Vermicompost

Time for an update. A week hasn't passed yet but I was forced to work the top layer of the soil today. Fungus gnats found the soil and decided they were going to hold a massive disco. Must have been one heck of a pr team because adults were swarming the soil within 48 hours. Note made: close off the top of the pot. It's felt. Air can come through the sides and bottom. ----------------------------------- March 11 Checked in to see if there were any alterations. Found several red wrigglers who didn't immediately react to my touch. but soon scattered away. I'm guessing they came up for food and didn't find any. I also found three fungus gnats walking around. Squished them and threw the copses out of the window above to ward off future intruders. Soil generally looks drier but it's too hard to tell by looks alone if it's still moist enough for the worms. Note made: invest in a moisture meter ----------------------------------- March 13 (no pictures) Checked in on the soil and was unwantedly greeted by 10 gnats. On the soil partying were another 10 or so gnats. There was an orgy in one corner that I respectfully disturbed. (It may or may not have involved two spoons and an old hash grinding technique) Considering these buggers aren't paying rent here, they need to go. Since the first warning of corpses outside the window was ignored, it was time to step it up. I mixed up a solution of apple cider vinegar and lavender dish soap. Poured that into two of the smallest glasses I could find and one small saucer, that I borrowed from the kid's room. Game on! ----------------------------------- March 14 Mission acomplished 😎 Now to take care of damage control 👿 Those pesks can lay eggs. Damage control consisted of removing the top 1-2 cm of soil (approximately 400g), carefully as not to perform an unannounced biology experiment on a worm. This soil underwent my infamous 300ml water treatment, performed at a little less than 100 Celsius. Leave to aerate and crumble dry. Preferably burn it at this point. Wouldn't want these things swarming the trash bin later would we? Having removed the top layer it was interesting to see just how much the structure of the LightMix had been impacted by one run, and the Living. It is loaded with roots and isn't easily separable. I'm gonna need a top layer though. There needs to be a layer where you can mix in nutrients and snacks. This means, disturbing the Living 😱 After having plowed the top 3-4 cm with my fingers, I mixed in a little snack for the Living as a thank you for their patience. 200g diced strawberries and one diced paper towel roll. Topped that off with 1L of dechlorinated tapwater + PH Down to 6.5. Just to signal to the Living that there is food. Now to get to closing off the pot... the rings in the pot will allow pests in so the pot needs to be closed off a bit lower than that. I had an idea. Dunno if it'll work or not, nor how often I should replace it but I found a lid for the pot 😉 Good ole non stick baking paper. ----------------------------------- I may have to rethink the position of the pot. Being directly under a window that gets opened several times a day may not have been the best move. Can't move her into the drying tent because §10 KCanG. (My child would no longer be able to help or come look at the worms every now and then because that tent is in the same room as my grow tent. Even under adult supervision, they are not allowed in that room. Even if you lock the grow tent, they are not allowed in that room.) Could purchase a new tent, but that involves investing in ventilation, temperature and rh monitors etc.. dunno if I want to go that route yet. That sounds quite serious just for some microbes, fungi and worms 😂 Postponing the objectives until a stable place in the house is found, for the Living's sake.

Time for another update. All is well so far. Found a new place in the house, where even the kid can come help 👍 Time to get back to the objectives, starting today. ----------------------------------- March 16 Checked in to see if the baking paper lid had held out (it did) and if there were any new gnats crawling around. Found 1 between the paper and lid, but none on the soil. This is a pretty good sign! Much of the strawberries and cardboard are still visible, so they haven't been eaten completely yet. Some pieces haven't even been touched and are developing a nice fungus layer on them. I'll have to mix that into the topsoil if the worms don't find it. Other microorganisms should take care of it then. Soil is still moist, and the sides of the felt pot still feel moist too. Don't think the pot needs any water at the moment. ----------------------------------- March 20 Not quite clear what those two worms were doing... Checked in on the paper and the gnat situation again. The paper had holes at several places, presumably eaten by the Living. And gnats? None to be seen. None under the lid. None under the paper. None running around the soil. Not even on the outside of the pot. None. We might have gotten lucky but I don't wanna cheer too soon... Soil was visibly drier, but could have gone another day or two. The fact all the strawberries, including fungus, were gone was a good sign. Without poking around too much in the soil, I wasn't able to find any strawberries in the topsoil either. What I did find, was all the leftover cardboard! The buggers left behind nearly 75-80% of the cardboard!! Did none of them need it at the moment? As they went through the strawberries within four days, I take it they are chasing sugars at the moment. It's been a while since I did a population check too.. gonna use this chance now, before the next microbes and BioGrow are given. Time to round up the Living 😱 Dug a hole about 4 cm deep and 4cm wide. Placed my infamous rotten banana patty (overripe banana, peeled, diced and covered in grounded egg shells) in the hole and buried it up again. Will check back in two days, this time with camera in hand. Luring the Living with banana has not failed so far. We'll get a good impression what the population count is. How many are older, younger, newborn.. Hopefully i'll have EC and moisture meters in soon! ----------------------------------- Next update, there should be plenty of pictures 😅