Sustainable Seed Starting Mix with Worm Castings -Indoor Garden Experiment (Intro)
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- Опубліковано 15 січ 2016
- This is the INTRO to my latest seed starting mix experiment. The goal is to find a completely sustainable, self renewing mix of components that can be used for growing seedlings. In this initial test, I focus on using worm castings for plant nutrition.
The challenge: I don't have any silicates in my back yard. I have no vermiculite, perlite and not even sand! So I'm trying to regulate moisture retention, drainage and pore spacing with renewable, naturally occurring organic components.
Can seeds be grown in 100% pure worm castings? Should worm castings be used as potting mix in containers? What can you mix with worm castings to increase the volume of your mix and reduce cost?
The control is filled with 100% worm castings. I'm also testing a bark made from shredded grape vine, shredded leaves, shredded bean pod husks and pine needles.
I'm growing "Toy Choy" bok choy from seed: amzn.to/3VnpB5w
Read more: Vermi-composting
► link.albopepper.com/worms
Read more: Composting:
► link.albopepper.com/compost
SEE THE RESULTS:
• Sustainable Worm Casti...
#AlboPepper #GardenExperiments #PottingMix #Greenhouse #Sustainability #VermiComposting
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Read more: Vermi-composting
► link.albopepper.com/worms
Read more: Composting:
► link.albopepper.com/compost
More videos for the 1st test:
Results: ua-cam.com/video/Id0Cep_9nRI/v-deo.html
2nd Test: ua-cam.com/video/H8uqlC6YXl0/v-deo.html
you look excited about the upcoming results so my guess is pure worm castings will have 1st place.
+Jeb Gardener - heheh my lips are sealed. ;-)
100% Worm castings will do best. Cool series. I look forward to the results.
Awesome experiment. thanks for taking the time to document it for us. Looking forward to the results.
Albo you are the best. Thank you
Worm castings are great with seedlings, they do not get burned like they would other "fertilizers". I'm guessing 1/2 castings and half leaves might grow best.
Now it's time to go find out!
+GingerRuss75 - Thanks!!! xD
My worm droppings are already in my compost I just leave my leaves and grass clippings in a corner of my yard the worms crawl through it all year and I'm pretty sure they leave their droppings.
I was excited to try this recipe for my seedlings. I did and two weeks later I have gnats in that tray. I can't see any yet in the other trays I started with a commercial seedling mix. Any suggestions on how we could prevent this? Any treatment?
One suggestion I have for the users of this recipe, if you're like me and your worms regularly get pepper and tomato seeds is to give this mix a little water and leave it in a warm place for 6-10 days. The seeds will germinate before you add your own.
Yves Poirier You will get fungus gnats in any potting medium if over watered, an inch of ground charcoal or gravel on top can help with gnats!
can i use compost as potting soil 3parts compost 1part perlite for my potted houseplants? i use this mix and i think my plants are not growing as fast as they should be and i fertilize every 2 weeks or so
Hello Ahmed. That should be plenty of compost to provide enough nutrients for growth. Perhaps, the plants need stronger lights? Or perhaps they simply don't grow as fast as other types of plants. I don't know what types of houseplants you're trying to grow.
can it get compact around roots making it die even plants like pothos and arrowhead are growing slow or die, Chinese evergreen stem turning yellow, when i fertilize them they give small leaves then return to shock state i give them proper light i even tried artificial light they stay the same or even worse
Hi. AlboPepper
do you have any good suggestions on keep out or kill Fungus Gnats in pots indoor.
+Niklez7 - My advice is to minimize: 1) pest introduction. I no longer bring outside plants into my seedling areas. I avoid plants from nurseries (after a couple bad experiences). Also: 2) habitat. I try not to over-water which creates a breeding ground for fungus gnats.
As a natural control, I keep venus flytraps (with lil baby traps) in my grow room. Other carnivorous plants may work great as well. And they can be fun to grow!
+AlboPepper Thanks for reply. I bought an organic mold which is unfortunately only available to me. i got fungus pet from the organic mold which all my plants are going to indoor and only small amount of them can surive outside during the summer.
i ended up with using pest spray on my vegetables plants(peppers,paprikas,herb spieces) which is not best idea either then i tried to delay their watering for days and they stoped growing .to try to keep them with almost no success
i tried using valconic rocks on top on soil to keep it dry. which did not keep them as much i wanted to.
i might try flytraps plant to mininize future invasions on my plants.
so i ended up going to the garden store and buying pest spray which has same toxics on plants are meant to use for food is not good. so tried to aviod to come to that. but same wouldnt have surived to increasing population of fungus nor my seedlings which were suffering the most of this cause. i had rarely no success of seedlings for 1-2months.
I have also heard from other people which im not sure will make any effort.
* is any sense in future to boil water and pour on organic mold to kill future pest which might come up in mold.
*also pour pest spray on mold and let it sit in mold before using. and let water go throw the mold to clean the most pest spray out of the mold.
*also Flytrap was one and glue on stick.
*heard that flies gernaly dislike tomato the plant
Niklez7 Water less and an inch of charcoal or gravel on top of the soil!
but how did you shred them?
+shakaama - I used my chipper / shredder to prep the materials. They would all be easy to hand shred in small amounts with the exception of the wood / bark. I think my favorites are the pine needles and dried leaves. But they would need to either be used in smaller amounts or else composted ahead of time (more fodder for tests!) ;-)
+AlboPepper so what would I use? I went looking for a shreader and they offered $300/hr rental. I was like WTF? is there some other shredder?
+shakaama - Yeah, those might be the higher end, commercial units. I have a small home user model. The video is here: ua-cam.com/video/T7-LE_lP7vQ/v-deo.html I think it's discontinued, but the link for the most recent model in in the description (Harbor Freight).
+AlboPepper OMG you replied to me twice. i'm gonna faint. Senpai noticed me.
Shakaama Lawn mower!
how do you shred everything?
+knitnpaint - I used this chipper shredder: ua-cam.com/video/T7-LE_lP7vQ/v-deo.html
Where is the 'follow up' video? I'd like to see the results. I've researched and found that adding some worm casting to the seedling mix produces healthier seedlings, but I believe it was far less than a 50 % worm casting mix.
Hi Z Man. The link is in the video description: ua-cam.com/video/Id0Cep_9nRI/v-deo.html
you have no video link showing the results!!
Here you go friend: ua-cam.com/video/Id0Cep_9nRI/v-deo.html I added it to the description. Thanks for pointing that out!
Only really need a 15% ratio of worm castings mixed with high quality potting soil like pro mix (peat and pearlite) to realize the full benefit of the worm castings.
Perhaps so. But in my situation, Pro-Mix is a rather expensive potting soil. While worm castings are completely free and generated on site. This video was made for a very specific reason.
I have a question first. How did you shred your leaves, bark and needles?
Then I think you should have tried the leaves, bark and needles as well for three more pots. At 3:24 you said "...you're not going to grow seeds in that.", but I bet if you tried you could (and would). Not everyone has access to worm poop as well.
+Karl Becker - Hi Karl. The shredded components were mechanically shredded. The leaves, pods and pine needles would be very easy to process by hand. Shredding up bark... not so much.
All of the organic components are non-composted. They are VERY high in carbon. Without a nitrogen source, the seeds won't do well. Actually, you'll enjoy seeing the results which will underscore this.
You're right about not everyone having access to worm castings. The follow up experiment will show a 2nd nutrient source. Really though, many gardeners DO have access to worms. They may not practice vermi-composting. But many of them could if they wanted to.
Remember though, I'm using what is available to me. So a different gardener in a different area may have access to chickens or rabbits for fertility. Perhaps they are on a coastline and they can use fish emulsion or harvest kelp. In such a case, they may also be able to use sand in their mix. I'm stuck with what I have in my landlocked, temperate area.
+AlboPepper Thanks for the response. I am curious on the device you used to mechanically shred the components. I usually sift my compost at 1/4 - 3/8", but I'd like to take the remainder and shred it smaller. I've thought about getting a sink disposal and using that.
+Karl Becker - Gotcha! This is the unit I use: ua-cam.com/video/T7-LE_lP7vQ/v-deo.html
It has allowed me to make all of my own mulch. I've ripped out old ugly shrubs and shredded them up, keeping my resources on site. Plus it has been a great way to kick start my compost tumbler! In the info for the video, there should be a link to the revised model as sold by Harbor Freight.
There's a place in my area that gives away FREE mushroom substrate every week. They only have you pay a fee if you are getting some in large amounts.
That's awesome! I've found that stuff to be a really great organic nutrient source, especially for in-ground, raised beds.
cool. I wish I had a yard though.