I really enjoyed your advice and the fact that you seem to love your worms as much as I do. They do so much for our planet and are usually unappreciated. I’ve been composting with worms for 15 years and love what it has done for my garden. One year though, I had been eating papaya, my favorite fruit, on a weekly basis and discarding peel and seeds in the worm bin. After a month, I realized the papaya, which is great for my digestion, had digested my worms. 😢 I was able to save a handful and start again. Keep sharing your knowledge so that we can save our soil and the health of our beautiful planet 🌎. Take care, María Lucía from California
Hi Maria from California, really enjoyed reading this comment. I too am a huge fan of Papaya. I am able to just grow it with success here where I live. It doesn't like the cold winters. I will do my best to keep spreading the word about compost worms, soil life and biodiversity. It's a real passion of mine. Blessing & Stay Safe Marty
Oh no i think the enzyme in papaya can soften meat so I can understand that it might affect worms if in high enough amount ts. I’d never thought about it though.
Hi Mike, I am sure you will get it happening. I am actually working on a lot of content on vermicomposting at the moment, hope it helps. All the best from Australia Marty
Thanks for all the detailed information! I really appreciate the time you've put in to help us do it right! By the way, your little helper is a cutie - I love her pet Praying Mantis 🤭
Very welcome, I try to get to all my questions. If you haven't already please subscribe to my channel. This will help me reach my goal of getting to 50K subscribers, every sub really helps keep this channel to grow and stay going. Thanks Marty
Your welcome Stephanie, if you want to take it further I am having a sale on my course soon via my newsletter,,,organic seed raising course will be the bonus! It's game changing if your interested in organics!
I use the dolomite powder in addition to the eggshells. It allows for feeding more acidic items like tomato if sprinkled on top of the food. Neutralize the acid before it causes issues. Great video. Also love the preying Mantis. I wish it was summer here.
Gday, dolomite and eggshells cool,,I bet they love that. Good idea for the acid foods, I am sure that concept will help others who read this feed. She is a real hot dry summer here this year, most gardens are suffering. Thanks for watching Marty Ware
I just started my Worm Factory 360. Right off I got fruit flies. So, I added Mosquito Bits (Bacillus Thuringiensis Subspecies Isrealensis) and within 24 hours great reduction to the fruit flies, and two days later they are gone. We had got an order of beneficial nematodes in for the yard and garden, so I put a spray of them in there. They will do a great job until the wrigglers eat them. And same day, our fly wasp predators arrived, as whoopee, we also had some maggots in the bin. What a start for the first week! This morning there are zero maggots, zero house flies, and zero fruit flies or fungus gnats. What a start to vermicomposting! Fascinating and can't wait to apply the finished product to our cannabis grows.
@@martysgarden thank you Marty! I took a peek this morning and all I can see are nice big fat crawlers and red wrigglers. And not a single maggot, fly, or fruit fly. So, if people are willing to do some beneficial and biological warfare with other creepy crawlies, I find this very effective. Do you think cannabis leaves would be too spiny for them? They are similar to borage but not as bad, if you rub a leaf against your skin backwards you will be able to feel the spines.
One way to solve the over feeding problem, is to puree the food and drain out the liquid. The worms will consume the food so fast, it won't have time to rot. For the bedding, I use a mixture of peat moss and leaf mulch.
I don't have a worm farm, but I have a terrarium. My question is, how do I get rid of pot worms in my terrarium? This the first time that I've watched your show. It was very informative.
Good video marty l picked up some vital tip to help me with my journey with Sustainable and environmentally friendly home gardening and I thank you for your knowledge. I enjoyed the live session today I was unsure whether I logged in correctly or not I did enjoy it I’m not sure whether you know that I am legally blind in the garden that I have is my main release from the stresses that get me away from everything and just enjoying nature Thanks again mate. Kit The stingy blind gardener👍👍👍👍👍😃
Hi Dave. You are very welcome. Please subscribe to my channel here as we have some really cool content coming up about worm farming very soon. You will love it! 😀
Great video. So passionate. Just a question please. I saw a video where someone puts ice into the bin every couple of days. I know hail brings nitrogen to the soil. Is it necessary? Have you tried it before?
The ice is to cool them down, or to slowly keep moisture in the farms as it slowly drips in. It's not necessary. If you would like to take your home worm farming to the next level I suggest you become a Worm Wrangler member and do my course inside the channel called Starting A Worm Farm A Beginners Guide. ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin Have a lovely day Marty
I am new to worm farming and I used a potting soil called miracle gro nature care organic and natural soil 32Qt. In a 65Qt. Container and use cricket diet food to feed my 36 nightcrawlers and didnt know if theres something I could do to make life better and give them what they need to breed and iv had the farm for almost a month?
Night crawler worms produce a wet compost. They are slow to eat grub and prefer rotten food. Good for liquid fertiliser daily, I need compost so I threw all in my raised vegetable bed and bought 500 grams red worms.
Ffs I cleaned out my worm farm today and used that exact bedding u said not to use! It was so much cheaper than the worm farm manufacture brand, it even says its good for worm composting! Dammit. I mixed it 50/50 with potting mix.
She will be right matey..it just may take a little longer that's all to get going at full steam. 😀 Have you checked out my members area? I have really awesome courses in there for people like yourself and it costs less than a pizza. Take a look here and see if it's for you ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin
My worm farm is over populated and some are trying to escape, also I want to harvest the farm but it is like mud with heaps of worms. I cut up their food in a blender and spread it the bed then add a little soil litely over the food then top with sheets of newspapers. Am I doing the right thing and how can I harvest without the worms. Thanking you for any advice.
Hi Elizabeth, thanks for the question. My advice would be to do the first course in the Worm Wranglers members area level 3. You are at the stage where you need to harvest worms/ migrate, collect casting add new trays etc. It's all in here ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin Good value at the cost of less than a pizza. Have a nice day Marty😀
Just a something on tap water, a lot of places now use chloramine instead of just chlorine, which unfortunately doesnt gas off the same as chlorine and requires other techniques to remove such as Reverse Osmosis,certain filters ,or otherways, but not just as simple as leaving out for several hours because of the bond of the chlorine to ammonia apparently, just food for thought since I was unaware of this until recently and more and more places are using it in town water, believe Sydney Brisbane and Melbourne use it exclusively already.
Ultraviolet light[edit] The use of ultraviolet light for chlorine or chloramine removal is an established technology that has been widely accepted in pharmaceutical, beverage, and dialysis applications.[10] UV is also used for disinfection at aquatic facilities.[11] Ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate[edit] Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and sodium ascorbate completely neutralize both chlorine and chloramine, but degrade in a day or two, which makes them usable only for short-term applications. SFPUC determined that 1000 mg of vitamin C tablets, crushed and mixed in with bath water, completely remove chloramine in a medium-size bathtub without significantly depressing pH.[12] Activated carbon[edit] Activated carbon has been used for chloramine removal long before catalytic carbon, a form of activated carbon, became available[citation needed]; standard activated carbon requires a very long contact time, which means a large volume of carbon is needed. For thorough removal, up to four times the contact time of catalytic carbon may be required.[citation needed] Most dialysis units now depend on granular activated carbon (GAC) filters, two of which should be placed in series so that chloramine breakthrough can be detected after the first one, before the second one fails.[13] Additionally, sodium metabisulfite injection may be used in certain circumstances.[14][full citation needed] Campden tablets[edit] Home brewers use reducing agents such as sodium metabisulfite or potassium metabisulfite (both proprietorially sold as Campden tablets) to remove chloramine from brewing fermented beverages. However, residual sulfite can cause off flavors in beer[15] so potassium metabisulfite is preferred. Sodium thiosulfate[edit] Sodium thiosulfate is used to dechlorinate tapwater for aquariums or treat effluent from wastewater treatments prior to release into rivers[citation needed]. The reduction reaction is analogous to the iodine reduction reaction. Treatment of tapwater requires between 0.1 and 0.3 grams of pentahydrated (crystalline) sodium thiosulfate per 10 L of water[citation needed]. Many animals are sensitive to chloramine, and it must be removed from water given to many animals in zoos.[citation needed] Other methods[edit] Chloramine, like chlorine, can be removed by boiling and aging. However, time required to remove chloramine is much longer than that of chlorine. The time required to remove half of the chloramine (half-life) from 10 US gallons (38 L; 8.3 imp gal) of water by boiling is 26.6 minutes, whereas the half-life of free chlorine in boiling 10 gallons of water is only 1.8 minutes.[16] Aging may take weeks to remove chloramines, whereas chlorine disappears in a few days.[17][18] Here is the solution for your problem
Vitamin C is often used to remove chlorine and chloramine from large amounts of water, like pools, hot tubs and baths, but it can be used in drinking water too. The downside is you need to buy vitamin C tablets or powder and it can decrease the pH levels of the water, but if used in small quantities it's suitable for fermentation. Best of all, it will remove chloramine, which some municipalities use instead of chlorine because it's more resilient. However, you will need a higher amount of vitamin C to remove chloramine. Approximately 40 mg will dechlorinate 1 gallon of water. The use of vitamin C can be used to declorinate with small price
Thanks 👍. Stay tuned with the vlogs and consider looking at the member's area for course vids. Has everything for success in there in short concise educational videos ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin. 😀
We have to Appreciate all farmers 🙏🏼🙏🏼it’s really not easy to plant foods ! I just got my anc very terrible worms they are trying to escape and don’t want to eat!
Wonderful tips thank you.when would you add the compost to the veg patch, would you save the worms or just add the whole bottom tray and start it off again . Do you add any food over the winter or start off in the spring. UK south west area. Lots of questions but great tips
so i’m having trouble figuring out exactly what to do with the bedding and how to layer it, do i do a layer of bedding, put in the worms and the stuff they came in, and then another layer of bedding ??
Hi Arya. I created a course inside RU-vid in my members area here to help people get started correctly. You will find access to it here in level 3 ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin You can also ask me any questions you may have inside there as well. Enjoy Marty😀
May the Blessing pour on you my friend. Thanks so much for the continued support on our channel. Put up the new backdrop studio yesterday. We even have a Lightbox sign hehe Happy Gardening Marty & Karin
Just started a worm farm a couple months ago and very quickly the acidity got too high. I threw a handful of ash in and that seemed to correct the problem.
Do you spray water on the straw right in the farm on top of the worms. I’m always worried about them getting to much water and drowning them. I started with coco coir and it was damp but I feel like it gets too dry. I have added water with the shredded cardboard and I put water with some food and blend it . I have seen people spraying the farm . Should I put more water and just pour it in if I think it’s too dry? Mine seem to stay down low. They are at a great temp. So that’s not a problem. Thanks
It's very hard to drown the compost worms, actually being too dry usually creates more of a problem. I would recommend you check out the Worm Wranglers members area and do the course Starting A Worm Farm A Beginners Guide. ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin *_It will answer all these questions and more to help you build and keep a successful worm farm._* Hope to see you there. Have a wonderful Easter Marty
Hi Marty, Greetings from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 This video from 3 years ago popped up on my list to watch. 👍 You really covered it well. Brilliant 👏
Hi Marty, Thank you for the video. We have a worm farm on its way so your videos will come in handy. Who would have thought that it would be the best way to get rid of shredded paper!
Hi Marty, Thank you for the great video. I recently set up a worm farm and Initially i started with small amount of worm and then I added eggs for 1000 worms. I have added few times kitchen scarps. I could find that the worm farm is full of small maggot worms not the earthworm. I have also added the PH conditioner as well. I am don’t know what to do.
Hi mC, sounds like an over feeding problem and possibly wrong foods. Stop feeding for a while and flood the farm with water and leave the tap open. Hope that helps.
Love ot!! Thank you for all the tips!!! I’ve noticed the other that I have fruit flies in my bin. Any tips how to get rid of them and prevent from coming back?
I started out with a pound of worms; now I see there aren't nearly so many. I see tiny critters scurrying around and once in awhile when I open the lid, something flies out to the window. What are these and how to get rid of them? I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks
Hello, sounds like vinegar flies to me Riesah. I have a full section in Starting a Worm A Beginners Guide on pest management which you can find right here ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin. Thanks😀 Marty
Do you add Springtails or Isopods into the enclosure? I think they'd be great for worm farms.. Assuming worm farms need good humidity lol, I actually don't know much about worm farming lol
I don't farm worms, but I have a bioactive ball python enclosure and I've begun adding worms to help keep the soil from compacting. They seem to be doing well, I see them sometimes against the glass in the soil :D Thanks for the info, I know so little about worms and they're such an important part of that ecosystem. I appreciate you :)
Hi Matt, Spring tails and a range of mites seem to turn up on there own in a healthy system. It's more just keep a balanced farm so they don't get out of hand.
Basically, they are fine if not in too large of numbers. I cover pest problems and everything about farming worms in my Worm Wranglers Members area. Take a look at this video to find out more ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin Happy Worm Farming😀 Marty
We just started our worm farm on a 4 tray system we put the worms and block in the bottom tray and food scraps in the working tray a bit confused do we keep the 1 tray remaining in the farm or take it out? What tray do the castings form in??
Oh no... I wish I came up to this video a week ago.. Just started my first worm farm and read about coco peat as a good bedding.. I hope my wormies won't die because my ignorance... Fingers crossed
You will be okay, they are tougher than you think. Just means things may be a little slower at first. Since your new to this, I recommend that you consider becoming a Worm Wrangler and doing my course on this channel *Starting A Worm Farm A Beginners Guide.* It has all you need and a lot more to be a successful worm farmer at home. It's great value, costing less than a quality pizza or worm farm. ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin Have a nice weekend and stay safe😀 Marty
We have had problems mole crickets that eat the worms. Think they came from some cow poop we hadn’t properly composted, so we have to check the bins regularly.. also we get soldier fly larvae. I don’t think they eat the worms, onLy the food, anyone else had these problems?
I just started my 1st worm bin. Do I need a drain hole at the bottom. My bedding is coco coir with roots from cannabis and I also used quit a bit of cardboard and paper? After about 1.5 weeks everything seems food. 1st couple days I would find 3 to 7 worms climbing walls trying to escape. However when I looked today there was only 1 worm climbing the wall. Number of worms trying to climb walls has decreased which I'm guessing is a food thing.
Drain holes are best for new worm farmers, they move around depending on many factors. Check out the members area if you want to learn the ropes quickly. Cheers Marty
Hi Marty my problem is I’m going. I’ve had a worm farm now for some years and always always it’s wet. I know that you say the food that I put in is too wet for them but I have tried dry Food etc and still no luck it’s still sloppy. I have plenty of worms that’s not the problem and overtime. I have taken them from their assisting tray and put them into a fresh new bedding and very quickly. The situation changes so exactly how it was all wet and sloppy. Is there anything that I can do to fix this problem? Fingers crossed you have an answer. Just love your videos. Jan McKenzie
Great video Marty. Have just set up my first worm farm and all is going well so far. I have the tap open with a jug underneath it and was wondering how often to water the worm farm so that I get some of the worm wee? Thanks.
Hi Diane, a couple of times a week works best, less in the cooler weather. More content on the way about worms, compost and organic gardening on the way! Thanks for watching Marty ps: Oxygenate your worm wee for optimum results
Hi martys, i started to breed by giving a poultry food. I am not using garbage like you do. But what i found then is the soil become mouldy. Each days i checked it is always mouldy spotted on the food the i pour on. Why and how to handle this. Hope you have time to reply my question. Thanks and success for your channel
Sounds like they aren't able to consume the food you are giving them. Try cutting back on the amount and crushing the pellets. Hard to say without seeing it,,,hope that helps Marty
My worms live in a bucket that got lot of holes in the lid, on the side and in the bottom. I made it in may so a young farm. I use a bedding of wet sliced paper, some dirt around 8-10 cm thick and i feed them very gentle since they only are 100 down there. But every time i take off the lid some are up the sides of the bucket trying to concure new ground. Is this a sign of something i should change?
Wow that is so informative! Thanks so much. Quick question if you don't mind? Do you aerate your compost by turning it over from the base occasionally?? I feel mine is heavy and every time I go to feed the worms I am tempted to turn it over but don't!! Thankyou
Hi Rebecca, I sell compost so some of it is sold, other goes into pots at 10% blends,,,and to raise seedlings😀 Check out my latest vlogs and vids to learn more. I have plenty of content on the subject and will be covering more on the growing side of things in the coming spring here in Australia. Cheers Marty
Howdy my friend, I am having a problem with what appears to be very small white mites in my finished castings and the bins too. How can I get rid of the little buggers? They don’t seem to do any harm but I can’t get rid of them by adding more carbon bedding that I’ve been doing. Any ideas?
Hi Michael, I haven't had much experience with mites. I would just stop feeding for a while and turn the farm to allow more airflow. 😀 Hopefully that helps,,keep me posted please!
can you also feed your worms regulair compost? I find that my compost when I get it out of my regular compost bin isn't fully proccesed yet, there's nothing wrong with the stuff I would just like it to be proccesed a bit more. I was thinking of mixing it with straw and occasional rabbit manure for them. I would also like to feed them apple core's since when I put them in the compost there will be worms in it within a couple of days. I really would like the worms to refine my compost so I can get a bit more of a controlled procces.
Yes, use your compost as bedding. They will eat that. You should consider becoming a Worm Wrangler level 3 everything you need to know is in there Click here to find out more now ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-
I would be careful of the rabbit manure- the reason why is because the rabbit manure can have rabbit urine which has ammonia and can kill the worms- I saw a video of a vermicomoster on RU-vid that added rabbit manure and it started killing the worms- she thought it was because there was some of the rabbits pellets which has alfalfa in it- which wouldn’t help either but I think it was the rabbit urine with the rabbit manure. If you age everything- in a aerobic compost environment- it should allow the microbes to break everything down to be safe- even the ammonia in the urine through the nitrification process given enough time- but I would say try everything with a small amount of worms first- the last thing you want is to wake up to a disaster in your worm bin and find them all dead. Personally I think I would age the rabbit manure and add it to the finished worm castings with other amendments for your soil and let the soil microbes break down the rabbit manure in the ground- I don’t trust a lot of things going into my worm bin-
Hi Marty.... in my Worm Factory, which I have had for only 2 and a bit months, and now have about 2,000 worms I have just noticed upon lifting the lid that there are thousands of these ‘tiny’ mites over EVERYTHING and they are a brownish red and about the size of a grain of sand....!.!?!? Will they do any harm....?!?
I live in a place where it gets freezing cold for 3-4 months so i have a garden tent indoors for herbs in the summer and veggies in the winter could i put the worm farm in the corner of the tent
Check out the course Starting A Worm Farm A Beginners Guide in the members area,,then you will always have a perfect worm farm ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin Best regards Marty😀
I’m getting ALOT of centipedes in my worm farm I’ve been leaving my worm farm alone (except when I feed them and take some out to fish with) I have Canadian night crawlers, and like I said I have alot of centipedes in there and I’ve got alot of them out and they keep coming, I feed them egg shells, coffee grounds, and greens, I haven’t watched the whole video but answer when you can.
Thanks Marty, you’re a legend! My worm farm is a week old and in Sydney it’s been wet/rainy so I tend to find them on the lid (luckily mine’s escape proof!) though it’s under shelter from the rain. I also found a few in the bottom worm juice tray, freaked out, “saved them” and put em back into my first tray. The instruction booklet said to add the second tray after 3 months when castings have built up but I added it anyway.. The soil is quite wet so I added more newspaper. Is this normal? Why are they sinking to the bottom tea tray? When it rains and they go up to the lid, is it okay or something’s wrong with my worm farm? Cheers!
Worms do lots of crazy stuff, a bit hard to answer in one go. However, your in luck as my worm farming course on my website is only $27 AUD for the moment,,goes back up after the sale ends today. You can learn everything and more in there,,get me as a coach too inside the website
You can add more dry material in wet weather, to absorb some of the sideways rain and humidity. I keep shredded paper in my bottom tier, and a little in the worm tea tray, to stop any escapees from drowning. Catching the leachate also inoculates the paper, which can be used as bedding in a new active tier.
I have full tutorials all about this in the Worm Wrangler members area which has everything you need and a lot more for only $15 it's a bargain,,this way your farm will run smoothly and be super productive. ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin You also get Starting Organic Seedlings A Beginners Guide in there too. Cheers' Marty😀
Hey Marty my worm farm has some visitors. Small white bugs that seem to be biting the worms. Any clues on what they are and how I can solve this problem.
Thanks for your great video. I also LOVE worms and my own wormery has been running for 16 years now. My question is regarding my friend's wormery as she has asked me to feed her worms whilst she is away for several months. It is, like mine, a round 3 tier wormery. Now on my first visit I noted that the bottom tier is all well with healthy looking worms but the two other tiers above are very acidic smelling, slimy, with lots of flies, pot worms and (never seen this before) oodles of meal worms. No good worms in either of above tiers. Can this be rescued with such as cardboard, charcoal, eggshells or does this need to be removed. And if so can it be put into ordinary compost? Thanks for giving this attention.
I would remove the worms and get rid of that material,,basically it's chook fodder. Place the rescued worms into the healthy tray. Happy gardening Marty
I grow microgreens. The by product of microgreens is the peat and roots/seed that didn't sprout. It's spring here in Florida, USA. Thanks for the great video and keeping it simple!
The compost worm love that by product, great way to recycle and keep it all in the loop. That material makes a wonderful casting and can be used over and over again to mix back through your Peat. I am growing microgreens in compost and worm castings all the time,,,be happy to show it the video a few weeks away. Enjoy the Spring Marty
Yes, do my course in the Worm Wranglers members area on my channel ,has all you need to learn in there and more for making worm tea and fertilisers ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin 😀
Hi Marty, thanks for the video. I’m starting to get lots of little white flies like aphids in my worm farm. Under the lid and on the blanket. What is it and how do I get rid of it? The aphid looking things are quick and some fly away when I open the lid.
Hi, thanks for the tube, I have some starter uploaded in the middle of the vertical planter half-way, and watered, now to fill with residue from the liquidiser, but its a baboon area and the waste is pretty potent in fragrance, do you think if I put some bi-carb on the top it would kill the smell and act as a deterrent, and would it feed the process or neutralise it?
Cut down on feeding is the answer. Take a look at this it will help you run and set up a productive worm farm and eliminate any future problems ru-vid.com/show-UCnPkv-JUX4Pqn_LYbykzAtwjoin
Hi Marty, nice video 🙂 Any suggestions on how to gently extract the castings while the worms are in it. It's full and too heavy for me to lift out. Also they hang out in the bottom a lot and clog the drain 🤔 Ive had them for 5 yrs, under shady tree, never any problems but Ive never understood the process of the towers so it's a fluke really based on love for the cute little things ☺ but I know somethings not right. Is the food their bedding or is that separate? Thank you, Lynda
Hi Lynda,,sounds like you have done well. I have a video course masterclass that covers all that and more www.martysgarden.com.au/isikyrkx check it out if it interests you. Thanks Marty
