6 replies to this topic

[William. T]

I have had a worm bin before. It's a project my family wants to do. I had ordered some "red wigglers" before, but a lot of them jumped out through the tiniest holes that seemed impossible. Winter came, and the worms died. I know now that they were really the Indian Blue worm, an invasive worm that really is hard to keep from not escape, cannot tolerate the cold, and outcompeted red wigglers. I know many suppliers have these mixed in. I'm restarting the project, with an Worm Factory Worm Bin. A lot of the major suppliers, like Uncle Jim, have blue worms mixed inside their wigglers. The novices don't know, but the experienced reviewers can tell. I'm leaning on European night crawlers, since they are supposedly raised in colder bins, have no blue worms. Also, they make great fishing bait, and their composting ability is second to the red wiggler. I would choose the red wiggler first, but it's hard to find genuine stocks of these.  

[dermy]

Well I'm not an expert but if you cannot find a realiable source of Red Wigglers your next best worm choice would be European Night-Cralwers, do not get Canadian ones, those will not work for Vermicomposting. They are bigger then Red Wigglers and may "burrow" deeper then Reds but they are the second best choice for worms, as far as I know they aren't invasive and as long as your bin conditions are good they will stay in the bin. I feel like that may be the reason for your mass escape with the last batch. The main thing with starting out is not to over-feed the worms, this can cause the conditions in the bin to turn acidic, which worms hate. Always provide some bedding with feedings, something like card-board shredded up, or shredded up newspaper, don't use white office paper, esp. not on a new bin. Make sure your "processing" your food waste, don't just throw whatever into the bin, as it can cause problems. Here is what I do for my Worms:

 

1- Chop it up as best you can

2- Freeze it

3- Take some dry bedding, put it underneath the "feeding" drop in some of the food [will depend on the amount of worms, definitely start out small, then work your way up don't add in pounds at a time]

4- Cover it up with bedding! [important step in preventing gnats and stuff, esp. with Freezing]

 

What can really help speed up things is some form of natural compost, something from an outdoor compost bin [as long as it's earthy smelling] is good, it will add very important "microbes" which new bins will not have much of.

 

If you need any more help feel free to ask

[William. T]

Blue worms always outcompete Red Wigglers, I read. Many of the big worm farms have them inside their stocks, and because the temperature is warm to maximize breeding, the blue worms survive. Where do you buy your worms? I am thinking of getting European Nightcrawlers, and I am deciding with either the Worm Factory brand or using Tupperware tubs. 

[antmaniac]

I happen to come across this pill bug farming idea somewhere. couldn't find the actual link but I find something similar. http://www.arachnobo...ly-poly-farming

[dermy]

I happen to come across this pill bug farming idea somewhere. couldn't find the actual link but I find something similar. http://www.arachnobo...ly-poly-farming

 To be completely honest [and trust me I know from first hand experience] Isopods aren't the best option Isopods do not convert the level of materials that worms would. Not only that but the amount of Isopods that you need to do even a small amount of food waste is not something that can be bought cheaply [unless there are suppliers but I doubt that]

I'm assuming William wants to Compost his kitchen wastes [which can add up to a lot] so Worms would be the way to go, worms will eat about their body weight in food every 3 or so days [some claim every 24hrs but no that's not really true, especially not in a new Composting system which doesn't have the Microbes and such that older mature bins will have]

 

Now I'm not saying Isopods are in anyway "bad" [I do run a simple Isopod Composting System, and let me tell you they are fun and pretty cool to watch them eat food waste!]

 but just not really ready, there is still much that needs to be learned about their Composting ways, how to get them to grow to higher population densities and how their Compost adds up compared to Worm Castings.

[William. T]

Yeah, worms are very industrious. I would like to compost kitchen wastes. Where did you buy your worms from? I'm leaning on getting tubs instead of Worm Factories, because a tub is cheap, but much more work.

[dermy]

Tubs are a great way to get into it, cheap to get and pretty easy to make [for the most part]

 

I've never boughten worms, I just so happen to get lucky and the worms i found worked [don't do that though, most worms you find won't work!]

 

 

I'm sorry I can't help you much with the supplier