Starting a worm bin

[Gimiik]

Hi Yall!

I'm looking to start up my very first worm bin soon and had a couple questions. There's endless videos on youtube about how to actually build a worm bin so I'm good in that area but my question is... what do I fill it with? Haha

I'm wondering if I can use peat moss as one of my main fillers? I currently have a surplus of peat moss that I need to find a use for. Can I use shredded cardboard / newspaper and peat moss as the bedding? Then just add various kitchen scraps on top of that? (Banana peels / egg shells / veggie scraps / grains / additional peat moss etc)

If I plan on using ~15-20gal totes as the home for my worms, how many worms should I start off with? 100? 200? -- I understand they reproduce rather quickly.

Thanks in advance

 

[MustangStudFarm]

Hi Yall!

I'm looking to start up my very first worm bin soon and had a couple questions. There's endless videos on youtube about how to actually build a worm bin so I'm good in that area but my question is... what do I fill it with? Haha

I'm wondering if I can use peat moss as one of my main fillers? I currently have a surplus of peat moss that I need to find a use for. Can I use shredded cardboard / newspaper and peat moss as the bedding? Then just add various kitchen scraps on top of that? (Banana peels / egg shells / veggie scraps / grains / additional peat moss etc)

If I plan on using ~15-20gal totes as the home for my worms, how many worms should I start off with? 100? 200? -- I understand they reproduce rather quickly.

Thanks in advance

Peat moss and recycled soil are good. Some people freak out about buying peat, but when you recycle the stuff you get the most out of it. Your on the right track. I would add Azomite and Greensand... If you want to really rock this stuff, start a compost pile and use compost in your worm bin. I mean like composted leaves and grass clippings. The only thing that I spend money on is rock dusts like Basalt, Azomite, and Greensand. I use oyster shell flour sparingly because I don't want the Ph above 6.5, but the worms really seem to gather around OSF. Also, potworms are an indicator that you need to raise the Ph. Here is my EWC from peatmoss and a trailer load of produce. I'm also getting GREAT germination rates from the EWC too, just mixing 50/50 with Promix.


55gal of EWC make the bale of Promix look small lol...

 

[Gimiik]

Hey Mustang!

I gotta say your plants look beautiful and the tub of black gold is making me salivate haha!!

Unfortunately, I live in a desert climate so there's not a whole lot of greenery around to use as compost but the there's a locally run composting program near by that sells compost for cheap. I'll have to pick some up and add a bit in addition to the peat moss/ paper and cardboard. Then throw in kitchen scraps each week.

 

[Richard Drysift]

200 worms might seem like a lot but it really isn’t. I started my bin with 200 worms too but it honestly took a couple years before their numbers were such that I no longer bothered trying to keep them inside the bin. 200 is about the bare minimum number you need; Try to start with 500 or more if can.
The bedding you have in mind is totally fine but I just use recycled soil; coco coir is another good option.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

Hey Mustang!

I gotta say your plants look beautiful and the tub of black gold is making me salivate haha!!

Unfortunately, I live in a desert climate so there's not a whole lot of greenery around to use as compost but the there's a locally run composting program near by that sells compost for cheap. I'll have to pick some up and add a bit in addition to the peat moss/ paper and cardboard. Then throw in kitchen scraps each week.

The composting facilities are solid. However, they are usually not fully composted, so you would be right to add it to the worm bin and let it finish composting. There was a member on here that also lived in the dessert @hyroot and he was well respected around here, I'll leave a link to his:

Organic no till, probiotic, knf, jadam, vermicomposting, soil mixes, sips etc... Q & A

I'm back. Did you miss me? I'm making this thread about everything organic to answer anyone's questions on how to do anything organic. I read through a bunch of threads in this section and I'm seeing a lot of misinformation. Post any questions you might have and I'll do my best to answer...

www.rollitup.org

 

[Gimiik]

Thanks for the link I will definitely take a look. I do need to call the composting facility and see what they use for their compost but I imagine it's nothing that would be harmful to my grow. Still would like to know

I'm going to call around to nurseries in the area and try to source some worms and get my vermicomposting bin started by the end of the week ideally.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

Thanks for the link I will definitely take a look. I do need to call the composting facility and see what they use for their compost but I imagine it's nothing that would be harmful to my grow. Still would like to know

I'm going to call around to nurseries in the area and try to source some worms and get my vermicomposting bin started by the end of the week ideally.

It's probably going to be full of lawn chemicals, but I heard Dr. Faust say that they should be gone in 6 months. He talks about city compost facilities in this pod and it's where I got the idea from. I was worried about some of the lawn products that could be in there, but he don't seem to be worried about it. Also, when you are dealing with cow manure, there is a strong chance that they use dewormers. The city compost that I used still had the cow manure smell, so I know that it was there. It was also full of trash that looked like it came from the side of the highway like old candy wrappers and weed eater string... You just gotta give it time to compost longer. I don't have that option right now because my city compost is gone until fall. People jumped on it this year. However, I bet that most of them put it straight on their plants and won't be back next time. I wouldn't even put it on my lawn straight from the facility...
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/cannabis-cultivation-and-science-podcast-episode-11

 

[Gimiik]

It's probably going to be full of lawn chemicals, but I heard Dr. Faust say that they should be gone in 6 months. He talks about city compost facilities in this pod and it's where I got the idea from. I was worried about some of the lawn products that could be in there, but he don't seem to be worried about it. Also, when you are dealing with cow manure, there is a strong chance that they use dewormers. The city compost that I used still had the cow manure smell, so I know that it was there. It was also full of trash that looked like it came from the side of the highway like old candy wrappers and weed eater string... You just gotta give it time to compost longer. I don't have that option right now because my city compost is gone until fall. People jumped on it this year. However, I bet that most of them put it straight on their plants and won't be back next time. I wouldn't even put it on my lawn straight from the facility...
https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/cannabis-cultivation-and-science-podcast-episode-11

So I called the local composting site and asked what they used in their compost. The guy on the phone told me they only accept old soil and green compost... he said they typically get the greens from local companies. He said they DO NOT accept or use manures, so I don't have to worry about the use of dewormers. I think I'm going to go and fill up a 5gal bucket of their chunky compost and throw that in the worm bin.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

So I called the local composting site and asked what they used in their compost. The guy on the phone told me they only accept old soil and green compost... he said they typically get the greens from local companies. He said they DO NOT accept or use manures, so I don't have to worry about the use of dewormers. I think I'm going to go and fill up a 5gal bucket of their chunky compost and throw that in the worm bin.

The compost facility here is free and $10 for them to load 3 cubic yards. It's not quality at all though.

 

[Gimiik]

Quick update. Figured I'd post how I made my bins for whoever happens to use the search function in the future and stumbles upon this.
Total Cost:

I went down to Walmart and picked up a couple of these 12gal totes. Bought two bins and one lid, total cost $8. I will eventually purchase a third bin to add an additional layer to the worm "high-rise" but two is enough to get my started.

First, I drilled out a bunch of holes using a 1/4in drill bit. **From what I saw online, this size hole should be fine however you made want to go up a size to maybe 3/8in drill bit. I made a lot of drainage holes in the bottom of the bin, ESPECIALLY where it is recessed and all the liquid will pool. You don't want your wormies to drown!! I then drilled out holes along the upper rim of the bin to allow airflow. I think depending on what type of plastic your bin is, you might get a lot of scraps/jagged edges in your holes. I simply took a box cutter and smoothed everything out.


The second tote is simply there to collect whatever fluids drain out of the top bin. I will be adding all my bedding/compost into the bin with the holes and set it inside the other bin with no holes. When I purchased the bins they sat flush with each other so when stacked, the holes were covered, preventing airflow.


To combat this, I drilled some screws into the bottom/drainage collection tote to elevate the top bin just enough to unblock the air holes. Normally, you wouldn't want to do this if you intended to put your worms in that particular bin... the sharp edges from the screws could damage the sensitive worms!!

 

[Gimiik]

So I went to the local composting yard and picked up 5gal of their chunky compost for free... the fine stuff was $30 no matter what amount I was getting. Would this be acceptable to put into my vermicompost bin?

 

[Gimiik]

Good Morning Everybody!

What an exciting day today is...the worms arrived!! When the Fedex driver dropped off the package he was genuinely curious what was inside because of the air holes. When I told him they were worms, he gave me this weirded out and confused look lo. Oh what a strange life we organic farmers live. Less than a month ago I started looking into organic farming and now I'm the proud father of 200 worms haha I promptly introduced the worms to their new home so they could start settling in as I imagine they had quite an interesting last couple days crossing the country haha.

I let them get used to their new home for a few hours but I just put a 1/4 cup of coffee grounds in one of the corners for them to munch on. I'm sure they're hungry!!