Hey guys and gals. Although this question isn’t directly about my cannabis grow, it will effect it in the long run. So, I started a worm bin about a month or so ago. The first couple weeks had no worms, just put some bedding with food scraps and topped with compost in hope that the microbes would do their magic and break down the food so it would be ready for the worms immediately. About 2 weeks I added the worms. They seem to be alive still (I’m new to all this so I just phone around until I see a bunch of worms wiggling around). The day after adding the worms I found some pill bugs (rolly pollys) in there. I know they’re all good so I wasn’t worried. But today I went to add some food and noticed a bunch of little bugs running around on these logs I put in my bin at the beginning. I found some dead tree branches out in the woods. They had some nice mycelium growing on them so I figured, fuck it, its must be full of microbial life. They didnt look to have bugs but they coulda just been living inside too. Either way, I remember watching a dudegrows episode about ipm where scotty mentioned that fast moving bugs are generally beneficial and slow moving are generally pests. These little buggers are definitely quick. I’ve been looking at beneficial mites and these look pretty close to what I’m finding. Just wanted to get an experience opinion before I start throwing bug infested castings into my garden. The video is pretty cool too. Hope y’all enjoy it as much as i do. lol
Good predator mites. Nothing to worry about.
Thanks! It’s pretty cool the little things just took over that log. I prolly overfed the bin. As long as they dont hurt the worms of my plants, they’re welcome to set up camp.
nice predator mites! wouldn’t mind an army of those in my garden… Video was pretty sweet, great quality.
Most likely these guys hypoaspis miles but could be another beneficial mite.
It looks like they’re crawling on a turd, what do you feed those worms??!!!!!!
Just kitchen scraps and a little bokashi. Mostly banana peels, egg shells, celery, carrot, bell pepper, bread/tortilla and coffee grounds. Theres prolly a few other things I’m forgetting but those are my common scraps. The bell peppers even sprouted in the bin since been repotting them as I find them.
The “turd” is just a piece of dead wood I found in the woods ( i think it was birch). The wood had some nice mycelium growing on it so I figured I’d get some indigenous microbes in the mix.
No idea on the bugs. Wondering if there is a concern with other ‘nasties’ getting into your soil before it’s fully composted. Outside sticks scare me. But if you’re composting right, should be all good. Right
The only nasties I’ve found so far is some ants. Its freezing outside, with snowstorms alot recently, so idk where they even came from. We have a community garden outside my apartment tho so ants are common. If they get out of hand I’ll pull the gooey chemical trap out and put it next to my bin. For now they’re fine. I’m keeping an eye out for larvae and flies but it’s pretty new so I think I’ll learn more about those as it gets older
That is cool and that little shit seems to have the speed to take down any sap sucker it sees. Nice world you got going