Hi all,
When I re-culture put a dollop of the old culture into a new pot, and then put a fairly shallow layer of rolled oats in (cheapest source is usually Lidl or Aldi), wet it and give it a stir. I leave about a third of the original culture in its pot and just add more oats to it.
I leave it over night, and the next morning adjust the wetness by adding more water, or more oats. I keep my cultures a bit drier than @Edvet does.
When the culture is running normally it gets wetter and I just add more oats. I keep on doing this until the culture starts to go drier and more yellow, and then I re-culture. Usually that happens when the pot is about 1/3 full. You get a bit of a "worm boom" before this happens and they end up all over the lid etc. which is a good indication of when to re-culture. I don't think that oat based cultures tend to smell very much, mine just have a slight yeasty smell.
When the culture is doing well you get a "sheen" from the worms moving, and a ring of worms around the side of the pot. I harvest them by running my finger around the edge of the pot, but you can use a paint brush or cotton bud etc.
cheers Darrel
I always have three cultures running, but only in small pots (the ones that have supermarket coleslaw or houmous in them).
When I re-culture put a dollop of the old culture into a new pot, and then put a fairly shallow layer of rolled oats in (cheapest source is usually Lidl or Aldi), wet it and give it a stir. I leave about a third of the original culture in its pot and just add more oats to it.
I leave it over night, and the next morning adjust the wetness by adding more water, or more oats. I keep my cultures a bit drier than @Edvet does.
When the culture is running normally it gets wetter and I just add more oats. I keep on doing this until the culture starts to go drier and more yellow, and then I re-culture. Usually that happens when the pot is about 1/3 full. You get a bit of a "worm boom" before this happens and they end up all over the lid etc. which is a good indication of when to re-culture. I don't think that oat based cultures tend to smell very much, mine just have a slight yeasty smell.
When the culture is doing well you get a "sheen" from the worms moving, and a ring of worms around the side of the pot. I harvest them by running my finger around the edge of the pot, but you can use a paint brush or cotton bud etc.
cheers Darrel
