outdated veggies they can part with for free I got a bucket at the local coffee store free grounds. Check into Bokashi for the chicken 💩 it'll keep the smell down and it kick starts the compositing process,char also helps with that it's good for alot of things ✌️ I hope I gave you some good ideas when you get time check out the Urban worm farm on YouTube he has some good ideas about getting quality castings the better quality castings you have the less you have to use. I've been raising worms and chickens for a few years now well going on 5 years
 
Moisture is a BIG DEAL to if your bin is to dry spray it don't pour the water on and if it's to wet try not to add so much food Alot of the old scraps we put in there for food is mostly comprised of water like I say I started precomposting and it made a BIG DIFFERENCE in moisture and escape ratio I had a prison break like you did 😂
 

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