Yeah, things have been a bit quiet around here as of late (considering my last blog post was my last Tiny Tub update)! Yikes.
I finally checked on my tubs last night.
Here are my cocoon counts:
Bin #1 – 18 cocoons
Bin #2 – 0 cocoons (remember, my worms disappeared early on and I decided to keep it as a comparison bin)
Bin #3 – 22 cocoons
Temperature down in the basement is still around 17 C (~63 F).
The adult Red Worms in the two worm bins are still looking big and healthy. STILL no juveniles – but some of the cocoons looked just about ready to hatch.
Food levels were looking pretty low, so I added some frozen kale to all 3 tubs. Adding some new bedding to a couple of the bins as well.
We had a bit of a scare with my daughters bin (remember – she is keeping a different TTTWC bin up in her room so we can compare). What’s funny is that she had been at me repeatedly to check on it and I kept delaying it (was never at the “right time” – plus I figured there wasn’t much to check up on yet).
Guess I should have listened to her! When we finally did check on the bin, the contents were completely dried out. I didn’t even think about the warmer temps (and likely drier air) up in her room!
Anyway – I thought for sure the bin was a “gonner” and I apologized to my daughter for messing up the project. But just in case, I added some water to the tub and left it to sit for a few days.
Surprisingly enough, when I dumped it out last night I found two healthy looking worms! One of them even seems to have reached maturity! So I added some more food, closed up the bin, and put it back up in my daughters closet (she was sleeping – and I forgot to tell her this morning! Will give her the good news once she is home from school! lol).
Needless to say we’ll be checking up on the bin a bit more often from here on out!
How are things coming along in your TTTWC bins?
Be sure to leave your comments below.
😎
As a Grandpa, I have learned to listen to the little ones more than I did as a dad. They are quite perceptive and intuitive and often right on the money with their observations. Their little minds don’t get as cluttered as ours.
Give that little one a hug
Sorry if this is a duplication, cannot remember where I first posted this question.
My bin is doing well, happy worms. I see some smaller worms but not any cocoons. How can I tell what is a cocoon?
My bin is about two months old, is it too soon?
Thanks for all of the help.
Thanks John! Will do.
🙂
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Judy – it IS a little unusual that you haven’t see any cocoons by this point. But you mention seeing smaller worms, so to me this seems to indicate that you are simply missing the cocoons (since it looks as though some have hatched already). I am assuming you started with two worms?
Hi again, I have managed to harvest a number of worms from my compost bins (tiger worms we call them here or Eisenia fetida). I have done this by sifting through the compost by hand. Is there a more efficient method of processing a reasonably large amount of material (2 daleck style compost bins) to get more worms out?
I have seen guides for getting worms out of the soil (using water and dog shampoo) but is there a method for compost worms.