Hi everyone – bit of a slow week. I’ve been pretty focused on some other projects so it’s been more of a challenge to find my vermi-inspiration.
My solution? Update posts!!
😆
It’s been awhile since I wrote anything about my 50 Cocoon Challenge bins. Nothing too ultra-exciting going on there, but it was still interesting to see how things have progressed in both bins.
As you can see in the picture above, the original material in the ‘regular’ food waste bin has been processed really well. It has been quite some time since I added anything – and the only thing I’ve actually added the last few times has been cardboard. Have I mentioned that Red Worms do pretty well even when neglected?
😉
Much of the material in the bin is a nice looking brown vermicompost, and I must say that the system is absolutely LOADED with worms and cocoons! I don’t want to sound like a broken record here (ok, maybe I haven’t mentioned it that many times – haha), but if you want to stimulate lots of reproduction make sure you are adding lots of paper products (like cardboard and/or newsprint).
Nothing much has changed in the manure bin – the adult worms in this bin DO seem to be larger than those in the regular bin (as do the cocoons), but there are definitely a lot fewer of them. In all honesty, this hasn’t been a really good example of an aged manure system. I haven’t had any good aged manure for quite some time, so I haven’t been able to ‘feed’ the bin at all. I’m sure that if I had added some more aged manure I would be seeing a lot more worms in there. Anyway, I will more than likely discontinue this particular trial and use the bin for something else. I actually just remembered that I have some rotten straw outside that seems to be attracting the ‘wild’ Reds from my yard – I’d be interested to see what would happen with this in an eclosed bin (one of the issues with it when it sits outdoors, or exposed to air in general, is that it doesn’t stay wet enough to be an ideal worm habitat).
Anyway – that’s it, that’s all! Sorry I don’t have anything more interesting for ya.
By the way – I’m gearing up to go away for our Thanksgiving long weekend (up here in Canada) so you may not hear more from me until next week.
Previous 50 Cocoon Challenge Posts
The 50 Cocoon Challenge
50 Cocoon Challenge – Update #1
50 Cocoon Challenge – Update #2
50 Cocoon Challenge – Update #3
50 Cocoon Challenge – Horse Manure
50 Cocoon Challenge – Update #4
50 Cocoon Challenge – Horse Manure – Update
Hi Bentley, If it wouldn’t be too much trouble. I and perhaps other readers would be interested to know just how much the worms in each bin weighs. I think posting their weights would be a great conclusion to your 50 worm challenges .
Hi Eve,
I am aiming to do a full tally for the ‘regular’ bin, but won’t bother for the manure bin since there were just too many issues with my experimental methods.
Thanks for your input!
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