Seeds will germinate quicker & seedlings will be stronger when you use worm casting seed starter mix this gardening season! I make organic garden & potting soil out of the vermicompost my red wiggler compost worms produce out of my food scraps, cardboard & paper shreds. Now you can make soil & seed starting with this simple formula!
In this video I’ll also show you how I manage my 5,000 compost worms in my 20 gallon fabric pot Outdoor Worm Bin. We show you what I feed them, to include bread, how to let the difference between a pot worm and a baby compost worm, how the temperature is affecting them & you’ll see a worm time lapse at the end.
Epigeic worms or composting worms are fascinating natural composters & fertilizers that are in most homesteaders bag of tricks to make free organic fertilizer & soil amendments as well as fishing bait. If you’ve ever thought about vermicomposting or composting with worms to make organic fertilizer & natural soil amendments with your plant based kitchen scraps or food waste, this is the channel for you. I have 4 worm composing bins which you can watch from start to finished worm castings on the 4 playlists following each worm bin. If you haven’t started yet, get started now and vermicompost with me!๐ชฑ๐ชฑ๐ชฑ Visit my Channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/VermicompostLearnbyDoing
Happy Vermicomposting Everyone!!!๐ชฑ๐ชฑ๐ชฑ
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel’s videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin https://amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 https://amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots https://amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote https://amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version https://amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version https://amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins https://amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) https://amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) https://amzn.to/3gwEzb4 or https://amzn.to/42SQ4w9 (with extra coffee bean & nut blade)
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin https://amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz https://amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz https://amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Wrigglebrew Worm Casting Tea https://amzn.to/46PhV2A
Food Dehydrator https://amzn.to/3O5Uj2H
Mosquito Dunks 6 pack https://amzn.to/3Oe4Sl0 granular https://amzn.to/42KDtM0 or 20 pack https://amzn.to/42Br4Kf
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: https://amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves https://amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding https://amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer https://amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags https://amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light https://amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups https://amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: https://amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
Insta 360 ace pro https://amzn.to/3vgdmR8
Flexible Tripod https://amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera https://amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera https://amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro https://amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i https://amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets https://amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage https://amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
#Vermicompost #wormfarm #outdoorwormbin #redwigglers #selfsufficiency #homesteading #vermiculture #wormcastings #baitworms #wormbin #compostworms #compost
00:00 | Intro & what to look for
00:39 | Last feeding
01:05 | Digging in
01:34 | Worm close ups
02:00 | How to tell a pot worm from a baby red wiggler
02:47 | How I sift my castings with a VermiHut tray
03:17 | Colder weather affecting my compost worms
04:02 | Making seed starting mix with worm castings
04:23 | Using previously used soil
05:30 | Using all new ingredients
07:22 | Making a hole for food scrap
07:59 | Adding old bread
08:11 | Adding vegetable food scraps
08:48 | Fast vs slow food
09:16 | Adding color
09:37 | Amendments
10:27 | More bedding & temperature talk
11:32 | worm time lapse
12:06 | Executive Producer gets her chance!
30 Comments
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel's videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin https://amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 https://amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots https://amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote https://amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version https://amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version https://amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins https://amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) https://amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) https://amzn.to/3gwEzb4 or https://amzn.to/42SQ4w9 (with extra coffee bean & nut blade)
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin https://amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz https://amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz https://amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Wrigglebrew Worm Casting Tea https://amzn.to/46PhV2A
Food Dehydrator https://amzn.to/3O5Uj2H
Mosquito Dunks 6 pack https://amzn.to/3Oe4Sl0 granular https://amzn.to/42KDtM0 or 20 pack https://amzn.to/42Br4Kf
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: https://amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves https://amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding https://amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer https://amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags https://amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light https://amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups https://amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: https://amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
Insta 360 ace pro https://amzn.to/3vgdmR8
Flexible Tripod https://amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera https://amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera https://amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro https://amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i https://amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets https://amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage https://amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: http://www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
Hi Patrick and Autumn, good video. I do a seed starting mix very similar, only real difference is I add some vermiculite too.
Not long now and I can start my chilli pepper seeds. Have fun, Mark : )
Nice Teamwork ! Your Garden will Benefit by all the Efforts ๐ Mother Earth – Gaia is Pleased ๐
Love the outdoor bin. The wormies are gonna enjoy the variety you are spoiling them with.๐
Iโm sure thatโs a much better mix than what you buy these days. Most commercial mixes are poor quality in my opinion. I still enjoy the time lapse. A VLBD trademark.
Good morning, Patrick and Autumn โค
Great job getting some Castings and mixing your seed starter!
Huge feeding with cold weather coming โ๏ธ๐ฅถโ๏ธ
Nice job on keeping Mr. Outie going ๐ ๐ชฑ๐
โคPeggyโค
Great timing as I needed a seed starting mix tutorial about now! And for the viewers, since I was mentioned, not in Wisconsin which is way colder than where we are, but west in the PNW, west of the Cascades. But we did get down to 8F and it stayed in the teens and low 20s for highs for about a week with no snow cover. Very unusual. Took forever to thaw. But the good news is nearly all my eisenia fetida worms survived outside!
I also checked my stored castings couple days ago. They still have not thawed! I can only figure because they have retained so much water, is like a big chunk of ice.
๐๐ชฑ๐ชฑ๐ชฑ
Squeezing the cranberry was relaxing for the executive producer. ๐
I've gotta begin getting my act together for seed starting too. The tendency to be a procrastinator is almost always evident when it comes to preparing for the garden – which is so strange, because once it is all planted and underway outdoors, I'm all over it. It's just the getting started that I really lallygag with ๐
Hey Patrick, do you use casting straight from sifting into your seed starting mix or do you age the castings to let the cocoons mature?
~ Sandra
Great info on seed starting! Is it strategic to bury all feeding into tight space vs when you spread out over surface more evenly, because it's cold and you want some heat vs when hot and you don't want heat then you spread it out more? Or is it based on that this is the grow bag vs uwb?
I would be interested in seeing a comparison video of seedlings started with and without worm castings. My experience has been my worm castings retard the initial growth of my seedlings. Seems to be beneficial to add worm castings after four weeks or so.
Thanks Patrick always a good content and informative. I ended up ordering another 2,000 worms hoping this time they will be red wigglers or mostly red wagers after the first order was all blues. I'm also ordering another vermihut so I don't mix the two together. I was hoping to keep this small but it seems addictive and I really need more castings for the garden soon.
Love the seed starting mix formulas! What are you planting this spring?
How do you make your own regular soil?
Good explanation on the use of the castings. I can't wait to start the majority of my garden.
Omg, Autumnโs got me cracking up about those cranberries. This is another brilliant video from you guys. I have some seed starting mix (using Annโs recipe, happy worm family ๐ค) that Iโm starting to use tomorrow. Hopefully, no more cold South Florida nights to damage new seedlings.
See you in the next video. ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฆ
I'm with Autumn, those cranberries needed to be popped! ๐ Happy seed starting! ๐ชฑ๐ฅฌ๐ I'm sure the worms will be excited for veggies fresh from the garden
ืืืื ืืืื ืืืืฃ ืืจืืืช ืื ืืคืฉืจ ืืขืฉืืช ืขื ืืืฆืืงืืช ืืชืืืขืื.
ืืืจืชื ืขืืฉืื ืืขืื ืืื ื ืืืืืจ ืจืง ืืขืื 7ืืืืฉืื ืืื ืชืืื ืืืฉืื ืืืื ืืจืงืืช ืืืื ื ๐.
ืชืืื ืจืื ืขื ืื
Been using castings in my potting mix for 3 years now. No longer add bone or blood meal to any of my mixes, just leaf mold, aged compost and castings, 20% is the sweet spot.
Last year I used casting extract for feeding, this year will use foliar treatments of worm tea, a bit more work.
I get a kick out of finding worms when I go to pot up peppers and tomatoes.
Have a nice weekend! Stay Well!!!!
Hi Patrick nice big feeding again, i should have enough worm castings for this year's seedling mix and potting on and next year some leaf mould.๐๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ชฑโค๏ธ๐ค
Try about half a tablespoon of liquid castille soap per gallon during watering to act as a wetting agent.
Hello hello, could you explain why not to use 100% vermicastings for seed germination? I had problems with unfinished potting mix which started to rot (and affected the seeds…) and so I switch to 100% vermicompost for seed stratifying. No results yet as this is the first time doing this. Thanks. (tree seeds)
Yoooooo !! This is my favorite system by miles. Set it, forget it and cheap lol ๐ค๐ค
Perfect seed starting mixes.
She's a natural!!
Cheers J&C ๐ฑ๐ค๐
Lol I was just thinking that is the cleanest tarp ever. I have the onion,leeks and super hots started. I have to wait a few weeks for my brassicas. I love that your family saves their scraps for the worms. My son has his own worm bins so no soup for me ๐๐ผ๐ชฑ๐
โค๐
Hey Patrick! Here is my 1st video on my new channel "Brian's Garden". Made a continuous flow through worm bin out of a 55 gal food grade barrel. https://youtu.be/K138oKe-5BQ?si=CJOlhQsjFwQwTeLB
Our computers got hacked back in Oct, never was able to regain access to my other channel.
Stay Well!!!!
That's a big feeding. They will be set for a while.
Haha cranberries gotta love them ๐ The seed starting mix looks good Patrick. Good colorful feeding. We had about 8โ of snow and low temps close to single digits and high temps in the low 20s F. I just dug in the compost pile and it was loaded with worms. ๐๐ชฑ
๐ฎ oops I used what I pulled out of my VermiHut… but since I had last years hanging planter soil as biggest part of the worm bedding with sand added that should help the seedlings ๐ฑ I'm hoping as a way to revitalize the old soils ๐คโ๏ธ