I don't think you can use vfmethod for custom fields added to datamanagers unless a function already exists. I get around this problem by checking validation using php like follows:
PHP Code:
'daysprune' => array(TYPE_INT, REQ_AUTO, 'if ($data == 0) { $data = -1; } return true;'),
There's some good details on datamanagers
here, but I assume you've already read that.