Help me with my worm bin ....

[OZZ_]

Hey everyone, this is my second attempt at a worm bin and I keep running into the same problem it seems.

Im currently using two 18 gallon rubbermaids stacked. I start out with a lb of worms and shred newspaper and cardboard for the bedding, then I add some food items.. your typical vegetable scraps and so on and so on for awhile. After a few months of feeding the bed the bedding is noticeably broken down. At that point I make up the second bin with fresh bedding and food and proceed to feed it for a little while.

Up until this point everything seems to chug along just fine, the worms noticeably increase in population and I see cocoons everywhere. The idea of course is that the worms will move up into the second bin and I can harvest the bottom bin.

Well something goes wrong along the way because what I end up with is TWO bins that are like 70-80% completed. The worms never actually "finish" anything up. In an attempt to get them to eat the residual bedding and food items I stop feeding.

This is what I end up with, and I notice the worm population dwindles. Obviously I need to add fresh bedding and food... but if I do that they wont finish the lower bins.

This has happened twice now. Both times, with new bins and new worms... they complete the bottom bin to about 70%, so I add the second bin... they complete the second bin to about 70-80% or so and then the populations start to die off (or so it seems).

Whats the deal? I ordered a new 7 tray worm factory it should be here in a few days. Im hoping this will help me get the hang of things better. Im wondering if Im simply using bins that are too big with to small of a worm population. Also, the compost is probably 14-15" deep in each bin... very deep. Not only that but the bins get extremely heavy and the unfinished castings and up very compacted. The worm factories trays are much shallower so should help in that respect.

Suggestions?

 

[W89]

easy answer dont add the second bin and let them finish the first one totally... I dont see it being too small as I have about 10k worms in a 65ish ltr tub

 

[OZZ_]

So your saying I should just let them sit in the castings until they are completely ready to harvest? They seem very unhappy in the 70-80% finished castings ...of course it gets kind of compacted at that point too.

I think the bin is to large and the worm population is to small. Not that the bin is to small. I bet I only have a lbs of worms in those TWO 18 gallon rubbermaid bins. That's probably a big part of the problem.

 

[Scrappy4]

I'm not a worm expert so be forewarned.

Brown materials like paper take longer to break down' and the worms are not eating paper rather there eating bacteria and fungi that is breaking down the paper.

You could speed this up by putting worms in compost that is mostly broken down, or at least breaks down quicker' like manure. You might do better in a large fabric pot too. I gave up on 20 gallon totes after the summer heat and wet media was making my worms escape in mass."...scrappy

 

[OZZ_]

Well I already ordered the worm factory so ill be comitted to making it work...so what should I do from here? Just put all the material into the worm factory and leave them alone until they finish all of it?

Or should I try to segregate the worms and start fresh in the worm factory?

Also can someone confirm that I should leave the worms in the first tray until its completely ready to harvest (for future reference)?

 

[W89]

hello mate, I would empty the contents of your tubs into the first tray of your new worm factory and let them work through it un till it's completely turned to worm castings.

Try not to let it get too wet and compact. wht I do once a month it turn the bottom of the worm bin to the top and mix it up a bit to fluff it up again. that way it's all getting a chance to decompose and not become too compact.

Worms eat there own castings again and again they pass through the worm over and over, they have full of bacteria and thats what the worms eat, so yeah you want to leeave them to work through the stuff in your bin and try not to add too much at any one time. I add a couple of hand fulls of stuff once a week... and let them cycle whats in there properly..

The fastest way to make quality worm castings, is to use compost as it's pretty much broken down material it doesnt take much for the worms to finish it off.. it will get you what you want quicker than fruit/veg scraps.

thats what I will be doing once my thermo compost pile is ready.

 

[OZZ_]

Thanks guys ....the amount of material I currently have will probably fill four or five trays lol.... so should I just put it all in there and let it set for months until its finished ? Or maybe I could segregate the worms into half the material and slowly add the material back into it?

 

[Durdy]

I think the bin is to large and the worm population is to small. Not that the bin is to small. I bet I only have a lbs of worms in those TWO 18 gallon rubbermaid bins. That's probably a big part of the problem.

I have 3 100 gallon worm bins going. I split up 2Lb of worms between all three at the beginning of January or so, the population has exploded since! Just give em time.

 

[ATAK.1]

Tagged. Please keep us updated on the progress.

Thanks

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

If you want to separate the worms from the EWC use an 1/8inch screen. Casting/vermicompost falls through- 95% of the worms do not. The best advice you got here was to feed your worms straight up compost instead of veggie scraps...much faster. If I feel like they are hungry, I'll throw em an organic banana peel, coffee grounds, barley sprout tea or alfalfa/kelp tea leftovers. When you feed them like this, sparingly, in compost as a base, the worms will come up and feed and this is another way to gather up a bunch of worms to start another bin.

 

[MJBadger]

Rancho has mentioned tea leftovers , worms love em & break them down very quickly , same with deciduous tree leaves . I`m wondering if you are adding too much big stuff & it will take a while for it to be broken down . If you can try chopping it up as fine as you can .

 

[xmobotx]

those redworms only really like about the top 6" too ~it would seem your observation about the commercial worm farm is one 'issue'

i dont feed fresh feedstocks to the worms

i have used composted horse manure as a bedding/feedstock ~i do add occasional scraps including coffee grounds and kitchen scraps but not too much ~mostly that goes to my compost pile {exclusively all winter since i killed my worms last summer}

the next evolution i do will be w/ 'finished' compost as the feedstock ~emphasizing 'no fresh feeds'

 

[MrSterling]

My red wigglers seem to use more than the top 6", but the european nightcrawlers also seem to dig way deeper in the bins. Coot suggests using a permanent aerator, like pumice, to add aeration without the compression issues that eventually come without it.

 

[Granger2]

I think the depth is the problem. I bet you'll not have that problem in the new worm factory. Good luck and keep us abreast. -granger

 

[SoooHaggard]

My red wigglers seem to use more than the top 6", but the european nightcrawlers also seem to dig way deeper in the bins. Coot suggests using a permanent aerator, like pumice, to add aeration without the compression issues that eventually come without it.

My thoughts exactly.

Also have you added any "grit" (sand/stone powders) to your materials? Worms need this to help pass the castings we so love.

Coot knows his worms, have you seen the reactor he had made last summer? Simply amazing, built by a mod on another site.

 

[pink.lovebud]

only use one bin at a time. I ended up with MANY bins and fast all from one.
my question is how do you keep them warm in the winter? are you guys keeping them in the house or garage with heat? or do you just live in a warmer climate?
Worm castings is absolutely the best fertilizer.

 

[MrSterling]

Haggard. My bins get glauconite (greensand) because it's cheap and available in my area. I'd be using basalt if I could get it without the shipping cost.

I've also been wondering if fungal rich mulch could be substituted for the pumice as an aerator. It seems to me the slow decomposition time would lend itself well and the worms would like the fungi.

Pink, I believe many of us keep them indoors or at least sheltered in a garage. You might ask microbeman. He's in a northern clime and I believe houses his worms semiputdoors.

 

[SoooHaggard]

Haggard. My bins get glauconite (greensand) because it's cheap and available in my area. I'd be using basalt if I could get it without the shipping cost.

I've also been wondering if fungal rich mulch could be substituted for the pumice as an aerator. It seems to me the slow decomposition time would lend itself well and the worms would like the fungi.

Pink, I believe many of us keep them indoors or at least sheltered in a garage. You might ask microbeman. He's in a northern clime and I believe houses his worms semiputdoors.

Have you ever tried sourcing Granite dust locally from gravestone carvers to countertops (without epoxy) for your grit and also in your soil mixes? I get as much as I can carry for free.

Bread from Stones is basically all about granite, calling it the father of soils. Free to download @ soil and health.


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On the mulch I would just be worried about it becoming compacted once it get's broken down over time, like using rice hulls in your soil mix. I am sure you could keep adding more and more to fluff it up some. I am currently balls deep in fungal research, both of Stamets books are glaring at me now begging to be read more.

 

[Azeotrope]

Mine are in the garage and I keep a space heater on as needed to keep the garage just warm enough. You can add a little alfalfa meal to help generate a little heat from breakdown in the bin, but this needs to be done carefully as to not overheat.

Azomite makes for good grit if you can find it.

 

[OZZ_]

Gracias ...great information here all around. I think several things are my problem. Yes ...I fed scraps and large items, castings depth is easily 15" in each bin.

ill start adding only mush type foods. Also the bedding is made of cardboard and newspapers but I've used colored cereal boxes and stuff like that and looks like they are avoiding those items. ill make sure to take a more naturalistic approach from now on using only mashed food stuffs and plain cardboard or newsprint as the bedding. I do have some horse nuggets weathered for a season so ill try those too.

I can't find azomite anywhere but I did find some oyster shell and gypsum for my next soil mix. I've got plenty of gound egg shells too.