Vermicomposters Unite! Official Worm Farmers Thread

raggyb

Well-Known Member
is your bin for only worms or plants too ?
If just worms , then a single tote with small holes drilled all around it will work.....but it is easier to harvest castings if you stack two of them. The holes on the bottom need to be about an 1/8" ish so the worms can go through um.
Once the one bin is starting to be mostly castings then put then second tote right on top of it with fresh bedding in the new tote.....within a week or two , all the worms will be in the top tote and all the castings will be in the bottom one.

Side note: My bins have never leaked "casting juice" or whatever they call it. i think thats too wet for their taste. (so little to zero runoff)
thanks hombre. worms only. I guess I could save even more money as a trial with a small tote with a tight cover and then many 1/16 holes in the sides because I can't stand them getting out and they shouldn't be able to squeeze through 1/16 tho I bet they'll try. Then cut a hole in the top and screen it for air flow. I guess then I can use an opaque bin since they can't get out anyway. For my earlier tries, trying to scare them down with light did not work.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
thanks hombre. worms only. I guess I could save even more money as a trial with a small tote with a tight cover and then many 1/16 holes in the sides because I can't stand them getting out and they shouldn't be able to squeeze through 1/16 tho I bet they'll try. Then cut a hole in the top and screen it for air flow. I guess then I can use an opaque bin since they can't get out anyway. For my earlier tries, trying to scare them down with light did not work.
if light did not run them back into the soil/castings then something was way off in there. After breeding millions , ive never really had them fully escape. (i had a lid on the tote , so hundreds of them would be on the top , bundled up , trying to leave , then i would put fresh bedding in there and knock them all back into the tote and this time they would stay.)
Thats exactly what i did, just got a 20 gallon tote and drilled a couple hundred tiny holes. The bottom of the tote got 40 or 50 1/8" hole for them to come out when needed. They only use the 1/8" holes to travel to the next tote. they never come out the bottom.

I take newspaper and cardboard and soak it in water for about 20 minutes , then i wring it out like a sponge to assure its not too wet. A layer of paper on bottom and top with any scraps in the middle with a sprinkle of dirt. thats it. When that paper turns into soil , its time to make the new bin.
 

raggyb

Well-Known Member
if light did not run them back into the soil/castings then something was way off in there. After breeding millions , ive never really had them fully escape. (i had a lid on the tote , so hundreds of them would be on the top , bundled up , trying to leave , then i would put fresh bedding in there and knock them all back into the tote and this time they would stay.)
Thats exactly what i did, just got a 20 gallon tote and drilled a couple hundred tiny holes. The bottom of the tote got 40 or 50 1/8" hole for them to come out when needed. They only use the 1/8" holes to travel to the next tote. they never come out the bottom.

I take newspaper and cardboard and soak it in water for about 20 minutes , then i wring it out like a sponge to assure its not too wet. A layer of paper on bottom and top with any scraps in the middle with a sprinkle of dirt. thats it. When that paper turns into soil , its time to make the new bin.
thanks, great information. Would you say scraps and paper are in equal weights?
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
thanks, great information. Would you say scraps and paper are in equal weights?
Yes, 50/50 green and browns. (green is anything alive and browns are anything dead) from my experience , i would keep the browns a lil higher like 65% ish, that way its not too wet or too stinky. Its easy to add greens to a dry bin , its harder to take away the moisture with dry paper.
 

raggyb

Well-Known Member
Yes, 50/50 green and browns. (green is anything alive and browns are anything dead) from my experience , i would keep the browns a lil higher like 65% ish, that way its not too wet or too stinky. Its easy to add greens to a dry bin , its harder to take away the moisture with dry paper.
excellente'. i try again soon!
 

CrunchBerries

Well-Known Member
Just finished this thread from start to finish! It’s been a real page turner! I was getting worried as I progressed that there wasn’t any new activity. Glad to see it’s still active! My worm bin and babies should be here early next week. Let the good times roll!
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Just finished this thread from start to finish! It’s been a real page turner! I was getting worried as I progressed that there wasn’t any new activity. Glad to see it’s still active! My worm bin and babies should be here early next week. Let the good times roll!
Been about 3 years here and having a worm farm is fun and interesting and makes incredible super compost. Learn more each day.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
i moved a few years back and left my bin. im about ready to start a new one. i went to the local hydro store yesterday and was looking at their EWC in a bag. holy fuck was that shit cut up! no way in hell im buying a bag of that crap. it felt like 100% peat moss in the bag. fuck that. it was all spongy. Real EWC is rock hard soil. almost clay.
 

P10p

Well-Known Member
i moved a few years back and left my bin. im about ready to start a new one. i went to the local hydro store yesterday and was looking at their EWC in a bag. holy fuck was that shit cut up! no way in hell im buying a bag of that crap. it felt like 100% peat moss in the bag. fuck that. it was all spongy. Real EWC is rock hard soil. almost clay.
Not necessarily, if the bedding is heavy on paper and not much else, yeah you end up with solid castings, if you bed in peat or coco, typically the product ends up lighter.

But that's just to the castings being like clay part. I still agree, I wouldn't buy castings forom a hydro store!
 

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
hi all, ordered an urban work bag 2.0 a few weeks ago, should be here within a week or two(was on back order). So I'm a total noob to the worm bins and have a few questions.
1. Does it matter what kind of paper you use? I don't get to many papers but i get a shit ton of paper mail, can i use that? And how fine does it need to be shredded up?
not sure how much food scraps I'm going to put in as the wife doesn't even know I'm starting a worm farm

2. Can i put in all my cannabis waste material? Big stalks and leaves, do i let the stuff dry out at all or put in in fresh? Or is there a ratio between the two?
also have some crushed oyster shell(bigger chunks) and oyster shell flour is that good to ad for some grit? Also have a bunch of gaia green dry amendments along with some neem meal that i could add if that would be beneficial for the worms/ewc

3. How much works should i buy? 1/2 pound or a full pound? I really don't have a clue on how much i need. Oh and they are red wigglers, anyone ever put the worms people use for fishing in there bin? I can buy them in a vending machine...lol, says they are dew worms

if you can think of anything else that would help me out or that I've forgotten or things I should look out for or steer clear of please enlighten this noob.

much appreciated and thanks in advance for any tips and guidance
 

CrunchBerries

Well-Known Member
hi all, ordered an urban work bag 2.0 a few weeks ago, should be here within a week or two(was on back order). So I'm a total noob to the worm bins and have a few questions.
1. Does it matter what kind of paper you use? I don't get to many papers but i get a shit ton of paper mail, can i use that? And how fine does it need to be shredded up?
not sure how much food scraps I'm going to put in as the wife doesn't even know I'm starting a worm farm

2. Can i put in all my cannabis waste material? Big stalks and leaves, do i let the stuff dry out at all or put in in fresh? Or is there a ratio between the two?
also have some crushed oyster shell(bigger chunks) and oyster shell flour is that good to ad for some grit? Also have a bunch of gaia green dry amendments along with some neem meal that i could add if that would be beneficial for the worms/ewc

3. How much works should i buy? 1/2 pound or a full pound? I really don't have a clue on how much i need. Oh and they are red wigglers, anyone ever put the worms people use for fishing in there bin? I can buy them in a vending machine...lol, says they are dew worms

if you can think of anything else that would help me out or that I've forgotten or things I should look out for or steer clear of please enlighten this noob.

much appreciated and thanks in advance for any tips and guidance
I would honestly read through the whole thread. I just finished myself and it was enlightening. All your questions are answered and more. This is the way.
 

raggyb

Well-Known Member
I would honestly read through the whole thread. I just finished myself and it was enlightening. All your questions are answered and more. This is the way.
I agree. I could offer thoughts even with utter failure would anyhow! I feel no to stalks or stems. if indoor in a bag my reads said red wigs and not earthworms. good luck.
 

raggyb

Well-Known Member
I'm wondering if anyone knows if you can add hair, human or pet. pretty sure hair has N, so if not why not?
 

loco41

Well-Known Member
excellente'. i try again soon!
Good luck man. I remember reading about your previous trial, better luck this time hopefully. I would suggest doing like @getogrow said and try just a couple totes before investing in something bigger. Figure out a nice bedding mix to keep them happy first and go from there. I've been using leaf/yard waste compost in my bins for the bedding in two new bins and it seems to be working out nicely. Lots of diversity with springtails and sow bugs as well.

Every time I see this thread I'm reminded how little I actually do to maintain the bins. I've been meaning to harvest one bin completely and starting fresh with those worms for a while now as it's long overdue. Something like two years ago since the last time I fully harvested that bin and started with fresh bedding. I didn't have much success with the stacking method so I usually harvest by hand. I figure that way I leave plenty of worms/cocoons in the harvested mix to keep things going. I'll sprinkle some dry oats or amendments on top from time to time in the harvested bin just to keep things a little more active.
 

raggyb

Well-Known Member
Good luck man. I remember reading about your previous trial, better luck this time hopefully. I would suggest doing like @getogrow said and try just a couple totes before investing in something bigger. Figure out a nice bedding mix to keep them happy first and go from there. I've been using leaf/yard waste compost in my bins for the bedding in two new bins and it seems to be working out nicely. Lots of diversity with springtails and sow bugs as well.

Every time I see this thread I'm reminded how little I actually do to maintain the bins. I've been meaning to harvest one bin completely and starting fresh with those worms for a while now as it's long overdue. Something like two years ago since the last time I fully harvested that bin and started with fresh bedding. I didn't have much success with the stacking method so I usually harvest by hand. I figure that way I leave plenty of worms/cocoons in the harvested mix to keep things going. I'll sprinkle some dry oats or amendments on top from time to time in the harvested bin just to keep things a little more active.
thanks, since i'm indoors I hesitate to use leaves from outside thinking it might bring bad bugs indoors. But maybe some herbs and edible flowers from outside because I can wash and dry them. i leave my indoors spider buddies alone they help a little bit. I would like to use fan leaves too. and paper shredding that's soaked. I have outdoor piles I use outdoors for the garden. I'll try again but I hope I have more luck.
 
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