How to harvest worm castings? The correct method for harvesting castings from worm farming
Summary Bait method: Place fresh feed beside the farming bed to attract the earthworms over, and then you can remove the worm castings from the farming bed. Frame-sifting method: Put the earthworms and castings together into a wire mesh sieve and shake it vigorously; the earthworms are affected by the external force and drop down, allowing you to collect the castings. Scraping method: Because earthworms are afraid of light, shine a light on the farming bed, and the earthworms will move downward, then you can simply collect the worm castings on the farming bed.
1. Bait method
When collecting, place fresh feed on both sides of the farming bed, and do not add any more feed to its surface. Once the earthworms have all moved over to the fresh feed, you can scrape the castings off the farming bed, air-dry them, and then bag them. If there are earthworm cocoons at this time, take them out and put them back in the original place together with the fresh feed and earthworms beside them.
2. Frame-sifting method
Use a relatively large wire mesh, put the earthworms and castings into it together, place them in the sieve, and shake the sieve vigorously, with a farming bed placed underneath. When the earthworms are affected by the external force, they will move downward and fall through the sieve; once they have all fallen down, you can collect the castings above.
3. Scraping method
You can use light; at this time the earthworms are relatively afraid of light and will move downward, and then you can use a scraper to slowly scrape off their castings; wait for the scraped castings to air-dry and bag them.
After the worm castings are brought back, they must be sterilized, otherwise the parasites inside cannot be killed. The conservative method is to use intermittent sterilization, which can effectively preserve the active ingredients in the worm castings. If you do not care about the active ingredients in the castings, you can directly incinerate them and sterilize them with high-pressure steam; this method can completely kill bacteria.