That's something I've been meaning to ask. 80° is flirting with the high end isnt it? Which means my bins would have to be indoors a lot of the year? Or how do people in the south get away with outdoor bins during the summer? Its 90° in the shade here lol
That is my concern too. Admittedly, mine is on a concrete patio and I’m in the south with regular 90 degree days. I get partial sun there in the mornings and shaded in the PM.
I’m finding one reference that says 60-80f is ideal and another that is 60-86f. I’m thinking mid to upper 70s is what I may go for.
I have kept em pretty close to heaters and have the top tray occasionally get to mid eighties. They pretty much hover real close to 80 all the time, otherwise. As long as there is a lower portion to the bin that is cool, they will go there if they need to. Just don’t let it get hot and dry, they can’t handle dry. They multiply faster in cool temps, but if you are already at holding capacity it really doesn’t matter. Cheers Os
As I posted in Ranchos Winter thread, I picked up another tub today along with some Jobes organic Flowering fertilizer for the garden. I’m going to drill this one the same way and get another bin going this weekend.
When it comes to worm bins I think a reasonable number is...just one more! For you guys that experience high temps...if you can dig a hole in the ground for your bin, even just partially it will help. Or a lazier method is to bury it with straw. Be careful, you might end up with a windrow! Lol RD
I added in some coffee grounds and a banana that was old to the b8n today. Haven’t got started on the new one with it raining all day. I like to drill these holes while out on the patio. My compost bins are nearby also.
I’m getting some insect action around my bin but it’s no surprise with a banana peel sticking thru the top layer. I misted it down again today while planting some lettuce seeds. I still haven’t built that other bin as I got lazy over the weekend.
Hey yall i was gonna start my new worm bin with this recipe, lmk if you think any other additions would make the fungal or bacterial counts higher in quality or number. 1 bottom part (2-3 gal) bagged compost/old no-till soil 1 middle part finely shredded orchid bark 1 top part food scraps and fresh cannabis leaves(and a small pumpkin) + (2-3 tbsp)kelp, crustacean meal, rock dust and MBP. with layers of cardboard and shredded newspaper between each part. I'll be conducting an experiment to see whether the worms eat the organic matter faster when the ingredients are layered or thoroughly mixed.
In between those layers, don’t use a sheet of cardboard. It will probably choke air flow and make the whole thing breathe weird. Small pieces would work slick. Make sure the cardboard is good and wet too. I want to see how it works too, interesting strategy. How thick or deep is each part going to be? I would keep em skinny, it will help get the worms to work the whole thing. Then in a couple weeks to a month, do another set of parts right on top. What I find interesting about your mix and layers is it very closely mimics what I am doing with my flower beds to prepare em for winter. I’m putting down a layer of fresh compost. Then a layer of bark. Then composted manure above that. I put Leaves and straw on top of that for frost protection, but the rest is intentionally layered that way so that the bark breaks down quick, and should grab onto some of the N from the manure and compost. Cheers Os
Yeah i hypothesize that as the food/leaves/amendments are broken down on that top layer, the sweet and sticky enzymes from worm guts will wash down and breakdown the other layers more quickly, and i plan on building a filter and spout on the bottom of my bin for worm leachate juice when i spray the bins to keep them moist. I was watching a Growing Your Greens video on youtube and a worm farmer spoke of an example of how in Mexico they build worm bins out of these huge old oil tanks and simply wash the vermicompost with water and funnel that leachate juice into the irrigation systems to feed the crops and they never empty the bins. I found the leachate idea super interesting so im going to try it out on my next round of plants. Also i was thinking about using shredded redwood bark in this too because my gut is telling me that the high fungal counts that like to live in dead redwoods is super healthy in soils, do you guys know if the worms like to eat that stuff? or any other wooded product that has potential for very high fungal/bacterial population once broken down. edit: Its for a 30 gal tote so maybe 4-5 inches deep, and ima gonna throw some chicken manure in there as well
I’ve read about worm washing, and watering with it. If that works for your style that’s great! For me it’s less work and mess to just top dress and water it in. If ya have to cover a big area, spraying the wash would be slick. I would be real careful and put some thought into the washing the bin idea. Too wet of a bin is all kinds of trouble. If ya start seeing gnats, that’s the first sign of too wet. What I have seen that looked like it worked well, was a simple Wire strainer full of castings and worms. Slowly pour water thru the strainer and catch the tea. Let the strainer drip dry and put back in bin. It’s interesting, keep us current. Cheers Os
Id do the wire strainer thing as os said, once those plastic totes get over saturated it's really tuff to get them back to the proper hydration level and will more than likely go anaerobic You could throw some oatmeal in there for fungle growth as well
I moved my bin under an outbuilding today with this soaker of a rain we’ve had for over 24 hrs now. I clearly have it too moist with the insects/gnats that are hanging around. I hope I’m back to sun tomorrow but it’s going to cool down some. Maybe I can take advantage of some sunny dry weather to dry the top of the bin?
Bark nuggets or bark fines seem to help establish fungal colonies, also oatmeal, and malted barley will get you some mycelium blooms good luck Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
If you’re misting/watering your bin for the purpose of harvesting more lechate might be good idea to have some sawdust or dry paper or cardboard handy to soak up excessive moisture. Wet bins never go too well in my experience i hardly ever harvest lechate, or water the bin. the food scraps usually keep the bins at optimal moisture. Occasionally in the winter when it really dry ill lightly mist the bedding. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I got the new bin done and put 7 inches of leaves in it from the ditch and misted it all down. I have cardboard egg cartons in the bottom. Thing is, I didn’t find a single worm in the wild where I usually find them. Same ditch actually. Anyway, I’m going to buy some and I’m just going to monitor everything in the bin as if it’s active.