In this part of the series I am going to discuss two different fallacies most websites and even manufacturers will state are the golden rules when raising worms.

1. Stir or not to stir your worm bin.

2. The correct way to judge how many worms to place in your worm bin.

Many websites state you should turn your worm bedding once or twice a week. Heck even the directions from Purina Worm Chow state twice a week. Before I go into the reasoning of why not to turn your worm bin when raising worms allow me to take you back to nature once again to a wooded area where worms are thriving.

In natural setting worms are left alone to go about their business. There are no giant hands reaching down from the heavens turning the material they are thriving in. As most learn early on when trying worm composting for the first time, unlike regular composting one does not need to turn the material as the worms burrow through it aerating it as the consume it.

Some will say it doesn’t really matter however it does. When you turn the bedding material in your worm bin, the worms will stop eating and reproducing for up to 24 to 48 hours. If they stop performing their everyday task something has upset them whether it be your pH is off, bedding is too dry or wet or you turned the bedding!

One can better see the results of turning the bedding material if they are top feeding. Notice there is much more food left behind the following day or so…

Another fallacy which I am guilty of too since it was the way I learned, was to figure how many worms to place in a worm bin based on cubic footage and worms by the pound.

First let me show you how a pound of worms can differ greatly. I can take a pound of African nightcrawlers when they are about one month old which will roughly run about 1,000 to 1,200 worms.

When we sell the eight month old African nightcrawlers they run about 200 per pound and I have even grown some out larger running about 175 per pound.

Now if I were to take a pound of the 1 month old African nightcrawlers (1,000 +) and place in as other websites (an myself until recently) in one cubic foot of bedding material, the worms will never grow out to their potential… not even close to it. Being the worms will be crowded, they will remain stunted until such a time they are thinned out to the required room each worm needs.

Just the other week I noticed that a bed outside of Alabama Jumpers was not performing well. None were dying however they were not growing. They were consuming all the food every few days however it was jammed packed with worms. I decided a week and a half ago to expand the size of the bed and began feeding the entire larger bedding area. A week and a half later I looked and all the small worms were gone… Not really however in that short period of time they had literally all spread out and were thinned but had tripled in size! Now keep in mind with my studies of the worms, I have setup which is probably a near perfect environment for them as well as some of the food I am using which is something I will not go into as it can and will kill off a good number if not all your worms if not done correctly.

Going back in time to the early 1900’s utilizing some books on my shelves and some records I was able to look up the other day, based on some of the richest known soils in the U.S. back then per square acre, I was able to perform some quick calculations and come to realize that is was approximately only 133 earthworms per cubic foot of soil. This is roughly the number of worms in an almost perfect environment for the earthworms in which they themselves setup as the allotted room they need in their natural surroundings. Now keep in mind the types of specific worms were not listed just the term earthworms which differ from composting worms such as red wigglers.

How many times have you dug a shovel load of soil from a rich garden bed and had 300 to 400 worms per shovel load?

Now to be honest with you I cannot take all the credit here as there is a person named George in Australia that hooked up with me some time ago as he was raising Alabama Jumpers and other worms in a controlled environment and seen I was doing the same. However George is way ahead of me and has given me some insight to raising the jumpers and other worms… one being the breaking down the number of worms per cubic foot. If you live in Australia and looking to order some worms, please do visit his site.

Now going back to the rough number I came up with of 133 worms per cubic foot is perhaps a little low for some worms and not too far off for some others.

Rather than thinking of one pound of any size worms per cubic foot think outside the box. A way to grow some larger worms faster would be to think of one pound of fully grown worms per cubic foot of bedding material. To give you a little insight, most red wigglers are sold bed run in counts of 800 to a 1,000. However when fully grown, there are right about 500 red wigglers to a pound, hence 500 to a cubic foot of bedding material or one pound of bed run red wigglers to 2 cubic feet of bedding material.

So whether looking for larger and faster growing worms for fishing or composting, keeping in mind the larger the worms, the more material each worm can consume per day, begin thinning your worms to benefit even more. Figure on how many fully grown worms to a pound per cubic foot of bedding material to benefit even more.

Now while many parts of the country are inundated with rains and flooding, here in the southeast we are dry and hot. The manure pile at times has dried out so much; the worms could not be found in the manure itself but rather moved into the ground under the pile which helps to retain a little moisture there.

Getting to my point here, if you look at worms in the ground, there are no holes in the bottom for air to pass through as many, including myself (which I still smack the back of my head from time to time for doing so) state you need air holes on the bottom of your worm bins when raising worms. Others will say it is for water to drain through or both.

Here is what I did. I setup two identical buckets without any holes on the bottom, however numerous air holes around the top as well as set them in a well ventilated area.

Raising Worms

I placed enough moisture and food mixture in both to sustain ½ pound of red wigglers in each. They both contained 2.5 gallons of bedding / food mixture.

The only difference was the bedding material by which one was sphagnum peat moss while the other contained coconut coir, one which has been aged for at least 18 months and rinsed completely.

Red Wigglers In Peat Moss

After 30 days I opened the two buckets screened the materials and found just about ¾ of a pound of worms in each. This was not due to additional worms but rather the increased size of the worms and their individual weights.

While both appeared at first to work the same, I found the coconut coir had a smell, started turning anaerobic in the bottom half of the bucket while the bucket containing the peat moss smelled like fresh earth throughout. The issue came down to the coconut coir not holding water as well and draining so that the bottom was much moister than the top.

The other difference in this setup was that there was right about a 10% higher cocoon rate in the peat moss bucket.

These were just a couple things we noticed, however onto the reason for this article again.

The worms not only fared well without any holes for aeration but grew in size, hence a happy environment for them.

I then proceeded to build a new stack unit; this permits me to hold a good number of worms for breeding, hatching and growing worms in less square footage of floor area. The bins, which are small, cement mixing tubs which when filled to an inch from the top, give me right about 1 cubic foot of bedding and food materials. None of the bins have any holes drilled on the bottom.

Worm Farm

Now we have used these for going on two months now with all four types of worms we raise here, red wigglers, African nightcrawlers, European nightcrawlers and Alabama Jumpers, hence why the different color tags on each.

From growing, breeding, hatching and using as holding bins, there have not been any issues.

It appears the worms, just as in the case of the manure pile when it is moist, thrive very well, theoretically perhaps due to the increased aeration over the open bedding surface. By placing a piece of burlap over the top of the bedding and keeping it damp helps to keep the top from drying as quickly while still allowing good breath ability for the worms.

In short, unless you are over watering or feeding a load of vegetable scraps such as melons releasing lots of moisture, worms do not need holes on the bottom of their worm bins and actually appear to grow faster when in a more natural environment, allowing the bottom to stay moist and only needing a little spray of water on top.

I will be writing about other facts we have found in our tests the past several months including a way to assist in preventing many pests from either inhabiting your worm bin or at least keeping the numbers under control so as they do not get out of control!

Being all this gets confusing for many allow me to try and explain in plain English. The earth under our feet is teaming with life, the “richer” the soil, the more beneficial life usually contained within. To give you an idea, in one cup of soil there can be literally billions of live microorganisms contained therein. However, poorer quality soils can also be teaming with life, just not the ones we want or our plants.

Each microbe has a purpose in life which becomes an entangled web by which one benefit another by giving a free ride to another to greener pastures… protects your plants from harmful microbes… or which finds another a delicious treat…

When dealing with soil and worm castings there are two categories of microbes we need be concerned with, aerobic, the good guys and anaerobic, the bad guys. Now some of you know I have written about worm castings as well touched on aerobic versus anaerobic before, however now I am going to explain in more detail as well as back it up by other renowned experts.

The reason this was so important to bring back up and to elaborate on is the fact each year around this time through the fall I have folks contact me stating they have either generated worm castings themselves or moreover purchased worm castings in the past and neither the worm castings nor worm tea showed any benefits. So I figured here was a good time to show why some worm castings are so beneficial while others do not produce results.

First, the definition of aerobic: requires oxygen to survive.

To further this:

“…anaerobic conditions foster pathogenic bacteria and worse, kill off beneficial aerobic bacteria… Some anaerobic bacteria produce alcohols that are toxic to plant life and to other bacteria. These anaerobic bacteria can be avoided when gardening by controlling the conditions that allow them to multiply; poor soil texture, lack of pore space, standing water and compacted soil.” Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web By Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Forward by Elaine Ingham

Anyone not familiar with the authors who are highly respected adding to the fact that Elaine Ingham is one of the leading authorities on soil and well respected when it comes to earthworms, now you know!

Now being the above statement has to do with soil management the same principles apply to worm castings. After all, worm castings help create not only beneficial soil underground to approximately 6 inches in depth but also are one of the main components to generating the top soil which resides on the surface to a depth of approximately 1/8 of an inch.

For instance, “standing water and compacted soil” is one reason Organic Worm Farm has refused to offer worm farms with the spigot on the bottom. Once you overload your worm bin with water you are in essence compacting your worm bedding material and generating standing water, which in this case is leachate, full of anaerobic microbes which come out of the spigot. The manufacturers and those promoting these types of worm farms state it is worm tea, which could not be further from the truth.

Worm tea on the other hand is a delicate process by which you aerate good “aerobic” worm castings in a mixture of non-chlorinated water along with some other additives over a period of 24 to 48 hours at 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, hence exploding the beneficial aerobic microbe count exponentially.

To picture another with readymade worm farms offering a spigot you are creating swamp mud which is anaerobic and a known disease causing environment in humans and animals. Step in it and your shoe gets stuck due to the vacuum created since the air cannot penetrate which would allow you to pull your shoe out freely. If your shoe sank in sand at the beach, you could easily pull your shoe back out since it is surrounded by free flowing air. However go towards the water’s edge and get your shoe stuck in the sand and once again it becomes difficult to pull out.

Worm castings when generated and stored correctly retain millions of aerobic microbes. In order for one to generate the best quality worm castings temperature comes into play since certain microbes you want to survive in the worm bin are active at ranges from 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  A reasonable temperature range to raise worms and produce premium worm castings is 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Think about his for a moment. During the main growing seasons throughout a majority of the world the ambient temperature ranges from 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and is when microbes are most active in your garden areas.

Here on our worm farm we maintain a controlled environment throughout the year maintaining a constant temperature of 78 degree.

A worm bin with bedding material which is not packed down should maintain a 30% moisture level at all times throughout the bed. If the same bedding material were packed the reading on a soil moisture meter would read approximately 70%. It is similar to soaking some paper in a bucket of water. Pick it up gently and squeeze and some water will run off. Allow it to lay in the palm of your hand then and it appears to be drier than if you were to squeeze firmly releasing additional water.

Issues also arrive when storing vermicast. When they are generated at 78 degrees Fahrenheit then stored outside during the winter at 20 degrees, many of the beneficial microbes are killed off since they cannot survive at these temperatures. Vermicast needs to be kept aerated, moistened at 30% moisture and stored in the ideal temperature range they were created in order to maintain maximum benefits.

Another issue of worm castings being stored outside is the fact that airborne contaminants come into play, i.e. unwanted seeds which will flourish in your garden.

When you go to buy worm castings and they are sold in sealed plastic bags or containers, no oxygen can penetrate. This renders the worm castings either useless or harmful allowing malicious anaerobic microbes to take over.

For example let’s assume you go to a local county fair and one of your kids wins a goldfish, which by the way is aerobic. You take your prize home in a sealed plastic bag half filled with water and the other half filled with air, place it on a shelf and forget about it. The goldfish will be fine for several days, however by the end of the week it will be belly up and you will have some explaining to do to the kids!

This is why Organic Worm Farm offers worm castings which have been stored correctly and shipped in breathable bags.

Another issue with buying worm castings is the fact that many are produced from waste such as vegetable scraps which include seeds. Being the worm bins cannot be heated as ordinary compost bin without frying the worms, these seeds can sprout within and around your potted plants, vegetable and flower gardens… This is why we have worked and tried to perfect the 14 Day Worm Castings process where one does not use vegetable scraps, manure or any other items which could end up contaminating the worm castings, hence eliminating sprouting of unwanted seeds around your prized possession.

Bruce

The original worm harvester was running a motor of 3,500 RPM’s which I modified for additional vibration, when I noticed a pile of small fragments in the light. Upon taking the motor apart I had found the shaft was wearing down. Hence with the speed of the motor, this could eventually lead to a serious health hazard!

Since so many have been emailing asking for the worm harvester plans, I decided to build one based off a manual design I built for a local couple here in South Carolina which would be much safer.

The new design encompasses a trommel style which still utilizes two different screen sizes for my purposes. It runs smooth and is much quieter than the shaker style worm harvester.

Another benefit to the newer model is the fact it is simpler to build and does not require some higher end tools to be used during the build process.

This model can be used to harvest worms and worm castings as well as a compost sifter for your garden soil mixes.

I am currently working on the plans for this new model and will have them available very soon. Sign up for the Worm Composting Newsletter if you are not already since I will be announcing in there as soon as I have finished them up.

The video below illustrates some of the basics to the worm harvester. It is also broken down to show how the machine will screen composted materials and sift down the different sized materials. The last part shows how the harvester will harvest worms, cocoons and worm castings into different bins.

Enjoy,

Bruce

Before I begin with the instructions, you can purchase a ready made worm farm from a variety of manufacturers which will run you in the neighborhood of $60.00 to $140.00. I do not offer any of these units as from my own personal experience they are not designed correctly and advertise leachate (runoff from bins that are too wet) as worm tea. Worm tea is usually totally different than the leachate from the type of microbes (aerobic versus anaerobic) in each to the number of microbes…

I spent less than $25.00 for the materials to build this worm farm.

Materials and Tools Needed:

3 – Rubbermaid style bins and lids ( 10 gallon – 18 gallon)

4 –Tupperware style storage containers with lids (approx. 4” tall).

1 – Tape measure or ruler

2-3 Gallon bucket of Sphagnum Peat Moss

1 – Tablespoon of agricultural lime, ground up egg shells or ashes from some hard woods.

5 Gallon Bucket of dry Shredded newspaper and or cardboard.

1 – Drill

1 – 3/16” Drill bit

1 – 1/8” Drill bit

1-2 Pounds or composting worms (preferred worm for this method is the red wiggler)

The first step is to take two of the Rubbermaid style bins and drill holes approximately 3” apart on the entire surface area of the bottom using a 3/16” drill bit. These holes are for aeration and NOT for drainage. As I mentioned earlier, if you are getting liquids draining from your worm bin you are too wet and not only can kill off worms but invite unwanted bugs as well. For the sake of keep this from becoming confusing, I will reference these two Rubbermaid type bins as bin 1 and bin 2

Next you can use the 1/8” drill bit to drill holes around the sides all the way around, towards the top of bin 1 and bin 2, approximately 1” apart. These are additional aeration holes.

Now use the 1/8” drill bit to drill holes in one of the lids of the bins approximately 5” apart on the entire surface area.

Next measure the height of your Tupperware type containers when laid in the third bin (lay in upside down with lids attached to each for stability). For instance, the small storage containers I used in these plans were 4” high. I then measured one inch less inside the third Rubbermaid type bin (we’ll call this one bin 3) from the bottom up. Using this height as a guide, I drilled 3/16” holes approximately 3” apart making sure to stay below the four inch height of my storage containers. This will enable air to pass under bin 1 or bin 2 when placed on top of the four Tupperware style containers. In short, notice the Tupperware style containers are taller than the line of aeration holes inside bin 3.

Here I am suggesting some pre-dampened Sphagnum Peat Moss on your first worm bin. After your initial bin, you will want to use some of the existing bedding material from the previous bin as it will already be loaded with microbes however one must start somewhere! The purpose here is to create a comfort zone for your red wigglers. Many times people ask why their worms are trying to escape in their new setup. This will assist in keeping your worms happy while they adjust to their new surroundings!

You will only do this in bin 1. Simply place bin 2 aside for now as I will explain later.

Prior to dampening the Sphagnum Peat, add one tablespoon of agricultural lime, ash or eggshells and mix thoroughly as it is much easier dry than when dampened. Allow your damp peat to sit overnight to ensure it does not dry out since the peat acts like a slow absorbent sponge. If needed add additional moisture…

Dampen some shredded newspaper and or cardboard and place on top.

Once the bedding is set, begin to add your food scraps to one corner of the worm composting bin by digging out a small area, placing your food scraps and covering with peat. By covering you will help to eliminate odors as well as some unwelcome pests!

If top feeding with a product such as Purina Worm Chow, simply sprinkle a small amount on the surface area.

Now release your worms right on top and leave the top off and keep your worm compost bin in a room with a light on until the worms work down into the newspaper and cardboard. Place the lid on the top bin and you have now setup your worm farm!

Once your food and bedding has been composted by the worms, usually three to four months, you are ready to setup bin 2 as you did with worm bin 1 with the exception of replacing the Sphagnum Peat with a little of your existing worm bedding material (from bin 1… use enough to make 1″ to 2″ thick bedding). Once completed, lift the top off worm bin 1 and place bin 2 on top. Now place the lid on worm bin 2. Allow to sit for 3 to 4 weeks giving enough time for most of your worms to migrate upwards into bin 2.

Now remove bin 1 and 2. replace bin 2 back on top of your four Tupperware type containers and place lid on top.

You are now ready to harvest the vermicompost from bin 1 to use on your plants!

Repeat this process on a continuous basis.

Bruce

First off, let me tell you right out of the starting gate, having your own successful worm farm is a lot of work! Some folks have the impression it is easy and not very time consuming. I personally work online and offline about 70 to 80 hours a week. Now this can be started as a part time business, however to have a larger farm does require attention to detail daily!

Is it worth it? Yes, in fact most others I have helped have the same enthusiasm I have and the more you learn about worms the more you want to learn!

Others ask why I would help others compete with myself. Simple answer is the fact that there is plenty of room for reputable worm farmers online as well as competition is healthy for any business!

To get online is actually easier and more economical than many believe. You need not know any programming, HTML but rather point and click and upload your own images if you choose if you know where to go.

The first item is selecting a domain name. I recommend you select something utilizing keywords such as “red wigglers” or “worms” in the domain name you choose for search engine optimization if you are looking to get into the worm business. If you are looking into another business, look for keywords to include in your domain associated with such.

I even know of some people that register their own names or family names and post family photos… to share with friends and family around the globe.

The site we register our domain names as well as use their shopping cart for our customer’s security is Order Your Domain, which offers the lowest prices and best products. The best domain extension to register is a .COM however I do personally own a couple .INFO and .NET extensions

Next you need to be able to build a website, which is where WebSite Tonight comes into play. You can actually have your web site up and running within a matter of an hour or so. They offer loads of templates to choose from, allow you to enter your own text and images to personalize your web site.

Lastly you need a secure shopping cart. The one I actually switched to and still use for Organic Worm Farm after trying others that the emails got hacked from the database is Quick Shopping Cart. Again it is simple to setup and use while insuring the security of your customers.

Lastly, if you do not already have a PayPal account, you can set one up for free so as to accept credit cards and PayPal payments as well as accept checks or money orders.

These are the basic affordable tools you need to get yourself up and running online in your own worm farm or other business.

Don’t forget to order worms in bulk to save money to begin raising them while having enough on hand to start selling some off at a profit!

Bruce

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

]]> http://wormcompostingblog.com/worm-compost-bins/how-to-build-a-flow-through-worm-bin/feed/ 61 http://wormcompostingblog.com/raising-worms/difference-between-worm-tea-and-leachate/ http://wormcompostingblog.com/raising-worms/difference-between-worm-tea-and-leachate/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:02:15 +0000 Bruce http://wormcompostingblog.com/?p=100 To get the answer we need a basic understanding of how composting actually works.

Composting is actually trying to stabilize unstable organic matter and storing the nutrients for immediate or future use.

Usually in nature, organic matter is decomposed in thin layers such as leaves in the woods or the grass clippings in your lawn. Being the layer is thin, the organic matter is penetrable by oxygen and aerobic organisms come to play. These are the good guys hence usually a balanced compost for the environment.

When we compost, with or without worms, we tend to pile up the organic matter which makes it difficult for oxygen to penetrate hence anaerobic organisms take over. Yes these are the bad guys. Anaerobic organisms are what take over a landfill, hence why they must be lined to prevent harmful runoff to protect surrounding soil and water sources!

When we manage decomposition, such as a worm bin or worm farm, decomposition takes place in three stages for the most active microorganisms.

Phsychrophilic bacteria begins to process at temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit

Mesophilic bacteria, the fastest decomposers process between 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit

Thermophilic bacteria come into play at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit

When managing decomposition, we pay attention to the carbon (newspaper, cardboard…) to nitrogen (vegetable scraps, grass clippings…) ratio as well as moisture and oxygen.

Composting with worms is a more controlled method of basic composting as well as speeds up the process. You maintain a constant temperature which enables the most active bacteria, Mesophilic to take over. Worms move through the organic matter helping to aerate the decaying matter as well as making smaller particles of the decaying matter, hence leaving more surface area for beneficial microbes to work on.

If the moisture content gets to high, usually above 80%, the decaying matter becomes compacted, the same way the landfill does. This is when the worm bin can begin to change over to those nasty anaerobic organisms which can be harmful to your worms and even begin killing them off.

Once the moisture content begins to rise even more, the decaying matter releases a liquid called leachate. You will see many websites refer to this as worm tea, which it is not!

Worm tea is derived by brewing worm castings which are full of aerobic microorganisms. This process is done by aerating the worm castings, water and unsulphured molasses for approximately 48 hours in order to explode the aerobic microbe population.

Leachate is usually the opposite, full of anaerobic organisms.

If you are getting a little leachate from your worm farm or worm bin, try adding several inches of dry shredded newspaper on top and place the lid on it. This will absorb a little of the moisture. If you are getting a lot of leachate, it might be time to remake the bedding for your friends!

Now that you understand the process you can probably understand why I have an issue with a few things.

First, all the websites selling worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom which they advertise as a worm tea dispenser, when in reality it is leachate which can be harmful to your worms and plants. Put it this way, it is not doing your worms or plants any good if you are getting leachate from your worm farm.

Secondly, there are many websites as well as listings on EBay offering bottled worm tea and bagged worm castings in resealable plastic bags. As you might realize by now, cutting off the oxygen in either of these two sealed products kills off the aerobic microbes and produces anaerobic microbes. So in reality, you are spending your hard earned money on something which can be detrimental to your plants.

So to answer a number of emails I receive every week, this is why Organic Worm Farm does not sell the worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom, bottled worm tea or worm castings in resealable bags. They only offer worm castings and worm tea bags which are shipped in breathable bags via Priority Mail since you are dealing with live microbes.

Hope this helps you understand the basics a little better and why it is important to avoid leachate from draining out of your bin.

Bruce Galle

Also known as “The Worm Expert“ writes informative articles to assist others raising worms. For information regarding ordering an array of red worms, worm castings and worm food visit Organic Worm Farm.

Now there are more extravagant formulas, one which will be available online in the near future, however if you are anxious to try something the following will prove beneficial.

First, I feed my worms what my mother fed me that she claims made me so tall, greens! I do mix them up and limit starches such as bread and potatoes. I also refrain from using tomatoes and other high acidic fruits and vegetables.

I realize other sites will tell you that worms love coffee grinds, and they do, however if you add too much your bin will end up becoming acidic. Just as most of us were told growing up, anything is good in moderation.

For my trophy worms I use for fishing, I actually use a blender to liquefy the ingredients. Afterwards I mix in a little spent coffee grinds as well as peat moss to thicken the mixture. Now don’t go making it like a thick mud but rather just enough to keep the liquid from running off or ponding in your mix. Remember to allow it to sit in your garage or outside covered up for about 24 hours as the peat moss will continue to draw up the moisture.

Now one thing I do for the trophy worms is to freeze my mix as this modifies the molecular structure enabling the mix to break down even faster for quick consumption by the worms when I do feed them. Just be sure to thaw it out and warm up to room temperature before adding to your bin.

The Simplest Advanced Grain Formula Mix You Can Make:

As with any grain mix, sprinkle on top and even mist with some water. I personally leave my fishing worm bins uncovered; hence I place some moist shredded newspaper over my grain. Be consistent on feeding the grain as needed whether once a day or once every couple days.

The recipe:

2 Cups Oatmeal

1 Cup Cornmeal

1 Dozen Egg Shells

Many websites state you need to cook your eggs with the shells in order to use in your worm bin. I have never had an issue by rinsing cracked egg shells than have not been cooked with warm water thoroughly. Allow them to dry out well.

Add the egg shells to you blender and pulverize them to a powdery mix. Slowly add your other ingredients. You may need to shake the blender or rattle it back and forth as this is a dry mixture in order to continue mixing and breaking down to a powdery mix.

There are other formulas which will enable faster growth, without hormone shots which I will introduce in a couple weeks.

For now enjoy the site and sign up for the free worm composting newsletter if you have not already done so as well as the Organic Worm Farm Affiliate Program!

Bruce

When looking around online you will notice something peculiar. Many websites use the same images for their red worm photos.  Usually this would mean they are using a worm broker, hence they do not raise worms themselves or they simply have opted, with or without permission to use the pictures of the original photographer for their own website.

Now let me break this down as this can be relevant when ordering your worms.

First, how do they know the quality of the worms they are offering if not raising themselves? This also breaks down further to the information they offer on their websites as to how to raise red worms. Many sites offer inaccurate information concerning how to raise red composting worms, most likely because they do not raise them and have simply duplicated information they read on another website.

The game telephone comes to mind here that we all played at one time or another as youngsters.

One very common example of this is the little spigot offered on many “Worm Factory” type bins available online. I cannot tell you how many websites inform you this will drain “worm tea” from the bottom of the bin to spray on your plants. In reality this is not worm tea, but rather referred to as “leachate“.  This only develops when your worm bin is to wet. Usually it smells and will actually harm your plants. Even when it does not smell, applying too much will kill your plants!

Unlike leachate, worm tea brewed from worm castings will not hurt or damage your plants no matter how much you use. The trick is to use it soon after it is brewed, usually within 24 hours if not used immediately.

On the latter previously mentioned concerning use of another pictures, all I can say if they are that lazy, I am not sure I want to order worms from them… would you?

Another funny thing that comes to mind is going to a restaurant to order some lunch… OK worms and lunch may not mix… and ordering something on the menu for the picture of it looks real good.  How many times has your food been delivered looking nothing like the picture on the menu?

This holds true for many of the websites offering red worms as well.

The pictures used on Organic Worm Farm are those of actual orders being shipped off to clients. These were not setup for a photo opts but rather the average size worms which are delivered to the customer’s doorstep with consistency.

In short, be sure to purchase your red worms from a reputable worm farm as there are a few good ones however they are outnumbered by the not so reputable dealers. One reputable website to order worms from is Organic Worm Farm as they deliver top notch worms with consistency again and again.