A question from Madeleine:

My son and I both have worm bins. I have a worm Inn and he uses a
small rubbermaid container. He frequently mixes the entire contents of
his container then adds shredded newspaper on top. I was under the
impression the red wigglers are happiest at the top layer of a bin, so
I just layer new food and bedding at the top and leave them alone.
Please settle our little debate: to mix or not to mix? PS we both have
growing worm populations. Thanks!

Hi Madeleine,

All in all, I would say that your son’s approach is a good one – especially given the fact that his worm population (according to your last sentence) seems to be doing just fine. Of course, there is certainly more that can be said about this topic though.

When using an enclosed, plastic tub system (without drainage) it’s almost inevitable that you’ll end up dealing with increasingly soggy conditions, and thus decreasingly aerobic conditions over time. As more vermicompost gets produced (creating smaller particles, and a more homogenized mix) bin materials tend to get compacted as well, so that certainly doesn’t help. As such, doing whatever you can to get more air flowing within the composting zone will likely have good results.

While, I’m not sure I would “frequently mix the entire contents” of a plastic bin, I would use a small garden hand fork to get in there and break things up a bit from time to time – in an effort to help air to get down to the lower zones. I’d also likely mix in some new bedding to help soak up moisture and act as a bulking agent (encouraging a bit more air flow). Keeping a thick layer of fresh bedding on top (as your son seems to be doing) is a great approach as well since it will absorb moisture, and inevitably end up getting mixed into the composting zone over time.

NOW – let’s look at your approach…

Even though you take different approach than your son, what you’ve described is in fact a nice, easy – yet still effective – way to maintain an active Worm Inn. The key thing to remember here is that a Worm Inn is a VERY different worm composting container than a plastic bin. The contents of a Worm Inn system won’t likely need to be mixed up at all since the air flow is excellent. It’s never a bad idea to dig around a bit with your fork to loosen everything up once in awhile (and just generally check on conditions down below), but it’s certainly not mandatory.

Bottom-line, there is definitely no need for a “debate” (haha) here – both of your approaches are great for the particular system you’re each using!
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Here is a question from Steve:

Hello,
I am setting up my first worm bin in an 18 gallon rubbermaid tote. I
have watched your videos and have gained a visual idea but am trying
to get a better understanding of the bedding to waste ratio I should
start with. Thanks.

Hi Steve,
Great question. If you follow my writing for any length of time (or spend time reading through past posts etc) you’ll discover that I tend to avoid ratios, calculations and really, anything “set in stone” LIKE THE PLAGUE! lol
There are just so many variables involved that it becomes very challenging to come up with “rules” apply to every situation (apart from some of the basic, core fundamentals of vermicomposting, that is).

That being said, as you may recall, I DO provide some rough guidelines regarding the bedding to food ratio in at least one or two of my set-up videos (if I remember correctly) so it’s certainly a topic that can be discussed further. Let’s start with some assumptions.

I’m assuming here that:

1) We’re talking about food wastes as the primary “food” material and absorbent, carbon-rich bedding materials – such as shredded cardboard (my favorite), newsprint, paper etc – as the primary “bedding” materials.

2) The food wastes are fairly bulky (perhaps partially chopped up) – not ground up or blended.

2) We’re talking some sort of enclosed, plastic worm bin (you mentioned having a Rubbermaid bin, so I think that’s on target).

Given the above assumptions, it’s safe to say that I will ALWAYS recommend adding a fair amount MORE bedding than food when first setting up. How much more will depend on the length of time I’ll be leaving the system to age before adding the worms and what quantity of worms I’ll be adding. In one or two of my older set up videos (it’s all a little hazy now – haha) I demonstrated a bedding-food layering approach. Basically, I started and ended with thick bedding layers, while alternating food and bedding layers (approximately the same thickness) in between.

Adding this much food waste (let’s say 25-40% of total volume) might not be the best idea IF we are planning to add the worms fairly soon (within the first 1-5 days or so). I would only recommend this in cases where the bin would be allowed to age for at least 1-2 weeks, OR if we were going to venture away from those assumptions I listed above (eg. if using larger, open systems, different food/bedding materials etc).

It’s also important to point out that one of the key topics left out of those older set up videos is the recommended maintenance activities during the aging period. In a lot of cases, I’m sure you could get away with simply letting the bin sit and then adding the worms – but for best results, I recommend periodically mixing everything up, and adding even more bedding materials (and water if needed) before the worms are added. In other words, even in cases where I am letting a bin age for quite some time and I have added a lot of food waste to start, I will very often increase the quantity of bedding materials over the course of the aging period – effectively increasing that bedding to food ratio.

Bottom-line – assuming you are adding at least some food, and everything ends up nicely moistened (without pooling on the bottom) – there is really no such thing as “too much bedding” or, in your terms, “too high a bedding to food ratio”. If you cornered me and forced me to come up with a firmish recommended ratio (haha), I’d probably say 3:1 (bedding:food volume ratio) and above. A range of 3:1 to 5:1 would probably be a good zone to aim for, especially if you are just starting out. It’s definitely better to err on the side of having “too much” bedding than on the side of having too much food!

What’s really interesting is that almost every single “brand new vermicomposter” worm bin I’ve looked at over the years hasn’t had enough bedding in it! This might help to explain why I tend to be a bit over the top about all this bedding stuff (remember the RWC mantra – “bedding is my friend”!! LOL).

Hope this helps, Steve!
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Here is a question from Travis:

I am raising Afrincan Nightcrawlers and Red Wigglers. I have added
wheat grass to both bins and now it seems that the worms are moving
very slowly and the mites are becoming more aggressive in the bins.
What are my possible options to save both bins and make the most of
this situation?

Hi Travis,
Green materials like leaves and grass can be quite risky as food materials for enclosed vermicomposting bins (well, at least those made out of plastic). The problem lies in the fact that these materials have a low carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio, so they tend to off-gas excess nitrogen – in the form of ammonia – as they break down (which can happen quite rapidly). Ammonia gas is highly toxic for worms, even at relatively low concentrations – so you definitely want to avoid any and all conditions that can lead to its creation (high pH can be another potential trigger – so be careful with excess lime etc).

My recommendations for rescuing a worm herd typically include: 1) mixing in LOTS of new, moistened bedding, 2) taking the lid off and leaving it off for at least a few days if possible (keep under a light though), and perhaps (if possible) 3) adding some “living material”, such as well-rotted fall leaf litter, or really well-aged manure/bedding mixes (should smell earthy). It’s also not a bad idea to remove as much of the offending material as possible.

Regarding the mites – they CAN seem to become aggressive at times – I won’t deny that. What most people don’t realize, though, is that this is almost always a behavior that goes hand in hand with a decline in worm health (typically caused by poor habitat conditions). I have yet to see common worm bin mites attacking healthy vigorous worms (it seems some other worm bin creatures are not quite so fortunate: “Parasitic Worm Bin Mites?“).

Unfortunately, maintaining a nice “healthy” environment in enclosed plastic bins can be more challenging than in wooden and/or open systems, especially when you are just starting out, but it’s something you gradually develop a certain “feel” (“worm sense”?) for if you keep at it (that’s not to say there won’t ever be random experimental meltdowns or other unforeseen disasters, though! lol)

Anyway – hope this helps! Thanks for the question.
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