I've been making actively aerated compost tea. Castings for that is what got me started in worms a short while ago. I've been adding the compost that's left in the "tea bag" into the bedding and food mix to boost microbe populations. The wigglers seem to love it. At your scale, I'm wondering about using the tea as the wetting agent instead of water and how much, if any, it would speed up the pre-compost process. I wish I had known worms were so much fun years ago. Thanks for the awesome videos. 😊
We use a cheap cement mixer from Harbor Freight to mix our feed grains for the sheep. It would work for mixing pre compost on a larger scale as well! Thank you for your great videos Meme❤
Funny that you mention this because I was going to say a compost tumbler works amazing for this. I mix mine and leave it in the tumbler until it’s time to use it. I can put 15 gallons on each side for a total of 30 gallons. I always have one side going and one side I pull from . Since I don’t have enough cardboard I use pine pellets that are used as horse bedding and a mix of coffee ground and alfalfa pellets. Mixing by hand is some serious dedication. If it works maybe making or buying some compost tumblers, placed at the end of each row, would be worth it.
When I am ready to make a batch of pre-compost I will soak my shredded cardboard overnight with the water/veg juices, then mix in the coffee grounds the next day. I collect from a local Starbucks daily so I am able to let the coffee cure for a while, using the oldest for the compost mix. I mix it in large mortar trays, fluffing it daily until my drum composter is finished with previous batch (usually one week). Finished compost is stored in 27 gal totes. I mix equal parts of finished compost and horse manure for my bedding.
Hi Samantha! Thanks so much for the shout out for the pre-composting method! ❤ You’re on target for fantastic results 👍. A teeny tiny clarification is that mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria stop at 133F. Going over that brings in other bacteria that the worms don’t seem to like or do well with 😩. Your big trough looks awesome! The mass you have there will definitely add to the heat generation. I’m interested in seeing how the addition of the chunky veggie scraps perform in the pre-compost.😎 I feel for you making the mix in the heat. I sweat like crazy too making it in this heat and humidity 🥵 I’ll be back for your follow up!! 🪱
@RockingWorms you have confused me a bit on the thermophilic stopping at 133F it is my understanding that is when thermophilic starts. Themophilic starts at 140F to 160F.. Then when it cools back down goes back into Mesophilic. compost.css.cornell.edu/microorg.html If I am missing something please let me know.
@@MemesWorms if I’m reading the article you linked correctly it more or less says what I said. Mesophilic activity is from around 68F (which it doesn’t reference but is) to 104F (I have read it up to about 113F but I happy to go with the 104F). Then thermophilic bacteria starts to take over for the 104F to around 133F range. Above 133F starts a new bacteria stage but that stuff isn’t very worm friendly. The mesophilic bacteria makes a come back as the pre-compost cools down below the 104F (or 113F). It takes time for that to happen and for it to spread throughout the material. It the pre-compost isn’t used right away it’s the mesophilic bacteria (and other biota) that continues to work to break the material down. 🪱
@@MemesWorms cCopied from the excellent article you linked: As the temperature rises above about 40°C, the mesophilic microorganisms become less competitive and are replaced by others that are thermophilic, or heat-loving. At temperatures of 55°C and above, many microorganisms that are human or plant pathogens are destroyed. Because temperatures over about 65°C kill many forms of microbes and limit the rate of decomposition, compost managers use aeration and mixing to keep the temperature below this point.
@@RockinWorms after our conversation on the phone today it sent me back to researching and asking others for imput. This is what I have found. The mesophelic 50F-105F and moves into Themophelic in temps excess of 105F to 160F.The most active thermophilic phase typically happens at temperatures between 131°F (55°C) and 160°F (71°C). When the temperature of compost rises above 160°F (71°C), it is often referred to as the "extremely thermophilic" or "hyperthermophilic" stage. So having said all this It is my honest opinion that mesphelic is upto 105F and Thermophilic is above 105F to 160F and hyperthermophilic is above 160F.
Yeah peat moss and cardboard are thirsty. I always expect to water it more the next day. Can't really do it all at once because it take time for it to absorb the water. Otherwise you'll have a stagnant pool at the bottom
"Videotaping" had me laughing! Haven't heard that in ages. I'm very curious how you'll keep the compost at 130 with all those grounds and veggies juices. I compost and use both to heat my compost to the 165. I love learning new things.
Here in the UK, I've a small fruit & vegetable growing area (2,200ft²) all no till & I go through about 200ft³ of compost a year. I probably use 500lbs of cardboard & a similar amount of coffee grounds, as well as all my own vegetable waste, grass clippings & weeds from other people. I don't have vegetable juice but & do produce a fair amount of "recycled" beer & wine... OK so I'm initially 'hot' composting (as in over 130°F) but after the single turn I give from one bay to the next, the material falls below 90°F inside a month & then the worms really get going (I harvest around 20lbs of worms a year for my own use use in competitive fishing matches). These are 90% _Dendrobaena hortensis_ & the rest a small redworm whose species I don't know. Only ever driven through southern Georgia, as when in the US, I'm either visiting friends in Albuquerque, NM or further north, in Rome, GA.
For home composters the Amazon Basic 24 sheet amzn.to/3AfdcvA works the best. Sometimes i took off all the tape and other times I did not. Now we have the commercial shredder that pulverizes it it's called a cyclone.
@larryhobbs8769 if you are a home composter I would suggest the Amazon Basic amzn.to/3WJFHKL it won't overheat. I used these for years before investing in a commercial one. If you are looking for a commercial one I would suggest the cyclone. I have a video on it.
@jmajick4415 when the temps get higher there certain microbes that die off and others come in. You then have to wait for it to cool down for at least 45 days for the mesophelic micro es to return. Pathogens start dying off at 131F so i like 133F if kept there for 3 days it will kill the pathogens but not too high to kill off the mesophelic microbes. However to kill weed seeds you have to be above 150F i believe. This is only used for pre compost to use for breed8ng. If i were making compost for castings i would go the traditional composting method. I for one would not want weed seeds in the castings or pathogens. That is why inlike the 133F so i atleadt kill the pathogens that could potentially harm someone if thwy use the castings on edibales.
Hi Samantha! Thanks so much for the shout out for the pre-composting method! ❤ You’re on target for fantastic results 👍. A teeny tiny clarification is that mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria stop at 133F. Going over that brings in other bacteria that the worms don’t seem to like or do well with 😩. Your big trough looks awesome! The mass you have there will definitely add to the heat generation. I’m interested in seeing how the addition of the chunky veggie scraps perform in the pre-compost.😎 I feel for you making the mix in the heat. I sweat like crazy too making it in this heat and humidity 🥵 I’ll be back for your follow up!! 🪱
@RockinWorms after our conversation on the phone today it sent me back to researching and asking others for imput. This is what I have found. The mesophelic 50F-105F and moves into Themophelic in temps excess of 105F to 160F.The most active thermophilic phase typically happens at temperatures between 131°F (55°C) and 160°F (71°C). When the temperature of compost rises above 160°F (71°C), it is often referred to as the "extremely thermophilic" or "hyperthermophilic" stage. So having said all this It is my honest opinion that mesphelic is upto 105F and Thermophilic is above 105F to 160F and hyperthermophilic is above 160F.
I keep mine around 130-140F since sometimes I add horse manure and that temp held for a week will kill off any fly eggs or larva that might be in there. The worms seem fine as long as it doesn’t get above 150F, after that they won’t move into it quickly when I test each batch by adding to one end of a few bins. After a week they are all over it, but they don’t seem to produce as many cocoons and definitely don’t put on weight as quickly.
@@MemesWorms I am happy to agree with your honest opinion 😍. The few degrees difference in where mesophilic ends and thermophilic starts isn’t as critical to me as a worm wrangler as what pre-compost end result makes my worms happy in the quickest turn around time possible. Others have different goals and concerns. They absolutely should take whatever actions are needed to reach those goals. 😊🪱🪱
