Worming 101

[greenmatter]

over feeding is not good, micro waving or freezing softens food up so the worms go after it faster. they like dinner a little gooey/soft and they will wait until stuff rots a little before they really dig in. nuke it for a couple minutes, let it cool and put it in the bin ....... they will do the rest.

the only time i notice any smell from my bin is after i have fed them a bunch of "cabbage family" stuff at one time .......... smell is the right word but never in a bad/stink way

 

[Harry Hoosier]

thanks for the good answers.
well now im thinking of putting them inside the house until it gets warm outside,
is the worm bin going to stink inside, i heard to not add alot of food so it wont stink?
what you guys think?

Does it stink outside? I definitely would not bring it in if it does.
Your foodstock needs to be pre-composted and NOT fresh.

 

[heady blunts]

onions make it stink.

 

[420stoner]

^^^ yea they say to much onions for the worms is bad!
is peppers bad for them too! u know cuz there spicy!
thanks for the answers stoners!

 

[greenmatter]

onions make it stink.

onions are actually the one food that i don't think worms like. in my bin the worms seem happy to just let them rot on their own. even with the microwave or freezer assist they leave onions alone.

is that just my worms?

 

[jaykush]

wat up stoners!
i have a '?'
i want to make a rubbermaid worm bin but i live in colorado & its really cold & snowy
would my worms survive in these cold temps? I was thinking of putting them in my shed
would that help a lilttle or will they still die?
what you stoners think?

i want to go back and answer this, i leave my bin outside all winter, they handle temps down to the mid teens. they would die if there was an individual worm. but they go to the center and mass up creating a ball of heat. then when it warms up again they go out to feed.

 

[greenmatter]

^^^^^ cool!

how big is your bin jay? mine is pretty small so i figured it would freeze solid and kill everything in there, so i never took the risk.

 

[jaykush]

i have more than a few. the smallest of them a 20 gallon Rubbermaid. no holes in the lid but all up near the top of the sides of the bin. so it breathes but doesn't get soaked when it rains or snows. they are happy and migrate to the top for decomposition and feeding and outwards once daytime comes and it warms up. otherwise they stay balled up and eat each others casts for food( kinda creepy eh?)

bigger bins are less of an issue, specially if you can build it with possible insulation options. i have one thats a old bathtub, in winter i put fall leaves or strawbales around it. and come spring i get leafmold of strawbale compost.

 

[greenmatter]

i have been wanting to do a big outdoor bin for years now but huge temperature range in my back yard (-10 thru +115) has had me chasing my tail and second guessing myself on how to get it done for years too.

not as scared of the cold now!

i actually considered burying a bath tub because i figured it would deal with both extremes better than one above ground, but all the big flow though bins that other members have built look so much easier to work with that i have always been pulled in that direction too. how well do they do cold and hot?

looks like this may be the year i shit or get off the pot ............... i just have to decide on which pot.

all opinions are welcome ...... fire away

 

[jaykush]

if i were you id do the buried bathtub, give it a good insulated waterproof top. but split it in half with hardware cloth. this way you can just harvest with ease. as when one sides done,you start feeding the other side. the worms move over, the hatchlings move over and the other side is left with castings and a few stray worms that will benefit your garden but not so happy during the ACT process lol.

 

[mad librettist]

i gotta say, flow through is much easier than side by side style

 

[jaykush]

you mean crawling underneath and scraping it out with a trowel between bars like most people? when all i do is let them migrate and i can shovel it out as fast as i want with whatever tool i want. hell if the side by side system was big enough you could use a front end loader tractor to empty each side as it finished.

in my systems, i get over 200 gallons of castings each batch. and since im using compost and leaf mold as a base the fresh side decomposes fast compared to most peoples beddings.

to each his own though, i really like your flow through bag!

edit: you bastard you have more posts than me now

 

[Harry Hoosier]

i gotta say, flow through is much easier than side by side style

I have no experience with side x side but have a large flow-through that I am very pleased with. I recently harvested over 10 gallons of finely screened castings. Approximate time to accomplish this was 1 hour.
Of course the build-up to getting there was a tad bit longer.

 

[420stoner]

whats up stoners, i have a rubbermaid worm bim i added news paper for bedding and for food added some of everything like banana peels',avocado,apples etc.the thing is that i see some lil white things in my bin. at first i thought they where eggs but as i looked close they moved slow but they move, like i said there really small & white .i googled it and it said they where mites!they said there just helping out, but when i harvest my castings & use it for my plants', will this affect my plants or they won't harm my plants at all?
thank you, stoners!

 

[OrganicBuds]

They are not the harmful kind of mites to plants.

 

[organic_fanatic]

Nope they're all good bro. The more life the better IMO.

 

[thelaughingman]

This Thread is Inspiring Happy 420

 

[MrSterling]

Well, I just put in my order for my red wigglers! 2 lbs. worth on their way, the company says it should be between 1300-1900 worms. I luckily have a pretty wide variety of foods and manures they can eat, so I'm expecting some real gold.

 

[Dirtboy808]

Worm Guys this is great. I will enjoy the reading and will start my worms soon as I know what type and what to feed a few basic things lol Thanks to all and now I have one more post Ha Ha Aloha

 

[420stoner]

so harvest a lil bit of my worms casting's like a few days ago but my question is when i harvest the castings and let them dry a lil it started turning brown at first it was black but as i said when i let them dry a lil it staty turining brown, i still can use the castings right?
should i use them right away next time or does it really matter?