Comments on: Vermi Tomato Gardening

By: Barb V.

Barb V. — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:26:10 +0000

You’ve given me an idea….As soon as I harvest the potatoes from the ‘tater box’, Im going to use as overflow from my in-ground worm pit … and will plant melons or cukes on edges. Nothing ventured, as they say. And count me as double ditto for enjoying your ‘hairbrained’ experiments. It lets us vicariously tap into our ‘inner mad scientist’.

By: LARRY D.

LARRY D. — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:38:54 +0000

Keep Bentley updated on bug issues,leaf problems,growth experiments and such.Since tomatoes seem to be #1 on a lot of growers want lists.We can all learn the benefits of our worm friends!Thanks Nic!

By: Nic

Nic — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:50:59 +0000

Larry: i have cages aroud them, and ive actually had to stake acouple branches up, but other than that, there growing great, and lots of tomatoes!

By: John Duffy

John Duffy — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:56:44 +0000

Hey Bentley,
If it weren’t for your self-proclaimed “hair-brained” ideas, I don’t think you’d have quite the following of devoted worm fans. I look forward to anything related to worm composting and your creativity just multiplies my interest & enthusiasm. Often the “impossible” is only the “untried.”
So, any time you have a “hair-brained” idea…Bring it on! We await each & every one;)

By: LARRY D.

LARRY D. — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:43:47 +0000

Nic,if you live in Florida,you better get plenty of stakes for the limbs.I’ve been growing them since march.I have six plants,big boy and bonnie select and original.I have had about 40 tomatoes come off one plant.I’m starting to look like a green fried tomato.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:09:17 +0000

ANNA – I generally just dig it back into the ground or remove as much of the soil as I can and compost the rest. Funny you should ask this since some of my sod waste actually ended up in the bottom of the tomato boxes I wrote about above. Some grass and weeds do grow back but they are always easy to remove. I have a rotten straw mulch over top of the sunflower bed so that helps.
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NIC – Great to see you so passionate about vermicomposting these days! I still remember your very first email (asking advice for another school project, I believe)! As always, please do keep me posted on your progress.
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JOHN – That sounds like good advice! Thanks for sharing that.

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:38:30 +0000

Thanks for the tip, John. I’ve been using a lot of my sod in lasagna gardening, but am running out of places to put it. I was hoping to ‘share’ some with my worms but perhaps I’ll take your suggestion instead.

By: John in Huntington Beach

John in Huntington Beach — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:23:55 +0000

I read suggestion for use of ripped up sod in a book on pruning, of all places. The author was dealing with a need to make space for trees and shrubs that had overgrown their bounds. One of her solutions was to enlarge the beds by removing sod and pushing out the borders.

She advised readers to take the sod to an out-of-sight area and stack it upside down, forming a low wall. Then cover the wall with heavy-duty black plastic for a year, after which time, she says, you will have a gorgeous, composted, weed-free batch of crumbly soil to spread around. I am guessing that earthworms will find the wall in a short while and tunnel about, leaving their castings in their wake.

I am about to try it but it will be awhile before I can report back.

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:47:10 +0000

oops… that was supposed to be almost DONE ripening…. 🙂

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:46:01 +0000

I also have tomatoes, but i live in florida, so i have several just about some ripening! i planted 3 transplants and have more than 20 tomatoes, as i havent counted recently:) I have a vermicomposters page, and i am putting pics up soon.

i also have next years’ science fair project well started with the amounts of vermicompost versus growth and production. the top 2 have one tomato each, but the 50% one is huge. i am also putting it on my page in a couple minutes.

I enjoy reading your blog, and i check almost every day for a new post, and i get many laughs from it. 33 MORE tomatoes??? lol 🙂