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What compost

Mark Mole

Mark Mole

Senior Member
Can anyone recommend a suitable compost for growing dendra's. I did a test sample with some I've had in the shed for a while,with a handful of worms,and they quickly perished. A trip to the garden centre is needed,but I've no idea what type or brand would be suitable.
 
probably none, many years ago when I lived in Ireland before dendra's were being sold by the kilo I used to collect worms to sell at festivals. we used to get them from sewage treatment plants. basically the slurry they used to be left with was spread on a field to break down further and the worms would surround it and work there way inwards. we used to get thousands of worms and make a good few quid from it. we were well aware though we were sifting through human shit though.

best bet would be to contact someone like willy worms, they would be able to sell you the right stuff probably full of eggs as well.
 
My garden compost heap grows plenty of them, they seem to concentrate on the stalks of greens that are rotting down and old tea bags. I throw every bit of vegetable waste peelings plus the ash from my log burner on my heap and the worms thrive.
 
Mine seem pretty happy in some old horse muck - it`s been too cold for any breeding I think but hopefully they might get active now it`s warming up a bit.
 
Neil Smart said:
Shop bought compost won't cut it, best use your own mixture with rotted down leaves and veg waste.
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2nd that , they don't like peat based compost . Just get some light soil [ not clayey] mix with a few grass cuttings , chopped up newspaper , cabbage leaves , carrot peelings , whatever but avoid citrus fruit peelings . Put it all in a plastic dustbin [ put a layer of pebbles in the bottom first and drill some holes for drainage ] Keep it damp and topped up with vegetable matter , stick a few worms in and they will get on with it
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
2nd that , they don't like peat based compost . Just get some light soil [ not clayey] mix with a few grass cuttings , chopped up newspaper , cabbage leaves , carrot peelings , whatever but avoid citrus fruit peelings . Put it all in a plastic dustbin [ put a layer of pebbles in the bottom first and drill some holes for drainage ] Keep it damp and topped up with vegetable matter , stick a few worms in and they will get on with it
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I came across an article in anglers mail 'create your own wormery' written by Archie Braddock. He advises to buy a general purpose garden compost which contains peat,but to make sure it doesn't contain worm inhibitor. So he goes against the advice of most on here.
 
Whilst worms will appreciate some peat in compost because of its very high organic matter content and friability, nobody with even a scrap of environmental consideration should touch it with a barge pole, especially when there are decent enough alternatives. Peat is a finite resource and takes thousands of years to grow, locking up carbon and storing valuable fossilized record of changes over time in the vegetation, pollen, spores etc. Many peat bogs also act as important components of some water catchments - helping to absorb and slowly release rainfall, thus reducing peak-flows. They need leaving alone!

I’m tempted to say Archie should know better, but then I’m guessing that he probably wrote that article long before the damaging impacts of peat removal were properly understood.

Lots of veg waste as others have suggested will help increase the OM, keeping the compost well aerated and free from compaction is the key. A sprinkling of gypsum (calcium sulphate) will provide calcium (important for worm growth) without making it too alkaline as it’s pH neutral.
 
A big pile of well rotted horse muck!
We have just transferred about 3/4 of our manure heap onto the land, and it was absolutely stuffed with red worms & dendras, i originally put about 1/4 kilo into it a year or two ago...the horse muck is in/on rapeseed straw as it breaks down much quicker than basic straw.
 

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I've been keeping / breeding Dendrobaenas for a couple of years and have found that a Coco Coir compost mixed with shredded newspaper keeps them happy. I get my compost from Wilko in the form of a dry block which you soak in a bucket of water. Mix the damp compost 50/50 with damp shredded newspaper put it in a black or dark coloured container with drainage holes in the base and air holes in the lid, add the worms and cover with a damp newspaper before fitting the lid.

I feed them once or twice a week with green kitchen scraps which I blitz in a food processor , they also like porrage oats . I just spread a layer of food over one side of the container and sprinkle a couple of handfuls of shredded newspaper over it before replacing the whole damp newspaper on top. Every few weeks add some ground up egg shells to keep the ph down, they don't like acid soil.

I've now got two containers on the go, I started with about 500g of worms . Each container now has hundreds of worms of various sizes and they are breeding like there's no tomorrow.
 
Dave McGraw said:
I've been keeping / breeding Dendrobaenas for a couple of years and have found that a Coco Coir compost mixed with shredded newspaper keeps them happy. I get my compost from Wilko in the form of a dry block which you soak in a bucket of water. Mix the damp compost 50/50 with damp shredded newspaper put it in a black or dark coloured container with drainage holes in the base and air holes in the lid, add the worms and cover with a damp newspaper before fitting the lid.

I feed them once or twice a week with green kitchen scraps which I blitz in a food processor , they also like porrage oats . I just spread a layer of food over one side of the container and sprinkle a couple of handfuls of shredded newspaper over it before replacing the whole damp newspaper on top. Every few weeks add some ground up egg shells to keep the ph down, they don't like acid soil.

I've now got two containers on the go, I started with about 500g of worms . Each container now has hundreds of worms of various sizes and they are breeding like there's no tomorrow.
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Thanks Dave,I will look out for that compost in my local wilkos
 
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