Worm Farming, mushrooms, mealy worms

[Penton]

Has anyone tried to raise worms? Grow mushrooms? Raise Mealy worms? If so, I'd like to hear about your experiences and if you recommend it? Also looking to start slow and be successful so that I don't become discouraged. Thanks for your input.

 

[GreenSahara]

Hello,

We have raised oyster mushrooms before. I have heard that they have to be sprayed to keep bugs off of them, but if that is not a problem then I think it would work during warm months. We were trying to grow them organically in the middle of winter (to avoid having to spray for bugs) inside an old stantion barn with a thermostat controlled propane heater. We had the 'shrooms sectioned off from the rest of the barn with a double layered roll of plastic. This didn't work well. Our propane heat source was putting tons of carbon monoxide into the area, killing all the mushrooms. We tried to ventilate it better but then it got too cold. Oh well. We won't be trying that again.

 

[AmyWho]

I raise red wiggler worms and have for almost two years. They compost my garbage so fast! I put them in a new bin last summer and didn't get around to insulating it in time for winter. After the first freeze I couldn't find any and assumed they were all dead. I stopped tending to it with the intent of restarting it this spring. Last week I went out to grab a small handful of vermicompost to start some seeds and found a few! I think they're making a come back. I'm pretty excited.
They don't much like onions, garlic, or citrus things...but I've found they are fine in small doses. I do maintain another compost pile for those things.
You might want to look into black soldier flies as well. I haven't made a setup yet, but I'm considering it.

I also started a small scale meal worm farm a few weeks ago. I bought 500 worms. They should be starting to pupate any day now! I haven't been doing it long enough to really have any advice...

 

[nayeli]

I have had red wigglers in the past but I was a child and they were outdoors, it rained for days and the worms drowned =/ I would recommend putting your bin under some shelter and making sure it can drain.

 

[Johnny5]

My dad used to raise worms. He had an old fridge burried in the ground up to the doors. It was under a lean to on a shady side of the garage. The fridge had holes drilled in the back and he laid screen over them and filled it with dirt/compost..We always had worms for fishing. I am going to try my hand at it this spring. I have been also wanting to try to raise meal worms or wax worms.

 

[joan1708]

I started about a month ago. This is my third try so I'm putting more effort into it. This time a got a Worm factory 360 and put it the garage with a heat lamp and remote thermometer. I got a starter pack of worms from big tex worms. I modified the worm factory and put hardware cloth above and below so I don't get varmints in it. There is a little cup of apple cider vinegar to attract and kill any fruit flies or gnats. So far so good.

 

[CrazyChookLady5]

I tried meal worms, but I kinda left them in direct sunlight (your not suppose to do that...) and I all died...oppsss...

 

[elizmartin]

I tried meal worms, but I kinda left them in direct sunlight (your not suppose to do that...) and I all died...oppsss...

I just recently started the meal worm thing and it seems very easy…..no smell, There is someone who raises them as a business close to me. Her prices are decent ( You can also go to most pet stores too) and she has very clear instructions….I have them in clear plastic shoeboxes on a shelf.

quickest way i have had for red worms is to keep a livestock pooh and compost pile. As long as i keep the chickens away i have tons of worms.

 

[joan1708]

I tried mealworms for about 6 months. It just grossed me out to have them in the house. And they don't smell but there is just something strange about them. I read if they get into the insulation of your house, then you have a real problem. The chickens sure do like theme

 

[Plough]

I recently started a mealworm colony. I found a 5 gallon tank that has the same base dimensions as a 10 gallon, and it has a nice sliding screen. I have only had it long enough to get to the first generation of beetles. So far it's been fairly easy. The roommates were really weirded out when I first brought it home but they got used to it.