Worm Bin Bedding
Here are a couple questions from Marc:
I just started a worm bin per your video instructions. So far so good. Well, it’s only been a few days. But I do have a question. Once I’ve done the original bedding, moistened everything, added food scraps, let it stew for a week, and added the worms… is there any reason to add more bedding materials? Do I just keep adding kitchen waste and no more bedding?
Here’s another question, how small of a bin have you attempted? I have friends interested but space is an issue. Is three gallons too small?
Thanks, I really like the site.
Thanks Marc!
These are good questions.
Firstly, let’s talk about bedding. These materials - typically a carbon-rich and absorbent - are really important in a typical ‘worm bin’ vermicomposting system since they absorb excess moisture, help to balance the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, increase air flow, and help to create a safe habitat matrix for the worms.
In my humble option, it’s not a bad idea to add a small handful of new bedding every time you add wet food wastes to your bin, and on a fairly regular basis in general. If you stop adding them altogether you will notice that conditions start to get really soggy in the bin, and/or there will be lots of liquid down in the reservoir (if you’ve made the ‘deluxe’ bin). Your system may also start to stink due the increased moisture content and reduced air flow.
As for creating a small worm bin - I say go for it! The bins I made in my YouTube videos (deluxe and basic) are actually very small systems - likely in the 3 gallon range. You definitely need to be careful with the amount of food you add to small systems however, since you can end up overfeeding them quite easily. Other than that, the same basic principles (of vermicomposting) apply.
Hope this helps!
Written by Bentley on October 23rd, 2008 with
7 comments.
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Sherry
Bentley
#1. October 23rd, 2008, at 5:18 PM.
Hi Bentley! I’m really glad you posted this because I’ve had some bedding-related questions as well.
I’m wondering if I might have too much bedding. My bin is only a month or so along and other than adding food to the top and obessively peeking in on my brood, I haven’t dug into the depths of it. Last night when I checked things out below the surface, I found the layers of shredded newpaper I’d use to set my bin up had become a thick, matted strata. I’ve also not had any liquid drainage at all. In fact I’ve only had a spare lid sitting under the worm bin and it’s remained bone-dry. I’ve sprayed the bin down a couple of times, but I’m thinking I might have added too much bedding in my set up and it dutifully absorbed any and all moisture. Plus I went a little crazy with my drill and made quite a few more holes in my bin than your video recommends, so there’s definitely plenty of aeration going on in there.
So now I’m wondering if I can just break up the matted sections, keep adding kitchen scraps, but hold off on adding more bedding? Do I need to stir my bin up periodically, or do worms prefer to be left undisturbed?
Also, I’d really like to add some fall leaves with the next feeding. Would this exacerbate the problem?