Comments on: Worm Factory Questions

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:04:38 +0000

Hi, I was reading your answers to Becky and admire how you worded everything. I have been worming for a few years now, and had to learn most everything the hard way. You and I seem to feel the same about how it should be done. Tanx for the enlightenment.

Dave

By: amy narewski

amy narewski — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 07:28:54 +0000

Hi there, just recently had worms given to me and am now thinking of putting the leaves of the laurel (bay leaves) into the bin as bedding. Are the poisonous for the worms? I read the ca be used as pesticides; so I am a little worried.
Thanks,
Amy

By: Laurel

Laurel — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:01:36 +0000

Thanks Bentley,
My bin is nothing fancy…just a rubbermaid bin with holes drilled. I guess I’ll have to make a screen of some sort and scoop out the compost a bit at a time, returning any “reds” to the original bin and building it back up.
I so appreciate your website in helping to keep me on the right track.
Laurel

By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:30:47 +0000

BECKY – thanks for the update (sorry for the delay responding)!!
—
LAUREL – you may want to check out this blog post:
http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-bins/worm-factory-360-3-02-12/
It outlines how I did my first harvest.

By: Laurel

Laurel — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:46:37 +0000

Hi,
Have followed your advice in starting my bin in February. “My boys” are thriving and black gold is building. I have found they love shredded paper and cardboard, coffee grounds, tea leaves and crushed egg shells. I check their “feed” every few days and give the whole bin a good stir about once a week, while keeping a moist upper layer of shredded paper.
Question: how exactly do I harvest the compost to use in my garden….
Thanks
Laurel

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:18:19 +0000

Bentley,
Thank you for your quick response 🙂
I have only had the worms for about two weeks, so I am VERY new to this.

Update on the mites: I waited about a week since their last feeding before feeding them again and there were no noticeable mites or dead worms in the bin. I think the dead worms may have just been the ones traumatized by being shipped to me? Everyone seemed active and quickly moved down into the bin when I opened it and they were exposed to the light. Also there are dozens of cocoons.

I have 2# of worms and gave them 2 1/2# of fruit & vegetable scraps this week, (frozen then thawed) mixed with the layer of moist bedding that was in the top of the tray. Then I added a new 2″ layer of shredded paper/cardboard on top of that. It is very hard for me to tell how quickly they are processing the food I give them because I have been putting it through the food processor and the coffee grounds in the food make it all very dark like the existing castings. I am going on the assumption that they will process the bedding if the food is all gone.

Also, I have “modified” my use of the bin based on another reader’s comments. I was concerned about air flow, had fruit flies, and the worms kept getting down into the leachate tray. I removed the leachate tray and spout from the bottom tray of the system. This bottom tray is now like the remaining trays, with solid sides and a “screen” bottom. I placed a single layer of an old bed sheet on the top of it, set my working tray into it, then placed another single layer of an old bed sheet over the working tray and placed an empty tray on top. Every few days, I mist the top layer of bedding with a spray bottle of clean water.
***results*** I have NO fruit flies/gnats, no odor, no dead worms, no noticible mites in the bin, lots of worm activity, lots of cocoons. Also, pure worm castings seem to sift down onto the bottom bed sheet which I poured into a bucket of water for worm tea. Maybe I’m just lucky this week, maybe I’m onto something! I’ll keep you posted on the progress.