Comments on: Worm Bin Bedding – In More Detail

By: Bentley

Bentley — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 16:02:14 +0000

Hi Chuck – office paper can be fine (especially if you soak and drain it), but I usually don’t recommend it as a sole starting bedding, since it contains chemicals that could potentially irritate or harm the worms.

By: chuck meyer

chuck meyer — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 22:24:15 +0000

Why not shredded office paper?? I’ve been using it for years and hve lots of worms.

By: Jake R.

Jake R. — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 19:01:40 +0000

Hello, I started my wormbin back in November with a pound of red wigglers. They are certainly troopers and have increased in numbers since then despite my using leaves as the predominant bedding along with lesser amounts of paper towel/some shredded paper and cardboard.

My bin is large and leaves take awhile to break down so understandably there is still a great deal of leaves in the bin. However, they dry up every few weeks and I add water to my coffee grounds when I add them to keep the leaves moist. But I’m to the point where I want to start removing leaves and replacing them with shredded paper.

Is this a good idea, and is there any specific way I should go about doing it? I feel like I only want to remove dry, full leaves and keep the ones that have a bit of mold on them for microbial food purposes but I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions.

By: rou1

rou1 — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 02:05:04 +0000

Thanks. All good advise. Keep updating! Please.

By: Ronald LaTray

Ronald LaTray — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:29:58 +0000

I have read about bedding and conditions for worms. I see that its mentioned more about the volume that worms will eat here such as 1/2 pound of food waste per pound of worms in a day. I see what types of bedding that are ideal for different types of worms. I dont see however, a recommendation as to how much bedding would be needed for a pound of worms to be in, so this leads me to ask you the following question.
How much bedding is needed for a pound of worms when setting up the bin. In other words, is there a ratio of bedding to worms whether by volume or weight? Please let me know. Thanks……..

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:28:42 +0000

Hi Ann 🙂
I am definitely not a numbers guy – and in the case of worm composting, I am thankful for this. I would probably go insane if I was – there are simply so many variables at play, that it becomes very difficult to come up with any hard ‘facts’ that apply to everyone’s system.
Or, maybe I’m just lazy
😆

My recommendation with worm bins is to keep LOTS of bedding in there at all times. Bedding is indeed a long term food source, but it also helps to keep things balanced in general (C:N, moisture, oxygen content etc)

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:03:59 +0000

Hey Bentley – thanks again for all your help at your site, and specifically for answering my questions on another post the other day… I am wondering if you could give an idea in percentages what a successful worm to bedding to food ratio would be. Or something along those lines? Or should I just think of it as maintaining the same general quantity of bedding in the bin as what I started it out with? But does it need to increase over time, as theoretically the worm population will increase? Do they eat the bedding??? Sigh. Definitely still figuring things out here! 😀