Thanks for the response. Can't believe the difference getting a bit of warm weather makes to the processing rate. Worms vs food in my bin at the moment!
I'll have to get a pic next time I get up there. I added them to the pile. Are thistles any good? Green
Whenever I have extra (most gets used as harvested), I'll store and treat it as an ongoing bin, sorta. I use a 1/4" screen to harvest and there are plenty of baby worms, not to mention cocoons that make it through the screen and in time the cocoons will hatch and the babies grow. My storage tote has a few holes in the lid, but no drainage. My VC is pretty moist when harvested and nothing is done to dry it, or, add more moisture. Usually, there is enough 'food' in the VC, but if stored longer than a month I might sprinkle a bit of neem or oatmeal on the surface. Maybe. You'll have microbes up the yang and worms to boot! Wet
upgraded my worm-bucket into a ghetto worm tower today! cut some holes in the second bucket cut 1/4 screen to fit cover with coffee filter fill with new compost stack on the worm bucket say no to fruit flies! hopefully the worms will agree to migrate to the top layer so i can harvest the bottom.
I have 600 red wigglers on the way, how many bins can I start with these? Or should I just start one big bin? Thinking Rubbermaid tubs or 5 gallon buckets till I build my own Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Grasscity Forum mobile app
*I* would suggest the DIY 19gal Rubbermaid 2 tote detailed in the redwormcomposting site. 600 worms aren't all that many even for that sized tote. Would also suggest 1/2 RW and 1/2 Euros, or, even all Euros, especially for deeper bins like TM's 45gal smartie. A first time bin is going to take 4-5 months to be realistic for both harvest and population increase. At that point you should easily have enough worms to start a second bin, or have enough to charge a larger bin. I'm going in the opposite direction with smaller 10 gal totes (easier to harvest and handle). Have 4 of these and using the 2-18 gal totes as nurserys and long term VC sources. The small bins get harvested at around 3 months +/- and the larger ones go 6 months+. Using a couple pieces of melon rind easily gets 800-1,000 worms from the surface to charge the smaller bins. This doesn't seem to affect the larger bins population to any visable degree. I'll use the same trick on the smaller bins to remove worms, but mainly use the VC "as is", worms and all. Once that first bin is well established you can go in all sorts of directions. Wet
I started out with 2 totes, then after 4 months I threw both into the fabric pot and added black cow and about 8" of leaves on top. All I add are the leftovers from teas and used coffee grounds with an occasional MBP dusting. Surprisingly the leaves disappear quickly and I just add more to build the bin back up. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
http://www.pennington.com/all-produ...soil-ammendment/pennington-earthworm-castings Bought it out of desperation to get EWC. The only stuff in my area. Have the bottle here, but did not use yet. Looks healthy, black, and rich, apparently it contains chemicals known to the state of CA to cause cancer. I dont why the hell anything like that would be in EWC Is it any good or should I just take it back to the store? I dont want it to kill my plants
Probably the heavy metals content, check on the package for something along the lines of, "For information regarding the levels of heavy metals in this product, please visit www. yadayadayada .com"
Just checked and it looks like the experimental worm bin is working!! I added a pound of red wiggers and a pound of african nightcrawlers about 3 weeks ago...the bedding is old dairy cow manure that has had the liquid strained out of it. Dug in a little to see if there has been much activity and there were little baby worms everywhere! Not sure if you can see them in the picture but I promise they were there!! Hopefully next year I won't be needing to buy any EWC!!
Oh wow....That's a great idea! I'm literally speechless right now as a light bulb just went on.... When in doubt mulch it! Thank you!!
Harvested my first run of castings today. One level out of three three level worm condo done. Now time to top dress a lil and see results I hope. Thanks again everyone who helped! Buzz!
Hey guy's I'm wondering, my basement stays around 50°f during winter. Too cold for a worm bin? I could buy a heat mat if I have to. Thanks. Sent from my SM-J320R4 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Think a heat mat would be a good idea. I know 50 degrees of soil temp is the low end of what they like but I think the soil gets colder than the air? And if they survive they would process a lot less compost. I don't think it could hurt to get one because they dont produce enough heat to make it go over 75 degrees.
I could buy a heat mat if I have to. I have no exp. with a heat mat. But I do use a soil heat cable in my outdoor worm bin and it works great. I got mine from Amazon.
I have and use both. The soil cables work waaay better for worm bins. I made a frame from PVC and 1/2" screen slightly smaller than the inside of the bin with the cable attached with zip ties. Makes it much easier to install and remove. HTH Wet