Posts Tagged ‘compost’

Another Attempt

Gardening, Herb, Fruit and Vegetables, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Jan 20 2008

Well today I found a number of very healthy looking Blackjack Zucchini seedlings. My head said walk away you know that is your nemesis plant. However, my heart said you can grow these. So I now have another lot of Blackjack Zucchini to try my hand at. I have decided that I will be potting them in some temporary pots tomorrow.

The temporary pots are recycled pots for larger plants in the garden. This will give the plants something to grow in and prevent getting root bound in the current seedling tray. It will also the easy transportation of the plants to Wollongong next week. Once in the Gong I will be performing another recycling tub conversion to a planter.

In order to make a few changes to this attempt I have bought a bag of Debco Organic potting mix. The reason for going with this alternative planting medium is that I wish to eliminate the RichGro Pro Mix from being a potential contributor to my previous disastrous attempts to grow this plant. This medium is coarser and does not contain the soil wetting agents or slow release fertiliser that the Rich Gro does, however given that I will have an abundance of worm juice and vermi compost that should not be a problem.

Why will I have an abundance of the worm produce? I will be deploying a second worm farm in Wollongong. In fact I am seriously considering going larger and marketing the worm juice and compost. That does need a considerable amount more investigation. However, a second farm is a certainty. The construction of that farm is yet to be decided. I am considering the Cheap Worm Farm Construction idea, but that is largely dependent on the above plans.

From this article there are two things that are certain:

  1. All attempts will be made to grow these plants successfully, I am sick of having a nemesis, especially one that I enjoy.
  2. I am yet again in need of more worms.

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Maggot Wars: Return of the Worm

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Jan 09 2008

I have checked the worm farm today and was greeted by a magnificent site. Worms wonderful worms everywhere. The little buggers have bred prolifically and have a large food reserve to chomp through.

Worms Wonderful Worms

There was still the unmistakable aroma of maggots. However, on inspection I removed the milk soaked bread. The bread stunk to high heaven, and although I saw no visible signs of maggots I am sure they were present. I came to this conclusion after stirring through the compost with a stick. I located less than 12 maggots in the system. I also exposed many more worms.

So although I am not 100% certain that there are no maggots in the system I am willing to claim victory. My worms have excelled and are now munching through the mountain of food. In 2 – 3 months I should have a nice supply of usable material for planting of fruits, vegetables or flowers. Now I just need to work out how best to get them to Wollongong when we move.

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Maggot Wars: The Worms Strike Back

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Jan 06 2008

One of the less pleasant jobs that I completed today was checking on the status of the ongoing maggot war that all began when there was a disaster in the worm farm caused by the infamous green bottle fly and a piece of unidentified Christmas meat. After the hideous task of manual removal last week, that claimed the life of my new gardening gloves, I decided to see the current state of affairs. I hoped that the below was true for the worms.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. – from “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon

Upon opening the Can’O'Worms I could tell from the smell that there were still maggots present in the system. I was expecting this as I was sure that I had not eliminated all of the scourge last week. I though was happy to see a number of worms attacking the decaying mangoes, peaches, and plums that were casualties of the recent warmth in Sydney. There were a lot of worms present on the top layer considering the inherent lack of material for them to live in. It would appear that not only have the worms withstood the invasion of the maggots, but indeed flourished and multiplied significantly in numbers. Below is a picture of the magnificent worms fleeing from the light.

Worms Wonderful Worms

I then thought that I best check the second layer. Again I was ecstatic to see nothing but worms tilling this layer. Just last week this layer was the most maggot infested of the three layers in the system, though that was moved around last week anyway. This layer looks to be very rich in nutrients and will be a great source of fresh planting materials very soon. A great result for the worms, however the stench was noticeably stronger.

After taking a few breaths and preparing myself for the likely sight on the next layer I checked it. To no great surprise I was greeted with a terrible rank stench and a cluster of horrid maggots wriggling around on the lowest layer. The image below shows these despicable critters doing nothing but gorge themselves on what would otherwise be good quality worm food.

Maggots

On closer inspection though I saw that the worms were playing stockman and had corralled the maggots into a small area within the third layer. Worms truly are an amazing creature.

I have thus deployed the milk soaked bread trick once more. Basically the idea is that you soak bread in milk and once it is milk-logged place it in the worm farm. The maggots take to this like a fly to honey and in a few days you can easily remove them and elimate the problem. This trick gave me very limited success when deployed last week. I believe this was due to the large size the maggots were that prevented them from traversing through the system to the waiting trap. As such I have made it much simpler for my prey to be lured by placing the soaked bread directly onto the cluster of maggots.

Weapons of Maggot Destruction

So with luck in 2 to 3 days I should be able to easily eliminate the majority of the remaining maggots from the worm farm. If I can do that I shall claim victory and have a celebratory drink of a Little Creatures brewery product.

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Disaster in the Worm Farm

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Dec 28 2007

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later but disaster has struck in the worm farm. The worms are not the only creatures in the compost, which is normal. However when checking various layers today I saw a pulsating mass of white. On closer inspection it was a group of horrible maggots all eating the compost. I felt physically ill upon seeing this and then decided to inspect other layers. I have found that each layer is laced with the horrible creatures. How did they get in there?

Green Bottle Fly
Picture Credit: Joseph Berger, United States, Bugwood.org (Creative Commons license terms)

Clearly, sometime over Christmas some meat that had been infected by one of the hundreds of green bottle flies that mysteriously appeared has been introduced to the worm farm. Unfortunately the ideal condition for the health of the worms is also a flies breeding ground. The maggots have now taken over. There is still a heap of worms in the system, but I must get the maggots out as I do not want to breed flies. I could think of nothing worse actually.

After performing some research I have found that the suggested technique is very straight forward. The removal of the maggots is performed by baiting them with bread soaked in milk and leaving it for 2-3 days. This apparently is a maggot magnet and will allow for their collection and removal from the farm. I will be throwing the maggots immediately in some boiling water, so the final disposal should be quite simple. But it is a pain in the backside. Given the numbers I may well be performing this task over the course of the next week or so. Needless to say I will be being much more vigilant in vetting what goes into the worm farm ecosystem.

Another suggestion is to dust the farm with lime. I will thus be getting some soon and adding it to the mix. I will though be careful to use this sparingly so as not to impact the quality of the produced vermicompost. If too much much lime is administered it will simply be passed straight to the compost. Not all plants appreciate lime, so it could have a negative impact, rather than the expected and required positive effects.

Some of the posts on blogs and forums from experienced vermiculturalists suggest to ignore the presence of the maggots. I though can not do that. I simply can not stand the thought of bringing the world even more flies than occur naturally. I must remove them.

Finally, the research also suggests that I am feeding my worm friends too much. At present I am sure this is correct as I do not have the commonly suggested 1000 worms per head of residents. Thus, I need more worms, and I need them soon. Unfortunately when I was last at the big kids toy shop Bunnings Warehouse they were out of stock. Yet had more Can’O'Worms farms than were able to be counted. Does not really make sense to have a heap of the farms but no worms in my opinion. I am sure that will soon be fixed. That said I am considering an alternative suppliers for the interim purchase to help clear the current plethora of available food. This will also deny the maggots of their food source.

I will post an update soon and let you know how I go.

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What I Have Learnt So Far

Cat and Pest Control, Gardening, Worm Farm/Vermiculture | Posted by Dean
Dec 19 2007

I thought that I would compose an article on what I have learnt about gardening to date. Of course this focuses on my experiences in my little urban patch. Here is the list and my thoughts behind each principle learnt.

Expect Failures
No matter how good and diligent you are, some plants will fail. For example I have a thriving Zucchini seedling out the back, yet two out the front planted in the same base material and receiving similar sun are struggling like the billy-o. I expect that they will soon be fed to the worms for reprocessing.

Expect Success Beyond Expectation
At the same time of expecting failures you also need to expect success beyond your wildest expectation. I am for example trying to work out what I will be doing with the plethora of chillis that are either here, or en route. For me I will be distributing that amongst family members and preserving the remaining crop.

Premium Potting Mix is Worth the Extra Coin
Premium potting mix is indeed worth the coin. Plants that are in the premium potting mixes such as the RichGro Pro Mix that is enriched with Seasol, Osmocote, and Ezi Wet are thriving. Those in the cheaper standard potting mix, such as that available from Coles, although for the most part are alive are not exactly thriving. Definately fork out the extra few dollars and get a premium mix.

Worm Farming is a Must
If you have the room a definate requirement is a worm farm. The farm produces a magnificent liquid fertiliser and a supreme compost. Both of which provide established plants a great boost or a kickstart for new arrivals. Also, it helps keep the costs down, as you can appreciate liquid fertiliser and rich compost purchased from the garden centre is expensive, and when you are worm farming is a completely unnecessary cost. Also as a real advantage your rubbish bin will not be as full or smelly.

I Need More Worms
Currently in my Can’O'Worms I have 1000 worms. I though now believe I require a considerable amount more. As a rough idea I have read that you should have 1000 worms per household member. Given Christmas is days away, and we are again hosting the family dinner, we will no doubt have stacks of peels, fruit and vegetable waste. As a direct result I will be adding at least 500 more, am considering perhaps adding 1000. I am also considering a second Can’O'Worms and utilising the stacks of cardboard that I currently have.

Recycling Rocks
Recycling our own waste is both good for us and the planet. Gardening offers a wealth of opportunities for reuse. For example, worms will eat our food scraps, paper waste, and cardboard. Also whilst on cardboard it is great as a pot liner to prevent water simply seeping straight out, further in the pot it provides a barrier for insects and other bugs climbing in. Finally, on paper I am about to embark on making my own jiffy pots using wet newspaper and the many seedling pots as a mould. Essentially its a paper mache jiffy pot.

Planning
Gardening, in particular gardening for cultivation, requires planning. It is silly to pick plant varieties that require deep roots or a need to achieve a tree size for growing in the urban environment within pots and tubs. Also, need to ensure that the chosen varieties needs are going to be met.

Dedication
Dedication is a must for any gardening project. Although many plants will survive a few days of neglect, few will sustain that for very long. Especially when contained to pots and tubs. The urban gardener needs to keep the water, nutrients, and defences up.

Keeping Felines Away is a Pain
For me I have learnt that keeping near wild cats away from the garden is a real pain in the keister meister. Cats like those currently next door are once removed from being feral. I do not want them anywhere near my garden, especially the producing plants. However, keepng them away is a real pain and requires its own commitment. I am looking forward to obtaining my CATWatch in the new year. Hopefully that will reduce the burden.

For now that is the end of my current learnings. No doubt this will expand over the coming days, weeks and months to come. As I have said before, I am a novice, but learning fast.

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