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Earthwormponics
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Re: Earthwormponics
by Benjy136 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:52 am
One big difference being that the worms would remove any pathagens in the food
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Re: Earthwormponics
by The Worm Expert » Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:48 am
Benjy
The worms can eat small particles of feed, i.e. broken down organic matter, Purina Worm Chow... At the same time there is a benefit of the microbes as per breaking down the larger particles as well as certain microbes generated at certain temperatures which appears to help in growth rates and reproduction when generated in certain feed mixes.
I have been playing with this for a while and have another batch we are keeping an eye on at the moment.
As for the rabbit manure, if it has been separated from the rabbit urine, the pH should be neutral while the protein level can be anywhere from approximately 12 to 18 percent. Variances occur in rabbit manure since they only process about 25% of the food they ingest hence what they are fed will cause a difference in the end result.
In the Earthwormponics we do feed the worms a mixture of mainly shredded dry rabbit manure.
Bruce
The worms can eat small particles of feed, i.e. broken down organic matter, Purina Worm Chow... At the same time there is a benefit of the microbes as per breaking down the larger particles as well as certain microbes generated at certain temperatures which appears to help in growth rates and reproduction when generated in certain feed mixes.
I have been playing with this for a while and have another batch we are keeping an eye on at the moment.
As for the rabbit manure, if it has been separated from the rabbit urine, the pH should be neutral while the protein level can be anywhere from approximately 12 to 18 percent. Variances occur in rabbit manure since they only process about 25% of the food they ingest hence what they are fed will cause a difference in the end result.
In the Earthwormponics we do feed the worms a mixture of mainly shredded dry rabbit manure.
Bruce
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Re: Earthwormponics
by GoGreen101 » Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:54 am
In answer to some questions about worms in ebb and flow systems.
It really depends on how often you flood the worms and what kind of growing media you are using. It might also be importaint to have a filter in place so worms don't get into the lines. However, any filtering can be a maintance problem.
I flood and drain my worms in the beds. It is more like a wave of water than a flood though. The process helps to push old air out and pull new air in. This is the same benifit achieved with the hydroponic ebb and flow system. Plants can withstand periods without oxygen much better than worms so, a flood and drain system with the worms would have to be a shorter cycle.
I would be more inclined to keep the two beds seperate as is done with aquaponics. I would also recycle the water and enrich it with new food for the worms since the plants will filter a lot of the food out. Having two seperate beds will also allow you to adjust food in the worms menu so that the plants will get what they need. All the worms need for food is a supply of manure tea.
The worm bedding will filter the manure out of the tea and produce blockage to the system. So, don't over feed them.
I could think of a few questions for this system so, I think a few experiments are in order. A few questions you may have to answer:
Will the worm bin and hydroponic beds have to be in constaint ballance?
How do we deal with seasonal growing?
If the worms are in the same bed, how do we deal with harvesting worms?
It really depends on how often you flood the worms and what kind of growing media you are using. It might also be importaint to have a filter in place so worms don't get into the lines. However, any filtering can be a maintance problem.
I flood and drain my worms in the beds. It is more like a wave of water than a flood though. The process helps to push old air out and pull new air in. This is the same benifit achieved with the hydroponic ebb and flow system. Plants can withstand periods without oxygen much better than worms so, a flood and drain system with the worms would have to be a shorter cycle.
I would be more inclined to keep the two beds seperate as is done with aquaponics. I would also recycle the water and enrich it with new food for the worms since the plants will filter a lot of the food out. Having two seperate beds will also allow you to adjust food in the worms menu so that the plants will get what they need. All the worms need for food is a supply of manure tea.
The worm bedding will filter the manure out of the tea and produce blockage to the system. So, don't over feed them.
I could think of a few questions for this system so, I think a few experiments are in order. A few questions you may have to answer:
Will the worm bin and hydroponic beds have to be in constaint ballance?
How do we deal with seasonal growing?
If the worms are in the same bed, how do we deal with harvesting worms?
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GoGreen101 - Posts: 20
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- Location: Lawton, OK
13 posts
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