Worming 101

[southpaw]

A few things to report after nine months of keeping an 18 gallon rubbermaid bin...

1. Worms WILL live in castings for quite a while once the bedding has decomposed. Obviously this isn't ideal, but they sure don't die off immediately when the bin becomes 90% to 100% vermicompost. Harvesting castings last week after a lengthy period of neglect, I found a ton of worms living near the bottom of the bin in casting "paste", even in pockets that had gone slightly anaerobic (this bin needed more holes).

2. The "black plastic" method of separating worm from compost takes a few days, but works like a charm. I cut 6-8 holes of about 1 X 2 inches into a Hefty bag, put down fresh bedding in a second 18 gallon bin, and then put a layer of potato peels and cucumbers over the new bedding. The bag with holes went over the worm goodies, then the worm/ compost mass went over the bag. By leaving the top off of the bin and stopping by once a day to "disturb" the top layer, all the decent sized worms took the hint and headed south. Next time I'll probably bury the fresh food, since a few little guys wanted to cling to the underside of the plastic.

3. I mix Molasses and an enzyme additive (Cannazyme) into the water I use to dampen the bedding, and spray the bin with a tsp/ liter of Molasses if the bin needs dampening. Doesn't seem to hurt anything, not sure if it necessarily "speeds" up the process.

4. The texture of fresh castings is incredible. Press some into your hands, and it holds a shape.

I can't wait to start making teas with this stuff!

 

[rave420]

i just thought i throw my latest find in here,
it's a chart that helps to identify wild worms. Hope it helps someone.


(klick for bigger size)

i take no credit for the picture whatsoever, all credits belong to the original author. I found the picture here

 

[sicoltiva]

hi I have a small wormbin ( plastic containers of about 10 gal ) with 1 pound of red wigglers in it.
i start feeding them a while ago, recently i buried some food scraps that was already starting to decompose a little in the bottom of the contatiner I kept them ( i don't throw them right on the bin as soon as I have them ).
I covered the scraps with some fresh soil. After few days a white fungi look like appeared( it white and hairy , looks like the hyphae of fungi ) and it is growing / expanding on the soil surface.
It's getting more humid that usual but maybe that's for the type of food buried ( pasta and veggies ).
Worms seems to runn over it...was wondering if everything is all right...
I had outdoor compost for a while that had all sort of slime in it but never had a worm bin before....
tryed to bury the fungi with some fresh soli but it came up to the surface again.
Doesn't smell bad.
it never happened before with other food I buried that's why I'm asking this to you guys..
Oh..just a tip if someone want to stat a worm bin...remember to cover the holes in the bottom with a thin net, I have to rescue worms every night from the bottom since they go thorugh them. Seems like the love swimming in the liquid that flush on the bottom container!
also I found some ( 2 or 3 ) of them running on the walls of the container above soil level...is it normal , like they are just walkin around the bin or they are trying to escape an unconfortable bedding ?
peace

 

[HighonPottery]

discovered that if you DIY your worm bin from rubbermaid totes, you definitely need some sort of drainage holes in the bottom. i had neglected my worm bins for a few weeks and found that there was a lot of liquid leachate in the bottom, which was drowning the worms! i recall bringing up this specific subject with the instructors of the vermicomposting workshop I attended when I started my bin and they said the holes were not needed. This is untrue. They are.

do yourself a favor and drill maybe 4, 1/8" holes in the bottom and put it on a tray to catch the liquid. not only will this help to drain the leachate, it will provide more aeration to the castings, benefiting the worm's home.

anyways, after discovering the liquid issue with my DIY bins as well as thinking of the hassle of harvesting the castings, etc; I decided to buy myself one of those fancy 5-tray worm towers from wormswrangler.com. Yes, they are a bit pricey, but I figure it'll last decades, even outdoors, it is a lot easier to harvest finished castings, it is about the same size as my two rubbermaids but has 5 trays instead of 2, less headache, visually appealing, comes with a mini pitchfork to turn the castings.

I haven't received it yet, but it looks like the best system I've seen on the market so far. none of the other vermicompost bins seem to have good ventilation, especially in the lid. this model seems to solve those issues with the lid design which also keeps water out if it gets rained on. best part about it is it's GREEN

 

[maryjohn]

I hate to say it, but any bin you buy or make is going to have the same kind of problem unless you change your bedding recipe to suit your climate/season/food scraps. The people who told you the holes are not needed were right, but perhaps they did not give you enough info. My bins have tons of holes in the bottom, but all that does is make a mess when I overfeed. Things still get soggy if I'm not careful. Try adding some dry bedding, avoid too much cardboard, and don't overfeed. And invest in a paper shredder. When you shred junk mail and newspaper, you get a heterogeneous mix that is less prone to compaction, which is what leads to a soggy bin and anaerobic pockets. For now, you could leave the lid off and just cover it with damp cloth.

one thing i've learned sine I started vermicomposting, is that turning the bin is not good. especially with a tool. If you are going to turn the bin, do it with gloved hands. Generally, though, let the worms do the turning.

 

[HighonPottery]

i got the 5-tray worm 'hotel'. i like it. seems way better than rubbermaid totes. i transferred over all material from the two bins and used coco as my bedding medium. they seem to be pretty happy in their new home after a few weeks. i am aware that ideally there should be no runoff because you would be technically overfeeding them if you did have to, like i was. regardless, leachate is much easier to drain off with the spigot. overall, i think it was a great solution to worm bin aesthetics.

 

[maryjohn]

don't throw out the rubbermaid, because you may find yourself using both (worm farms rarely get smaller).

has anyone tried the clothes hamper worm bag design? I'm really curious about it, since it seems to be a great way to harvest.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

i got the 5-tray worm 'hotel'. i like it. seems way better than rubbermaid totes. i transferred over all material from the two bins and used coco as my bedding medium. they seem to be pretty happy in their new home after a few weeks. i am aware that ideally there should be no runoff because you would be technically overfeeding them if you did have to, like i was. regardless, leachate is much easier to drain off with the spigot. overall, i think it was a great solution to worm bin aesthetics.

HighonPottery

The 2 most widely sold of the 'worm hotel' are the "Can-O-Worms" product and the "Worm Factory" with the "Can-O-Worms" usually costing more because they're made in Australia while the "Worm Factory" is manufactured up in Northwest Washington. Both work on the same principle, getting the worms to start eating their bedding and moving food up the levels until most of them are in the top 2 levels leaving the bottom one ready for harvest.

Both products have the same caveat in their literature about 'leachate' and how there shouldn't be any if you're feeding correctly - complete and total misinformation. It's impossible NOT to have run-off because the overwhelming majority of the foods you put into a worm bin contains 80% water (vegetables, fruits, peelings, coffee grounds, et al).

You're doing the right thing to drain the leachete out of the base and you should probably do so every other day or so. The main process for maintaining a viable, working worm bin is aeration, aeration, aeration. Both of the off-the-shelf products do a decent job in that regard but their instructions for bedding leaves something to be desired.

Both systems ship with a block of condensed coconut coir - that's a good thing. What would help greatly is to include information about adding some other items which will provide aeration to the bedding as well as a perfect breeding environment to increase the worm population. Things like damp straw, leaves (both wet and dry), some kind of rock dust (Azomite, glacial rock dust, rock phosphate, etc). This gives the worms some grit that they need to digest foods with their gizzard.

You will ALWAYS have run-off (or leachete if you prefer) in any working worm bin - it's a fact of life. Getting rid of it is the goal - trying to prevent it is a fool's errand. Commercial worm breeding systems all have huge reservoirs under the beds. The bedding remains moist and feels like castings and not like mud.

HTH

CC

 

[Clackamas Coot]

has anyone tried the clothes hamper worm bag design? I'm really curious about it, since it seems to be a great way to harvest.

maryjohn

I've had 5 made for other medical cannabis growers and it's my opinion that it's just about the best system for producing worm castings one could come up as far as the feeding of the worms and especially the ease by which you harvest the earthworm castings.

The cloth material is helpful to keep the extreme levels of moisture in line with professional worm bins costing thousands and thousands of dollars.

HTH

CC

 

[maryjohn]

thanks clack! I'm totally making one!

 

[HighonPottery]

i've never seen that design for a vermicomposting bin. looks simple. are there any issues with the bottom getting over compacted from the height? i was worried about this in my rubbermaid totes before. in the tower, by the time height/weight becomes an issue it's time to harvest the lower bins. i think when it's time for me to expand my bin, i'm going to make a large box in the garden out of 2"x12" and put a hinged lid on it.

the bin i bought is neither of those 2. the one i got is the gusanito/worms wrangler bin because the design seems to incorporate more air due to the lid design. i also drain it a few times a week. i'm gonna start leaving it open with a glass underneath to hopefully provide air from the bottom. it also has a small gap(1/16"-1/8") around each tray to provide some air. in this new bin i have way less gnats, too.

i didn't toss the rubbermaids. instead, i drilled more holes in them and gonna use them for some bushes in the hydrohut. after that, that's where i'll be aging recycled soils.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

the bin i bought is neither of those 2. the one i got is the gusanito/worms wrangler bin because the design seems to incorporate more air due to the lid design. i also drain it a few times a week. i'm gonna start leaving it open with a glass underneath to hopefully provide air from the bottom. it also has a small gap(1/16"-1/8") around each tray to provide some air. in this new bin i have way less gnats, too.

HighonPottery

I should have mentioned the bin that you purchased - it is a much better design than either the 'Worm Factory' or the 'Can-O-Worms' products in that it has a much better aeration system than the others that I first mentioned.

The worm bins that I had built, 4' x 4' have a small fan at the bottom of the bin to move air up and into the specific bins. Keep in mind though that these are for breeding/growing worms more so than simply making castings. That's the main reason for the heating cables as well as the bi-weekly addition of pure humic acid to control the PH levels.

Since I feed the worms a highly-acidic food, i.e. bokashi compost (PH of around 3.5) I also add calcium carbonate (crushed oyster shells) to lower the initial PH until the microbes in the bins correct things as they always do. By 'pre-digesting' the worm food via bokashi composting, the actual time it takes for the worms to convert the bokashi compost into worm castings is reduced by as much as 60% but you do have to be concerned about the PH.

Peat moss is around PH 3.5 and that's why I opt to use coconut coir which has a PH of between 5.8 to 6.8 or so. This is helpful in my system but may not be necessary in how you're running your bin.

HTH

CC

 

[Clackamas Coot]

If you're having trouble sourcing composting worms or you feel that your local suppliers are too expensive then you may want to consider buying worm cocoons.

Here is one supplier Blueridge Vermiculture and his prices on 1,000 cocoons is $25.00 which includes shipping & handling.

Assuming that you get the normal rate when they hatch, 1,000 should provide you with 3,300 (or about 3.3 lbs. when mature).

HTH

CC

 

[jaykush]

just harvested a wormbin, got 5 gallons of top quality castings, and a few lbs of worms to start it all over again. its time to make some compost tea!

 

[emmy75]

jay how many worms did you start out with. my worms are slow. i only got half pound and most of the coir is still there. although the food is going fast the coir is not.

it was so hot for the last couple of weeks and i kinda forgot to water. i opened the lid and it was so dry, thats how i know there is still so much coir left. i couldnt find any worms. then in the middle of the box i found a ball of worms all tied together with the only moisture in the bin. now i spray it down everyday.

 

[jaykush]

i used unfinished sifted compost for the bedding which imo beats the newspaper bedding to shame that i see reccomended. the way i see it newspaper can only have so many different nutrients and other benefits, diversity is key with the unfinished compost. but you have to have a composting system going on the side of the worms for extra worm bedding, im sure the coir takes some time longer to decompose.

cant say how many worms i started with, someone gave me the wormbin, they were doing an ok job at best, i added lots of fresh ( well fresh to the worms) bedding( unfinished compost sifted to get all the big chunks out) i also added lots of rock powders and some biochar i made that has been crushed pretty good. the castings are awesome now. then the worms went nuts-o haha. they love biochar because microbes love biochar

 

[emmy75]

the guy who sold the worms to me recommended the coir. i never thought about using unfinished sifted compost.

what do you use a a "bedding" in your nonvermicomposting? ill have to wait until early winter for the dry leaves to use as a bedding in my composter. then after a while i can transfer that to my worm bin.

i did add a little shredded paper to my worm bin but i dont think ill ever do that again.

ill have to read your info on biochar and find some rock powder. ya know im gonna try and copy you hehe

 

[maryjohn]

i'm switching to coco because I'm sick of running newspapers through the shredder, but I had great luck with it for quite some time, especially in my "worm bin bag", which makes managing moisture levels a non-issue. Also junk mail or sensitive documents get composted after shredding.

Worms are crazy about newspaper soaked with effective microbes, so I'm assuming coco reconstituted with em will be even better.

for regular aerobic composting, you don't have to have leaves, just the right ratio of brown to green (color at the time of removal from the plant, not the color at the time of addition to the heap). And not all leaves are a good choice. certain trees make leaves that take forever.

 

[jaykush]

odd he recommended coir.

the bedding from my normal compost is comprised of as many different materials as possible. diversity is key when making killer compost. at the moment i am using mesh ring composters because they are too easy to use. when the compost is 80% done i harvest it and sift the big stuff out( not very much left just a few big sticks and some rocks that got in there ) then its put into a very large container or an old bathtub we have, then at that point i take some out for worm bedding, the rest goes into a big container to "cure" and finalize for regular garden use or compost tea.

for the biochar just do a search here for terra preta( amazing stuff), and the rock powders im almost sure you already have ( azomite)

its just weir coco does not seem like a good medium for worms to me.

emmy, you can also use leafmold for worm bedding, an easy way to do it, is in fall. collect a ton of leaves, put them in garbage bags and leave them be in a big pile. ( caution does not look to pretty in your yard) in a few months( i left mine over winter) you have individual bags of rotten decomposing leaves, some of them even will have worms and castings at the bottom.

and of course pm me if you need anything else

 

[maryjohn]

Jay i'll let you know how it works out on my end. I've heard good things. I know everything else works so if my bins go bad it's probably the coir.