It's not fast, but it is exponential in the sense of the worm reproduction. Not a 1 worm, 1 baby worm, but more like 1 worm, 25 baby worms sort of deal.
You can also take enough castings from a unfinished bin (a cup or so), to make tea and benefit your plants right away.
My bin is getting close to the point where I can take enough worms to start a second bin.
This second bin is going to be completely mj medium oriented, using peat moss
as the bedding material rather than the usual shredded newspapers/cardboard and bokashi bran (wheat bran activated with EM-1 concentrate), for the food.
We'll see how it works.
Even if it isn't all changed into worm castings, my mix is peat based anyway, so a bit of perlite to lighten it up and some dolomite lime should be GTG.
BTW, I add a bit of dolomitic lime to the peat I'm using now for bedding material. Mix, moisten, and let sit a week or more before adding to the bin. I've been alternating it with the shredded newspaper/cardboard for the bedding material.
So far, the worms seem happy and alive with the kitchen scraps, so I haven't fucked up too much yet. They really seem to like coffee grounds, filter and all, which works out really well.
I'll keep the first bin as before, on the kitchen scraps and whatever is working and experiment on the second bin.
Motto: Don't put all your worms in one bin.
Wet