Black Gold Question

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by rod champion, Jan 20, 2012.

  1. rod champion

    rod champion Junior Member

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    Can you plant directly into Black Gold? And will plants survive and thrive if compost is added as needed?
    Thank you in advance.
    Rod
     
  2. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I don't know where you live, but Black Gold where I live refers to either the soil brand name or oil.

    The brand name soil in the US, sure, I don't see why you couldn't plant directly in good soil, all be it commercially made.

    I personally wouldn't try growing anything in oil which is what black gold. Well, I would plant (scatter) Oyster mushroom mycellium to clean up the mess. :D
     
  3. permup

    permup Junior Member

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    I take it by 'black gold', you mean worm castings? Then the answer is yes, you can plant directly into it, but personally, I like to spread it around a bit as I don't have enough to use it straight.
     
  4. NJNative

    NJNative Junior Member

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    If you're referring to worm castings, I would advise against planting in 100% worm castings. I recently saw a lecture where they talked about the benefits of worm castings, and adding worm castings in the ratio of 10-40% does indeed have a very substantial benefit, compared to not adding it at all, but once you go over 40%, the benefit decreases, and once you get to 50-60% and higher, the quality and benefits actually decline, until you get up to 100% and it's the same as if you hadn't used worm castings at all. So I would mix it up, using coco coir/peat in the 50-90% range, and worm castings/compost in the 10-50% range.
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  5. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Senior Member

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    Pretty sure black gold is the brand name of a bag of soil/compost you buy at a nursery.
    Pretty sure you can use it straight ,put your hand in it and see if its still hot first.
     
  6. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    Doesn't hurt to put some aggregate of some sort with worm castings. its typically really fine and can hold a lot of water without some drainage material...
     
  7. rod champion

    rod champion Junior Member

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    I am so sorry- it means leaf compost here. 100% leaf - totally composted .
    Thank you
     
  8. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    OK, I'd still treat it the same, as above...

    Though I have had a lot of success planting straight into 100% composted lawn clippings... tomatoes love it! Not quiet the same.
     
  9. rod champion

    rod champion Junior Member

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    Eric,
    I see you are a worm farmer... I found a pile of decayed wood chips today. Digging down into them there were white worms.. I don't think maggots..but little white worms. Do you have a clue what those are?
    Thanks,
    Rod
     
  10. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Have a look at the link below from The Worm Expert and The Organic Worm Farm

    https://wormcompostingblog.com/gardening/organic-matter-soil/

    Bruce Galle recomends only 10% castings.

    I have planted pots with 100% castings and they are all thriving. I just used castings as I had plenty. I am about to fertilize my lawn with them. Well soon as this rain stops.
     
  11. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

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    I think I've seen the same lecture NJNative mentions... did you watch the lecture from Professor Hooker's Intro to Permaculture course at NC State? He invited a worm specialist (who also works for NC State) to his class to talk about vermiculture. The research they have done shows just what NJNative is saying: once you get over ~35% vermicompost, the disease fighting benefits begin to drop precipitously. Then again, I wonder how anyone would be able to incorporate that much vermicompost into their system without buying (for top dollar) from one of the vermicompost factories.

    You can find the lectures here. The vermicomposting lecture is #13.
     
  12. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    By making your own worm farm to dispose of your organic waste from the kitchen. ;)
     
  13. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

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    That'd be one busy kitchen!
     
  14. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    You can have all the worm castings you need by working your worm farm (s) correctly. The trick is to screen (sieve) your worm beds every couple of weeks to remove the castings. Then replace the castings you took out with bedding. (Bedding is what the worms live in). It can be any organic material, I use old horse manure and feed them fresh horse and cow manure.

    When you screen them you will remove the castings and eggs. You can set this aside till the eggs hatch and re screen or just use it in the garden with the eggs. Thse eggs will hatch and you will have extra worms in your gardens. Screening will remove about 60% of the contents of the worm farm. This would be about 95% worm castings.

    Removing the eggs from the farm will only encourage the worms to lay more eggs and the remaining worms will eventually grow bigger if the screening continues. They grow faster if all the small worms are removed.

    When you have enough castings for your needs just stop the screening and start again when you need more. I liitle bit of effort but can be very rewarding and save money too.

    African Night Crawlers produce a bigger casting than Red Wrigglers and from my understanding have more benificial bacteria.
     
  15. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    One kitchen wouldn't supply enough food for an active good size worm farm. This is why the bedding is so important and additional food.

    Many people set up those stackable worm farms which come with a Coir block. Sadly sometimes thats the only bedding the worms get and once it has been eaten and the food scraps are not enough they just end up living in their own poo. They wont thrive in their own poo so either leave the farm or just die out. Then people think that Worming is a waste of time and give up. It is so very easy with a few simple steps. Bedding, Food, moisure and occasional screening. Very easy
     
  16. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

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    Thanks for the tips Brian!

    I must admit, I don't feed our worms very much. I think their population has stabilized to our feeding regime. I do need to do better giving them bedding though. We really only feed them our kitchen scraps and greens from the garden. If the supermarket has organic produce on quick sale (about to "expire"), I pick those up and they get an extra treat. We just don't have the extra money to bring in more food for 'em, although I would like to.

    We do have a lot of perennial greens growing this time of year, so maybe I'll see how they like chickweed, henbit, dead nettle, etc. During the growing season they absolutely devour comfrey leaves. But as far as bringing them manure... We just don't have the resources right now. I would like to start another bin to feed them our dog waste. I know I've mentioned that before, but what would you consider feeding them in addition to dog waste?
     
  17. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    No matter how I try, my kids (being young) waste food. If anything, my kitchen outputs too much waste and I have multiple bags in the freezer waiting for the worms to catch up. Or the BSF larvae get in there and speed it up too much.

    I must try the sieving idea once I work out horse manure supply.
     
  18. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Hey SOP

    If you are after manure, there is always some outside properties along Margaret Road, Kurwongba for $2 a bag.
     
  19. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Thanks annette, I've been getting a few from around work but if I expand worming, or even stay with the one bath setup, I think it will send me broke.

    I dropped 2 bags in there not too long ago and it's no longer horse poo and dropped several inches. If Brian recommends sieving regularly and using castings, I can't see keeping it up without a free supply (and info regarding when horse has been wormed or not).
     
  20. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    The worms will stop or dramaticly slow down the breeding once the population has reached its peak for the size farm you have. Your worms will also become smaller due to over crowding. This is why it is a good idea to sieve them now and then. The worms will eat anything soon as it starts to break down. Freezing is a good idea, especially potato peels. Cabbage needs to go in a plastic bag and rot in the sun for a week as it seems to survive freezing and lives on in the worm farm. Any of your garden plants (not woody stuff) can go into a closed bag or bin and allow to rot for a couple of weeks then feed the worms.

    If your worms cant keep up to your scraps look at a bigger container. I just use storage tubs, 160 lt and 60 lt plus concrete mixing trays. I cover them with a couple of sheets of damp newspaper and some old carpet or felt underlay. No plastic lids as they need air circulation. The more space the more worms and the more they can consume. If bugs are a problem dig down and cover the scraps. You can also use Food Grade Diatomatious Earth to kill any insects. It wont bother the worms but I stess it must be FOOD GRADE.

    With the sieve I just use a cheap plastic one from Bunnings Garden section ( Hardware Store). I am about to build a dual screen worm harvester as it takes me nearly a week to do all my farms after work each day. There is a link to a video in "Composting Worms For Sale" showing the harvester in action.
     

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