Welcome to the new Vermicomposting forum!

Thanks for your patience - here it is!

YEAH!!!!! Thanks Terry & Dave!!!

Maggie

Yippeee!!!! Worms Rule!!!

Just the girl worms right? According to my grandaughter "girls rule and boy's drool". LOL

This is a wriggly prospect! Thanks for listening to us... again! :)

Well, that's an interesting question especially with worms since they are hermaphrodites, unless one end is arguing with the other.....grin

Thanks Terry and Dave!

Ummm, can we have a worm masthead for this thread? What? No? ok......

Super ...Thanks Dave and Terry and everyone that requested we have this forum!!!!!

doccat5...ya never knwo they just might argue then gee what a topic to discuss LOL

Nice going vermies...this should be great fun.

Want to throw out a couple of questions here for those of you who use worm casings for you plants. I have a small lab oven which I can use to sterilize my worm casings for germination mixes at (200 degrees F for 20 minutes).

Q1. I have read in a DG composting thread that heat in excess of 200 degrees F can release toxins to plants. Can anyone elaborate on this?

Q2. I use spent media from my worm bins for potting soil mixes without heating because I feel the nutrient value can be lost during the sterilization process. Some of my worm food comes from peelings like bannanas, oranges, and store bought tomatoes in the winter. I'm concerned about introducing pathogens or fungi which might be dormant in the vermiculture media. In goinging through some DG threads I read about using Hydrogen Peroxide as an inexpensive sterilizer. Thought about grating some spent media and placing it in a 1-gallon plastic coffee container, adding some H2O2, and shaking it up. Leave the lid on for a day or two and used it. Logic tells me this would be an acceptable means of sterilizing without diminishing nutriet value. Any thoughts?

m

Glad for this fourm, this is my compost secerate.I am a hot pile convert.

horray Worms!

Mraider3, I don't know if peroxide is any better. It kills a lot of the good stuff along with the bad stuff you want to get rid of.
My sister was really into worms and did a lot of research. She has told me that in India that they use worm composting toilets and use the castings as fertilizer. The worms convert the bad stuff in the poo to good stuff in their castings. I don't think you would have too much to worry about if you used only the castings.
I left a hyperlink to a pass-through worm bin on another thread here it is again.

http://sunnyjohn.com/photos/devices_tools/dt_worm_barrel/index.htm

His servant, Paul.

I don't think you have to sterlize worm castings???

I'm trying to post a picture so someone can please help me identify what is growing in my bin but I'm on my phone and the picture isn't showing up??

I don't recognize the plant. Are these blanketing your bin? They sure are tiny seedlings.
Go ahead and pull them up and let them lay on the top. They will die and add to the mulch.

If it is a type of mushroom, don't worry. Mike