Earthworms for gardening

[unblocktheplanet]

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna go eat worms!

 

Now I’ve got that off my chest, I’m looking for a supplier of earthworms for gardening?

 

Anybody know? TIA!

[drtreelove]

Build the soil and they will come. Don't build the soil and they will not survive. Favorable habitat is everything. Soil rich in organic matter content, cover cropped, shaded, mulched and without harsh chemical inputs is good habitat for earthworms. 

 

Order 1/4" screened vermicompost from Biosurge Thailand through Best Garden State on FB. (Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok)

Organic Fertilizer Worm Winner Vermicompost from Thailand (biosurgethailand.com)

"Our Vermicompost is screened to a large size of 1/4 inch- this means that there will be many worm eggs and juvenile worms in the final product..."

I used this vermicompost last year, and at first I thought it wasn't effective, I didnt' see worms right away. But then after 3 or 4 months of building soil organic matter and mulching, plant growth and root exudates that help build soil structure, the latent worm population began to grow.  

 

BTW, eat high high-nutrient-density organic veggies, not the worms. You will shine and everybody will love you. 

Thank you for contributing to the organic sub-forum, I thought it was completely dead. 

Don

[unblocktheplanet]

Thanks, Don. Great advice. Our soil is packed with earthworms.

 

However, when we had a compost pile direct on soil, huge termite nest under it, got into our mango trees, etc. So I bought a black garbage pail from Big C. Very stinky!

 

Switched to big plastic construction basket (taka), ventilated all round, like a giant laundry hamper. But I'm worried about putting it directly on the ground because of termites.

 

Can I add earthworms to the compost itself, separated from the earth by a cement slab? Will they live & prosper?

 

TIA! 

[drtreelove]

As you may know, there are different species of worms, and of termites, and different ideal habitat and food sources for each. And there are different methods of composting and soil management.  

 

If your soil, as in the open soil of your garden or landscape, is "packed with earthworms", and you have not introduced them, then they are probably the native worms, and you are probably doing something right, or you inherited organic matter rich soil that favors native earthworm habitat. If that is the case, then I would think that you do not need an outside source, just keep up with mulching and/or green manuring to maintain OM 3% or more if possible, which is hard to do in the tropics, but not impossible. 

 

But it appears that you are also discussing a different issue, worm composting.  This uses specific species of worms like red wigglers that digest raw plant and animal waste like your kitchen garbage, in a containerized environment, not in open soil. Or African night crawlers like Biosuge/Best Garden State use, that can digest larger volumes of well mananged finished compost or mixed organic matter ingredients.  

 

I'm not an expert in worm composting, but I love using vermicompost and think its one of the best soil fertility inputs available.  I have visited the Biosurge/BGS facility in Nakhon Pathom and used their product. I also buy worm castings and effluent from a large vermicompost facility connected to a cannabis grow at Mae Jo University Farm here in Chiang Mai. My NZ expat friend with an organic farm has been using red wiggler vermicompost and the liquid effluent for many years. He has a multi layer container set up with a faucet at the bottom layer for draining off the nutrient dense and beneficial-biology-rich effluent.  He recently bought a couple of kilos of red wigglers from the MJU facility, to start new batch. 

 

Chosing the right kind of worms and learning the correct management methods and materials is vital for quality of the product and avoidance of odors, flys, rodents and other pests. I believe you can find a lot of information online and through Youtube videos. Maybe other memebers here have more experience than I do and can contribute some practical information.

 

As for termites, what you describe is a curious phenomenon to me.  I have done composting in several locations, for my own gardens and landscapes, mango and longan orchards, and for my customers, and not had this problem.  I don't know termites that well, but the common subterranean termites, from my experience, don't usually go to living tissues of trees or to small chunks of wood or finer composting materials. They go to deadwood, stubs or heartwood-cavities on standing trees, logs or larger wood masses on the ground or buried.  They do need moist soil for their subterranean nests, so they may have been taking advantage of the moisture from the compost pile and not necessarily feeding on the compost materials

 

Ants will nest in compost piles that are not in a hot-composting stage. Could it be a mistaken identity with an ant colony and not termites?  

 

[unblocktheplanet]

You have a great deal of knowledge about composting. I am both a newbie & an amateur. Thank you for such a thorough & incisive primer!

 

I was not aware of different species of termites, though it stands to reason. Our demons have cored out one mango & are attacking another with chompoo for dessert. I agree; they were taking advantage of the compost’s moisture not eating the scraps. They also have eaten away some of our wood window frames before we caught on to their tracks.

 

We love organic but we didn’t see any other way but professional poisoners. When we moved in more than 30 years ago, there was a termite mound the size of a Volkswagen. After the land was paved, they invaded us. They get in anywhere the tree has been pruned. Not ants. What a curse!

My compost gardener in Canada tells me worms don’t like things too dry or too wet. She also says veggie-scrap compost must be mulched with leaves or clippings.

 

We have no grass but lots of mango leaves. I also think our banana leaves may make for good mulch--too wet?

 

Is mulch necessary for aeration (?) or can I just keep turning our fruit & veg?

 

I would prefer to buy red wigglers & see what happens if Mae Jo might send them by EMS. Does you friend have contact details?

 

Thanks so much!

[drtreelove]

Regarding the red wigglers and MJU Farm, I don't think they do shipping, its walk in only as far as i know. In fact I don't think they are normally in worm sales business, they make the worm compost for their cannabis operation, and also sell the products to growers. My friend walked in with a special request.

Try Tony Worm Farm. (I have no direct experience)

Worm Farm (Thailand) (wormcompost.blogspot.com)

 

Your termite situation sounds formidable. With established colonies on your property I don't blame you for hiring professional pest control to save your home. Even then it can be an ongoing challenge. I know from experience that termites love mango tree heartwood and you have to keep on top of it with pro-active, preventive management. 

 

I have a program to suggest:  

1. Spray a preventive barrier on the lower tree trunk with a pyrethroid insecticide. This is called "bark banding". The material is not organic program compatible (in case you are going for organic grower certification), but it is relatively low toxicity for people and pests, and its not systemic so it won't enter the tree conductive tissues and translocate up into the flowers and fruit.  Organic insecticide/botanical repellents will not have much residual effectiveness, but a pyrethroid, like permethrin, cypermethrin or especially bifentrin will provide one to six months residual, depending on the mixing rate of concentration.  Chaindrite Stedfast 30 is widely available and has an active ingredient of bifenthrin. i have to do some numbers to remember my mixing rate for this specialized appliation. The label rate for garden foliar and home perimeter spraying will not be strong enough for effective control. I'll PM you.  Pyrethroids are highly toxic to fish and to honey bees, but you will not be spraying your fish pond, waterways or the foliage and flowers of the trees. Use standard PPEs for pesticide use to keep spray off your skin and face, long pants shoes and socks, long sleeves, mask, eye protection and gloves. Since you will be spraying only below chest level, there shouldn't be much spray drift. Spray early morning, avoid windy days or times of day. Keep kids and pets away until spray has dried. 

 

Buy a small hand pump sprayer. The yellow and blue ones at Home Pro are good. Adjust the nozzle to a narrow cone spray pattern, not too wide or you will overspray the trunk. Not too narrow or there will be too much jet pressure and the spray will bounce back. You want to coat the trunk until just before runoff starts to occur. Spray the lower 1 to 1.5 meters and drench the soil right around the base. Also spray drench any open cavities, stubs and pruning cuts that are starting to decay. You don't have to spray higher because termites don't fly in or advance downward. They advance through 'mud tubes' from the soil grade going up. 

 

2. Alternative:  Watch for mud-tubes going up the tree trunk. (The common subterranean termites I've known, will not advance in a tree trunk internally unless there is a basal cavity. where they can enter the inactive, decaying heartwood directly from the soil.)  The mud tubes will be visible on the outside of the trunk. When we had a mango orchard i walked it daily and knocked off mud tubes with a stick whenever I saw them starting up the tree trunk. If you are diligent with this, at least once a week. You may not need #1. the bark banding.  Then you can stay 100% organic methods. 

 

Bag your mango fruit as it nears ripening to prevent fruit fly infestation. 

 

My compost gardener in Canada tells me worms don’t like things too dry or too wet. She also says veggie-scrap compost must be mulched with leaves or clippings.

I think she is referring to African night crawlers or other compost-heap worms, and not red wigglers in wet garbage. I see them in gooey manure and veggie scrap slush, quite happy and multiplying and doing their thing.  

Maybe you need to read up on worm farming and vermicompost, methods and materials before deciding which system to use and what kind of worms to order. 

 

For mulch material, any organic matter you have, leaf litter, banana leaves (they dry up in a few days) rice hulls, coconut fiber, etc will do. If aesthetics matter and you don't want it too rough looking, then use the finer materials or your finished compost for mulch. Or buy a garden grinder.  Mulching is better than turning the soil for aeration. Excessive tillage can be detrimental,  mulching or cover-cropping is better for soil  and plant health. 

 

[unblocktheplanet]

Thank you for all the advice, greatly appreciated. Please check back here. I’m sure I’ll have more questions!

 

I think once termite colonies are established, they’re pretty much impossible to eradicate. I’m sorry to learn they love mango heartwood. We love our chok-anan mangos!

 

Neighbours made us cut one side of our forked mango. Of course, we failed to notice the termite invasion until the tree was hollowed. Pumped a whole bag of cement into the hole. Slowed them down but… Probably a basal cavity, you’re right.

 

I’m pretty diligent at watching for their tubes but they can be hard to spot. They don’t always start at the base, either. Sometimes they tube the wall & enter a cut higher up.

 

I doubt the garden of our Bangkok attached house will ever be organic certified! Definitely rather pay a professional than buy PPE! I’m sure I don’t need to tell you he wore flip-flops & a surgical mask, no gloves.

 

I’d be grateful for your suggestions as to what schedule we should follow for spraying. IOW, how long does the poison stay effective? He did spray whatever-it-was to chest height on the trees, along the perimeter & their trails.

 

I’ll ask for Chaindrite Stedfast 30. * If you find the mixing ratio, I’ll make sure my flip-flop guy does it right.

 

Hm. We have fruit flies in our compost but, so far, none attacking our mangos. Birds & squirrels are our competition. Even with two productive trees, it would be a major adventure to bag 70 or so fruits on each! I guess you could say we enjoy the fruits but not our labours.

 

Re compost. Now that we’re restricted to a bin—we use a construction taka— we don’t want it to fill up too fast. Not too fussy about the aesthetics. Q: Does the mulch material—in our case, leaf litter & banana leaves—need to be dried first before mixing into the compost?

 

Oh, wait. I may be confused on this point! I think you’re talking about adding the mulch to the soil not the compost bin, yes? We never break soil except when planting. Our Bangkok clay has gotten pretty aerated with organics in 30 years!

 

I like to picture you walking your mango orchard knocking off the termite tubes! It’s a good life, eh.

 

Thanks so much.

[drtreelove]

53 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Thank you for all the advice, greatly appreciated. Please check back here. I’m sure I’ll have more questions!

 

I think once termite colonies are established, they’re pretty much impossible to eradicate. I’m sorry to learn they love mango heartwood. We love our chok-anan mangos!

 

Neighbours made us cut one side of our forked mango. Of course, we failed to notice the termite invasion until the tree was hollowed. Pumped a whole bag of cement into the hole. Slowed them down but… Probably a basal cavity, you’re right.

 

I’m pretty diligent at watching for their tubes but they can be hard to spot. They don’t always start at the base, either. Sometimes they tube the wall & enter a cut higher up.

 

I doubt the garden of our Bangkok attached house will ever be organic certified! Definitely rather pay a professional than buy PPE! I’m sure I don’t need to tell you he wore flip-flops & a surgical mask, no gloves.

 

I’d be grateful for your suggestions as to what schedule we should follow for spraying. IOW, how long does the poison stay effective? He did spray whatever-it-was to chest height on the trees, along the perimeter & their trails.

 

I’ll ask for Chaindrite Stedfast 30. * If you find the mixing ratio, I’ll make sure my flip-flop guy does it right.

 

Hm. We have fruit flies in our compost but, so far, none attacking our mangos. Birds & squirrels are our competition. Even with two productive trees, it would be a major adventure to bag 70 or so fruits on each! I guess you could say we enjoy the fruits but not our labours.

 

Re compost. Now that we’re restricted to a bin—we use a construction taka— we don’t want it to fill up too fast. Not too fussy about the aesthetics. Q: Does the mulch material—in our case, leaf litter & banana leaves—need to be dried first before mixing into the compost?

 

Oh, wait. I may be confused on this point! I think you’re talking about adding the mulch to the soil not the compost bin, yes? We never break soil except when planting. Our Bangkok clay has gotten pretty aerated with organics in 30 years!

 

I like to picture you walking your mango orchard knocking off the termite tubes! It’s a good life, eh.

 

Thanks so much.

That picture starts at sunrise, coffees cup in one hand mud-tube stick in the other, dog and cat following along doing their own inspections, small hobby farm, 10 rai, 52 mango trees, 73 lamyai, palm and plumeria collections, banana, papaya and veggie plots, water pond, bore well, storage tanks, pumps and irrigation system, 500 meters of fencing. Plus spray truck and tree pruning crew.  Good life but a lot of hard work.  Retired now. Picture small yard, watching the grass grow, exercising, cooking, cleaning, and some tree care and hort consulting.