I am doing my first living soil grow in a 3x3 soil bed in my 4x4 tent.
I am a few weeks away from flower, and it’s my first time in this soil. I do plan on using the same setup back to back next run. So I believe I’ll need to amend it after this run is completed.
My question re: worms (red wigglers), is it too late to really benefit from having worms this first run, since it takes a few months to start breaking everything down? I only got 1/4 pound, so there’s not many and I am not sure how long it will take to really benefit. I also don’t really know what to add as far as food for the worms, all I am using is barley straw for my mulch layer.
What is the best way to make use of them at this point?
They will benefit you this run for sure. You can add the leaves and bottom branches to your mulch if you lollipop or defoliate, at harvest you can put the stems and waste on there. They will eat any dry amendments you might add like kelp meal, guano etc.
I top dress with fresh EWC and there are always a few red wigglers coming along for the ride.
Give them some ‘smoothies’ and they will have orgies…
You will want to check out @Cadman’s posts for details.
They will begin providing benefit to you the day you add them. Just keep a mulch layer over the top so they can come to the surface to feed as they don’t like light.
i ripped up a bagel into small parts (as small as I could get them) and mixed it with some old soil, and put it under the mulch layer. Hope that will keep them going for a bit?
Since you’re using red wigglers, adding a little bagel won’t harm them, in fact, red wigglers are able to break down small amounts of fresh or stale breads before they can turn anaerobic. Keep starchy foods in the upper layers and the worms will break it all down very quickly.
For the sake of your worms, take it easy with overly starchy and/or processed foods. It’s not the best food for them, there are far better ways to add a little starch.
I ended up having Rove beetles and Stratiolaelaps scimitus mites colonizing my worm bin as well, so everytime I top dress I am adding beneficial insects along with it. Win win.
Ya if you have some worms to add, you should just add them. You don’t need to add many to get it started. I added some to my 3x3 and 2x4 beds I started recently.
Sooner u start the better. I started with 6 red wigglers in each 20 gal pot 2 years ago.
I now feed my newts 10 medium worms weekly , gave away 3x 1lb for outdoor gardens and my soil is still so alive you can see the rice hulls move if you stare . When I avacodo tek hundreds hide under the shells.
Avacado tek
Guys you want a good one ? A week before flower take an avacado , half it, eat half of the good stuff , mix the other half with a tbsp or 2 of dry organic bloom amendments. Put the mix back into the 2 half shells and put them on the soil . The worms don’t stop until its all gone . And the skins roll up and make a nice home for beneficials. I find this gives me a better flower set faster than if I don’t.
