Worm Composting » Worm Compost Bins

Homemade Flow Through Worm Bin Update 1

Bruce — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:27:11 +0000

It has been a week and a half since I built the flow through worm bin and placed 1 pound of red wigglers into it. I placed a pound and a half of food in there which is just about gone. Hence under the correct conditions, one pound of red wigglers can eat approximately one pound of food scraps per week.

You can read the original article which includes directions on building this flow through worm bin.

Enjoy the video below.

Bruce

How to Build A Flow Through Worm Bin

Bruce — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:07:39 +0000

This past weekend I decided to try something since I had the materials lying around to build a continuous flow worm bin system which in reality can be purchased for less than forty dollars.

I had seen a similar concept using metal rods as well as had the bottom left wide open, allowing for variety of varmints to enter the system. I decided to build it keeping it simple so as about anyone could put it together.

One thing to keep in mind is many web sites state that the end product is worm castings in a continuous flow through system. The reality is that the end result is a vermicompost, a mix of some unfinished decaying organic matter and worm castings. While the worm castings by themselves are considered “Black Gold”, the vermicompost will do very well in many garden plants too or simply screen the mixture.

Many ask if you will lose many worms out of the bottom, no worries here. As with anything you will lose a few stragglers however the worms are consistently migrating upwards and should reproduce much quicker than your few lost worms coming through the bottom when you harvest your vermicompost.

Materials / Tools:

1 – 55 Gallon drum (one not previously used for chemicals)

1 – 2’ X 2’ piece of 3/8” plywood if your bin has not lid

4 – strips of 3/8* plywood or less, can be from lid scrap above.

1 – 12” X 8” – 1/8” or ¼” galvanized hardware cloth

4 – Short wood screws ~ ¾” to 1”

40’ – Weed whacker line

1 – Piece of approx. 80 grit sandpaper

1 – Reciprocating saw

1 – Phillips or flat head screwdriver… depending on your screws.

1 – Cutting tool for the galvanized hardware cloth.

1 – tape measure.

1 – drill

1 – 1/8” drill bit

The first thing to do is mark out a 12” wide by 8” high opening on the bottom, 2 inches from the bottom of the drum.

Next center and mark out another opening 10” wide by 6” high inside the one you just made.

Cut out the smaller opening first as this will make it much easier. Once you cut the outer opening, save this piece.

I ran the weed whacker line from side to side as I noticed the structural strength was weekend from front to back once the opening on the bottom was cut. Hence locate and center mark your two sides two inches above the top of your cut opening on the bottom of the drum.

Now you will want to drill holes 1 1/2” on center. This does not mean going around the exterior and measuring 1 ½” all around as this will mess you up.

The simplest way to figure this task out is to drill your two centered side holes, measure 1 ½” to either side and drill those two out. Temporarily run the weed whacker line through all three holes on both sides, back and forth and snug up a little. Now you can reach inside and lay the tape measure over the three lines you ran and mark out 1 ½” in both directions on both sides of the bin. Be sure your marks are level before proceeding to drill them out. You can use your tape measure or if you have scrap wood around, use a precut piece as a template to the height from the bottom of the drum to the height of the holes to be drilled.

To run the weed whacker line tie a large knot on one end of the line and begin threading the line back and forth, starting at either the front or back of the drum. Once ran, proceed to reach inside the drum and start by pulling and placing tension on the lines to snug up, beginning where you first began to thread the line. Once complete, tie another knot on the other end to secure the tension on the weed whacker line and cut off excess.

Now you can cut your lid for the drum if your drum did not come with one out of the 3/8” plywood. Be sure to leave it a little larger than the drum top to over hang a little to prevent rain… from getting in should you be placing outside.

Under the lid, Drill 1/8” holes around the top of the drum spaced about 1 ½” apart.

You should have enough scrap from the plywood lid to cut four strips. Cut four pieces six inches long, two at 1 ½” wide and two at 2” wide.

Use the sandpaper to sand the edges of your fron lower door panel to remove the burs left behind when cutting the door.

Trim the galvanized hardware cloth to fit by being a little smaller than the outer edge of the saved piece from your bottom opening cut. Use the wider strips on the front and the narrower strips on the back of each side to hold the galvanized hardware cloth in place, securing with the four screws. Line them up with the inside edge of the opening so as they over hand on the outer side, one by ½” the other by 1”. Always place the galvanized hardware cloth on over the face which will be facing outwards towards you when fitted into place.

Always start off the flow through system with six pieces of newspaper, add 4” to 6” pre soaked sphagnum peat moss (damp, not soaking wet) on top and begin adding food scraps.

To help maintain the pH level is to layer your green (i.e. vegetable scraps) and brown (i.e. shredded newspaper, cardboard) as well as add ground eggshells when available in moderation.

After two or three months, use a garden claw to lightly rake the underside of the weed whacker line from side to side to remove the finished vermicompost. This can then be performed weekly if the system is setup and functioning correctly.

Bruce

Tips On How To Keep Your Worm Bin Warm

Bruce — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:10:13 +0000

With the latest cold snap over the past several weeks many have asked for ideas on keeping their worm bin or worm farm warm. There are a number of ways to assist in accomplishing this depending on your individual situation.

Of course the most obvious is to try and relocate your worm bin if possible. If your home is a little cool, and your worm bin is inside, try locating it by a heat vent. Do not block off the heating vent but rather enable the worm bin to absorb some of the heat when the heater is running.

Be sure your worm bin is not sitting on the cold floor nor on anything that is a good conductor of the cold if on a cold floor. A good trick is to either use a couple small Tupperware type containers on the four corners of the bin or old egg cartons to support the worm bin.

If your worm bin is in a garage or basement which stays a little cool, you can first try to build a worm bin heater which I have previously posted. You can find the post here.

Another way to help keep your worms warm is to add more green products such as your vegetable scraps which will produce heat as they decompose. Now I need to add a word of caution here as if you add to much, the acidic levels will increase for one as well as you may end up heating the worm farm too much, hence cooking your worms.

The best way to accomplish heating your worm bin this way is to dig out a trench on one side of your bin. I would not take up more than ¼ of the worm bin for the trench in case something goes wrong, the worms will still have plenty of room to be comfortable in.

Add some layers in here starting with some shredded newspaper and or cardboard so as to absorb some of the liquid which may form from decomposing scraps as you will be adding extra here.

Next add a layer of vegetable scraps. Follow this up with a layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard as well as some spent coffee grinds if you wish. Follow up by sprinkling some finely crushed eggshells.

You can repeat these steps until the trench is about level with the surrounding bedding. Top off with some damp shredded newspaper and cardboard and keep it damp to help eliminate any odor that may try to escape from the decomposing scraps. Once the food begins to break down, the worms should begin to move into this area to keep warmer.

A few tips to speed up the heating process are to first use a blender or other machine to pulverize your vegetable scraps. This helps to speed up the decomposition process as the scraps can decompose faster as well as give more surface area for microorganisms to attach too.

A second tip is to freeze your food scraps and thaw out prior to adding to your worm bin. Be sure the thawed scraps are also at room temperature before adding. The freezing helps to modify the molecular structure enabling the decomposition to have a head start as well as break down faster.

By chance if the acid levels begin to increase in your worm bin, the fastest way to help neutralize it is to use some hardwood ashes or even charcoal ashes from the grill. Use moderately as a little goes a long way.

Good luck in your worm farming adventures,

Bruce

P.S. Be sure to sign up for your free issues of the Worm Composting Newsletter.

Homemade Worm Bin Heater

Bruce — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:30:31 +0000

Many people have asked me how to keep their worm bin warm during the winter months which are setup in their garage or basement. So I finally purchased all the material to build a homemade worm bin heating system which can easily be built within an hour or so.

I set this up with an air temperature in the garage of 61 degrees Fahrenheit. Internal bin temperature was 68 degrees.

After running on high for 6 hours, the temperature in the buckets of water was 89 to 90 degrees.

The internal bin temperature had risen to 73 degrees Fahrenheit, a total of 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

The temperature of the exterior sides of the tubing was 78 degrees.

First, the needed supplies are as follows:

1 – 5 Gallon Bucket
1 – 2 Gallon Bucket (Easily fits within the 5 Gallon Bucket)
50 Feet of 3/8 inch flexible tubing.
1 – Fountain Pump (capable of pumping up at least 4 feet) and calls for 3/8 inch tubing
1 – Adjustable Thermostat Aquarium Heater… Submersible Pump Only
2 – Dozen Wire Ties

These materials will run right around $75.00 to purchase.

First, drill a hole through the lid just large enough to pass the thermostat cord through in the center of the lid. You do not want to make this too large as you will lose too much water due to evaporation. Also drill two ¼ inch holes or so next to each other off to one side of the thermostat wire so as to secure the wire with a wire tie later on.

You need to drill two ¾ inch holes near the top of the five gallon bucket to thread your tubing through. Be sure to drill just below your lid once the lid is snapped securely in place. At the same time make a “U” cut in the top rim of the five gallon bucket large enough for your pump electrical wire to lay in. Be sure this also goes low enough that it will not interfere with the lid when you go to snap it down.

Next is to drill holes in the bottom of the 2 gallon bucket. I used a 3/8 inch bit for this.

Next you need to proceed by drilling holes in the side of the 2 gallon bucket making two of them close to the bottom so as to use a wire tie to anchor one end of the 3/8 inch tubing.

Once the holes are drilled you are ready to coil the tubing on the exterior of the 2 gallon bucket. Use a wire tie for the end of the tubing to secure it on the bottom of the 2 gallon bucket. Continue by coiling around the bucket and securing with ties about every three revolutions. You should end up coiling about 25 feet of the tubing around the 2 gallon bucket. Be sure to use a wire tie at the top of the 2 gallon bucket where you finish the coiling.

Take the other end of your tubing and feed it through from the inside of the 5 gallon bucket to the outside. Pull the tubing all through so as to be able to place the 2 gallon bucket inside the 5 gallon bucket.

Now you need to drill two ¾ inch holes near the top of your worm bin so as you can still place your lid on. Run the tubing through one of the holes, from the outside to the inside of your worm bin. Next begin coiling by running back and forth in the bottom of your worm bin. Using wire ties to secure the tubing on the bottom of your bin making use of your aeration holes drilled on the bottom. If needed drill and extra hole here and there to secure on the bottom of the bin.

Run the tubing through the second ¾ inch hole in your worm bin from inside to outside.

Now run the tubing from the outside to the inside of the second ¾ inch hole near the top of your five gallon bucket. Place the pump with suction cups to one side of the 2 gallon bucket, drape the power cord through the “U” slot near the top of the 5 gallon bucket and attach the end of the tube to the pump.

Pull your power cord for the heater through the bottom of the center hole in your 5 gallon bucket lid. Before snapping the lid in place, place on top of the 5 gallon bucket and run a wire tie to support the power cord of the heater so as the heater dangles just about ½ inch above the floor of the 2 gallon bucket.

Photo does not show the tubing ran in the worm bin

Now fill with water and plug the pump in only. Once the tubing fills with water, add additional water to fill the 5 gallon bucket just below the holes drilled for your tubing and pump cord on the side of the five gallon bucket. Be sure the heater is completely submerged under water. Plug heater in and adjust temperature on heater as needed.

Be sure to check the temperature of the worm bin daily and adjust your thermostat as needed. Also be sure to check the water level as the thermostat needs to be submerged under water at all times.

If you have any question, please post them below.

Bruce Galle

How To Make A Simple Large Capacity Worm Composting Bin

Bruce — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:14:34 +0000

Here is an attempt to make a video showing you how to make a worm compost bin, unlike any other you have seen. This bin is made from a plastic 4 drawer storage container. The brand name is Sterilite which can be found at your local Walmarts, Ace Hardware and other place for around $40.00.

The nice thing about this is the floor saving space as well as being able to hold over 6,000 worms!

Enjoy the video.

Remember, to get your worms, check out Organic Worm Farm for the best quality worms online!

Thanks

Bruce Galle

P.S. – Remember you can always follow me on Twitter.