February 18th, 2018
The Worm Man BLOG
https://thewormman.com.au/the-worm-man-blog/
Hi everyone.
Something that’s either asked about, misunderstood, or completely forgotten about in a worm farm is the use of “BUFFERS”.
I’ve done this post in two parts.
The first part is a new post I’ve made just for this.
The second part is quoted from my “Big Book Of Answers” (available for US$9.95. It’s in the info store if you want it: CLICK HERE )
What “Buffer” MEANS:
The word “buffer” comes from the technical term pH/acidity buffer. You could also call it an acidity regulator.
What it means, is a material that helps keep the worm farm from becoming acidic.
That can include finely ground eggshells, garden/agricultural lime, oyster shell flour and rock dusts.
It also supplies valuable grit, calcium and minerals to the worms.
WHY do we use them? You may well ask . . .
Acidity:
The worm farm can become acidic, as the nature of decomposition (food rotting down) is acidic.
Why is this bad?
When a worm farm becomes acidic, ammonia (like bleach) which forms does not “offgas” but stays in the farm. This can lead to what is termed protein poisoning (aka string of pearls etc). Worms do not do as well in an acidic environment.
Grit:
Worms, like chickens, have a crop containing grit, where they grind the food up, and need a source of grit.
Minerals:
As we have locked the worms up in a plastic box etc, away form the earth and their natural environment, they need access to valuable minerals otherwise lacking in their diet.
Calcium:
This serves two purposes:
Cocoons:
Like chickens, worms lay eggs/cocoons. They need a source of calcium to supply them what they need for making cocoons. Thousands of them.
Calciferous Gland:
Say what, you might be saying . . .
The worms have a gland where they exude calcium into their crop to neutralise the acidity of foods they consume. So they need a source of calcium for this.
HOW MUCH Do You Use?
Well, when starting a bin, I sprinkle it over the whole bin, like I am flouring a bench to roll dough.
Then, when feeding, sprinkle it the same way, but just over the pocket of food.
If you haven’t heard of the pocket feeding method that I teach:
Here is my Youtube video showing how to feed a domestic worm farm – and how much buffer to use when doing so:
( REMEMBER, there’s still lots of info in the post following the video if you want to read more, INCLUDING:
Why wood ash can’t be used in a worm bin
What alternatives are there
Why isn’t slaked or hydrated lime any good )
Thanks for reading – and remember to sign up for updates from me – you get the free e-book “The Worm Feeding Guide” – links at the end of the post.
Here is the information from my “Big Book Of Answers”:
(It’s available for US$9.95. It’s in the info store if you want it: CLICK HERE )
What Is A Buffer – Why Use It?
A “buffer” is some thing that helps control acidity in the worm farm; it also adds valuable grit for the worms to use in their gullet to grind food; it also adds valuable minerals, including calcium which is used to form cocoons.
Garden Lime, Dolomite, Zeolite And Azomite, supply grit, “buffer” acidity, and add minerals to the worms’ diet. Some are better at one or another.
The decomposition process (food breaking down) is acidic by nature.
Worms don’t do well in acidic bedding – if it gets really bad they can die.
Buffers help return the bedding to neutral.
Garden lime is just crushed limestone or chalk stone.
It’s available from a lot of hardware or garden supply stores. Good for grit, acidity and minerals.
Dolomite lime is basically garden lime with added magnesium interchangeable with garden lime for our purposes – although if your soil is high in magnesium (or “hard”) you should avoid dolomite and use garden lime as the extra magnesium will make your soil harder.
Alternatives To Lime To Use In The Worm Farm:
Other than garden lime, other things that make good buffer/grit/mineral sources, and can be substituted, or added in any combination are:
-Dolomite
-Rock Dusts such as Zeolite And Azomite
-Finely ground eggshells
-Oyster shell flour.
Can I Use Too Much Buffer?
“Within reason” – no. Why I say that, is that of course if 50% of your worm farm was lime, that will effect the worms adversely.
If used within reason, a slight excess of buffers will not harm the worms.
This is due to the chemical nature of buffers – they stop working when the acidity is just short of neutral.
How Do You Add Buffer?
Quite simply, when making a new farm, mix some into the bedding.
Then, when feeding, add it to the food, covering the food with a dusting of it like you would flour a bench to roll dough.
My Youtube video on how to add buffers when feeding: (linked above in the text)
Can I Use Wood Ash Instead Of Buffer
I would caution you NOT to use ash from burning wood or the fireplace.
Apart from any concerns about what chemicals or compounds could be present:
Wood ash can and will raise the pH (acidity level) of the bin over neutral into the alkaline spectrum.
This is just as dangerous to worms as extreme acidity.
The chemical make up of wood ash is similar to lye; and similar to hydrated or slaked lime which will kill worms.
Always use the correct buffers – never wood ash.
Why Can’t I Use Hydrated Or Slaked Lime In The Worm Bin?
The short answer is slaked or hydrated lime will kill your worms.
You want “garden lime” or “dolomite” – which is basically crushed/ground limestone.
Dolomite is basically garden lime with more magnesium – avoid this if your ground is hard, as the magnesium will make the ground harder.
The difference is in the process of how it is made.
Garden lime is powdered limestone (or chalk stone)
Hydrated lime (aka slaked lime) is created by heating limestone in a kiln until it forms a powder.
The heat changes the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) into calcium hydroxide (CaOH), through a reaction with water vapor.
Calcium hydroxide has a similar composition to lye (KOH) and is almost as caustic with a ph very close to 14
What Is Zeolite And Azomite
Azomite and zeolite are both volcanic rock, that has been formed up to millions of years ago (330 million years in the case of Australia zeo, 30 million years for USA zeo)
They will have differing mineral make ups depending on the individual mines they come from.
Very basically, Zeolite’s primary uses for me are to help buffer PH, supply grit and supply minerals to the worms’ diet that they otherwise may not get. It is also beneficial to the plants that are later given the castings.
Zeo (and presumably azo; as I have no experience with it as we cant get it in australia) are primarily used for the mineral supplement to the worms diet, and great for grit if ground small enough. They DO have SOME ph buffering ability (but lime/dolomite is still recommended to be added by the zeolite scientist that I spoke to.
Zeo has some other amazing abilities:
Briefly:
Benefits
– High ammonia (& ammoniacals – ammonia like molecules) binding capacity
– High binding capacity for cations (metal ions)
– High binding capacity for low molecular weight gases including H2S, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides etc
– Very high affinity for & binding of water
– Slow release of water
If you want to read the full guff on zeolite – its a bit of a long read, but informative if you’re interested – its on my website here:
http://thewormman.com.au/zeolite-info/
So this ends my post today – thanks very much for reading my blog – and HAPPY WORMING.
Regards,
Brian Donaldson
TheWormMan.com.au
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