Vermiponics - Aquaponics Without Fish

[GaryD]

Hi mornings,

Great to hear from you again.

I am of the opinion now that if vermiponics means keeping worms and plants in the same physical system, they are better separated. There are simply too many conflicts between worms and plants and too many compromises to make (and, I believe these are minor compared to fish and plants).

I'm of the same view around fish and plants since, as you've observed, there are even more issues (and compromises required) in the relationship between fish and plants.

In fact, the more I understand about it, the longer the list of benefits to be had from separating the two (while still exploiting the opportunities for micro-biological integration).

Gary

[Sue B]

Hi mornings.

I was very interested in your comment about keeping the worms and plants separated. This seems to me to be the easiest arrangement.
Not being able to test the leachate or even the vermicompost for nutrients is a stumbling block but so far my system has worked well especially for leafy greens.

Having said that I think I am going to move towards worm wicking beds as it would seem that once set up they will require less attention. At the moment with my vermiponics system I am having to top up the water tank every day otherwise the pump will be exposed. To rectify this I will need to rebuild the system. I think I'll put that energy into a wicking system.

I will be interested in how your system progresses if you add more posts over time.

Sue

[mornings]

Sue,

I guess "easiest" depends on your resources and and how they are deployed. But separation does solve a lot of problems that are kinda ubiquitous in Aqua/vermiponics. As I posted in Gary's aptly titled "Aquaculture - Aquaponics without Plants", it seems to me, the notion of separation applies to aquaponics too -- but no one seems interested.

BTW, there are services that will test the leachate. I have used Micro Macro International (MMI) analytical laboratory in Athens Georgia. It's not cheap ($40US), so one would want to use the service in a very strategic way. But, doing it at least once will give you a grounding for your intuition to take over. This particular service (they have more extensive ones) will give a pretty complete idea of what is in the mix. I'm guessing that since hydroponics is so commonplace, such services are available world wide.

So far, my "mix" of nutrients is not up to hydroponic standards. The great thing is that the knowledge base that exists will tell exactly where any deficiencies reside. All that is rather well documented by the hydroponics folks.

I am in the process of manipulating the worm food to try to get what is needed. Since, I ferment the worm food and add limestone to stop the fermentation, I can add small amounts of rock powders to increase trace elements or phosphate (rock phosphate or colloidal phosphate) or potassium ( (sulpomag). Even better, I may find ways to grow plants rich in such nutrients to feed the worms. I very much like to grow soy bean hay for worms -- they love it. It improves my soil and worm food.

Maybe, once these kinds of things have become common knowledge, testing won't be necessary. As I learn more and get my "sea legs" back with my re-constructed system, I'll post what I know.

Please tell me how you will use wicking beds. I'm still fuzzy on exactly how they work in any event.

Thanks,

m