White worm culture soil--need a quick response

[JoJosReef]

Hi all,

Have a white worm starter arriving today and just broke open the new organic soil... It has what I assume are white bits of fertilizer in it--I thought organic soil doesn't come with fertilizer... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Does anyone know if this stuff is OK for the worm culture? Thanks!

 

[exnisstech]

I used peat moss or sphagnum moss as some call it.

 

[jimk60]

Looks like it might be vermiculite. It helps to conserve moisture.

 

[timmyrules]

The white chunks aren’t fertilizer…it’s perlite, it’s perfectly safe for white worms.

 

[JoJosReef]

Ok, thanks! Much appreciated!

 

[fishface NJ]

Potting soil, preferably without fertilizer. The white things are fine. Throw in the starter culture of worms. Put in half a slice of bread. Put some full fatted yogurt on it and wait a couple of weeks.

 

[mjszos]

Looks to be a mix of peat moss, coco coir, and pearlite. Should be perfectly safe :)

Edit; looking up the product it may contain lime, which I think should be fine? I believe it buffers the pH of the substrate for nutrient uptake in plants.

 

[Fish Fan]

Not vermiculite, but that is perlite. It’s inert, and added to organic soils to improve oxygenation. I hope that helps!

 

[Fish Fan]

Perlite: main uses

All you need to know about perlite and how to use it.

www.gardenersworld.com

 

[Fish Fan]

The fertilizer stuff looks more like little yellow/brown balls, like this:

Osmocote® Smart-Release® Plant Food Flower & Vegetable

miraclegro.com

These are added to non-organic potting mixes and also used by some to fertilize freshwater plants.

Good luck with your worm farming!

 

[JoJosReef]

Just arrived:

 

[Snoopdog]

Late seeing this, you can always message me if you have questions.

 

[JoJosReef]

Late seeing this, you can always message me if you have questions.

Thanks, I'm already done with that bag! I will not be buying the same soil next time. When I tried flooding the culture to transfer to new soil, the plastic embroidery mesh I laid down for the worms to climb on didn't work very well, because this soil had so much dust/sludge floating to the surface that it covered up the mesh, and I kept transferring over the sludge. The transferred worms are off to a slow restart.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Thanks, I'm already done with that bag! I will not be buying the same soil next time. When I tried flooding the culture to transfer to new soil, the plastic embroidery mesh I laid down for the worms to climb on didn't work very well, because this soil had so much dust/sludge floating to the surface that it covered up the mesh, and I kept transferring over the sludge. The transferred worms are off to a slow restart.

What soil did you settle on? I'm looking to get a culture going myself!

 

[Tcook]

Just arrived:

My wife would love those in the house. She doesn’t even like sealed bag of TDO.

 

[JoJosReef]

What soil did you settle on? I'm looking to get a culture going myself!

I ordered some organic spoil from the Zon! Hat I absolutely don't like. I'm finishing that and splitting the culture this week with some basic Miracle Grow organic indoor potting soil from HD. Will see how that works. Problem woth the last was that there was so much floating small particle soil that it made a sludge when I was flooding the culture for a restart and I had a very difficult time recovering the worms. @Snoopdog have you and the Mrs. seen this problem before?