Show me your worm bins and compost

[loco41]

Also, have a bunch of old logs and "rotted" wood with some nice fungal growth on them. A lot of them are broken down on the underside into finer good looking mulch/compost. Im assuming these would be great additions to the bins as well? I plan on moving these and utilizing them in some way, the unbroken down solid parts, and continuing the row of bins on the same plots as before.

Sorry for the continuous posts on this thread, just super excited to see other people who are interested in composting as well. I generally get looked at strangely when talking about it to friends, so I have restricted myself to online sources for conversing about it.

 

[NewGrower2011]

How do you folks manage your worm bins to proactively do what you can to prevent them from introducing undesirable pests? In reading many threads I noted at least one where the discussion turned into 'what type of mite' was in the bin (good ones versus the dreaded ones). That led me to think about how would I go about identifying the risks and any action I could take to proactively prevent introducing something to the indoors (bin is in garage but near other growing media/tools/containers/amendments/etc).

 

[Achillesactual]

How do you folks manage your worm bins to proactively do what you can to prevent them from introducing undesirable pests? In reading many threads I noted at least one where the discussion turned into 'what type of mite' was in the bin (good ones versus the dreaded ones). That led me to think about how would I go about identifying the risks and any action I could take to proactively prevent introducing something to the indoors (bin is in garage but near other growing media/tools/containers/amendments/etc).

The idea of pest management in a worm bin is moot. Diversity in your bin is good, and no one that can thrive in your bin consumes living plant tissue as such everything that will thrive in it will be a "good guy". I have multiple types of mites, springtails, potworms, isopods and redwigglers. I want to find a way to introduce pseudoscorpions into the mix just for the fuck of it.

 

[DankTankerous]

How do you folks manage your worm bins to proactively do what you can to prevent them from introducing undesirable pests? In reading many threads I noted at least one where the discussion turned into 'what type of mite' was in the bin (good ones versus the dreaded ones). That led me to think about how would I go about identifying the risks and any action I could take to proactively prevent introducing something to the indoors (bin is in garage but near other growing media/tools/containers/amendments/etc).

From my understanding as long as you keep your bin favorable, everything will stay. @Achillesactual is right you do want biodiversity, however feed every 4-5 days in small handfuls to interrupt gnat fly life cycle. As crazy as this is, I keep my Worm Bin in my bedroom, no smell,no escapees.

 

[ShLUbY]

From my understanding as long as you keep your bin favorable, everything will stay. @Achillesactual is right you do want biodiversity, however feed every 4-5 days in small handfuls to interrupt gnat fly life cycle. As crazy as this is, I keep my Worm Bin in my bedroom, no smell,no escapees.

i don't think it's crazy at all

 

[loco41]

From my understanding as long as you keep your bin favorable, everything will stay. @Achillesactual is right you do want biodiversity, however feed every 4-5 days in small handfuls to interrupt gnat fly life cycle. As crazy as this is, I keep my Worm Bin in my bedroom, no smell,no escapees.

I do the same thing and keep them in my bedroom as well. Worst issue I ever have is a random scraggler falling off the lid every so often. Sometimes I see it, other times they die on the floor within inches of the bin.

I'm not sure if this has been touched on in this thread already, but what kind of grain/oat are you guys feeding your worm? Or do you not put those in for a specific reason? I read somewhere not too long ago, but I think it was something I was missing, that the protein in grain helps the worms with reproduction and overall growth/health. I may have misquoted this, but would love some feedback on this topic.

 

[Achillesactual]

From my understanding as long as you keep your bin favorable, everything will stay. @Achillesactual is right you do want biodiversity, however feed every 4-5 days in small handfuls to interrupt gnat fly life cycle. As crazy as this is, I keep my Worm Bin in my bedroom, no smell,no escapees.

I dig a ditch in my bin and fill that ditch. I'm lazy with feeding so I feed like 10 cups worth at a time and just cover it with castings.

I do the same thing and keep them in my bedroom as well. Worst issue I ever have is a random scraggler falling off the lid every so often. Sometimes I see it, other times they die on the floor within inches of the bin.

I'm not sure if this has been touched on in this thread already, but what kind of grain/oat are you guys feeding your worm? Or do you not put those in for a specific reason? I read somewhere not too long ago, but I think it was something I was missing, that the protein in grain helps the worms with reproduction and overall growth/health. I may have misquoted this, but would love some feedback on this topic.

You are completely correct about them needing a source of protein for optimal growth and reproductive rate. I add rolled oats to my blender when I'm blending up a batch of worm gloup. Don't use too much or it will "sour" the bin. I add one cup of oats to every 7 cups of blended down vegetables gloup.

 

[loco41]

I dig a ditch in my bin and fill that ditch. I'm lazy with feeding so I feed like 10 cups worth at a time and just cover it with castings.

You are completely correct about them needing a source of protein for optimal growth and reproductive rate. I add rolled oats to my blender when I'm blending up a batch of worm gloup. Don't use too much or it will "sour" the bin. I add one cup of oats to every 7 coups of blended down vegetables gloup.

Thank you for the fast response. I have recently started doing just a dusting of oatmeal over the top of my entire bin either right before or right after a big vege/fruit feeding. I have only blended my feed a couple of times. Do you think this is must do for speeding up the process?

I tend to just throw fresh fruit/vegetable scraps in there as I am consuming them, most goes into the compost pile but the rest goes straight into the bin roughly twice a week. I generally just check in every couple days and see how the last batch is going and feed either the compost or bin accordingly. I sometimes feed small doses of alfalfa and neem/karanja, but try to do that sparingly since the other inputs are seemingly endless. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks about what kind of food the worms like while shopping, but eating healthier or at least being more conscious is a perk in itself, let alone the top notch end product.

 

[Achillesactual]

Thank you for the fast response. I have recently started doing just a dusting of oatmeal over the top of my entire bin either right before or right after a big vege/fruit feeding. I have only blended my feed a couple of times. Do you think this is must do for speeding up the process?

I tend to just throw fresh fruit/vegetable scraps in there as I am consuming them, most goes into the compost pile but the rest goes straight into the bin roughly twice a week. I generally just check in every couple days and see how the last batch is going and feed either the compost or bin accordingly. I sometimes feed small doses of alfalfa and neem/karanja, but try to do that sparingly since the other inputs are seemingly endless. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks about what kind of food the worms like while shopping, but eating healthier or at least being more conscious is a perk in itself, let alone the top notch end product.

I think that freezing it as it accumulates then thawing it and blending it is super helpful for breaking things down quickly. My castings are completely fluffy and composed of small particulates. no need to screen.
I would be careful about how much alfalfa you add, you don't want your castings to be too high in nitrogen. You are going for a balance.

It's funny I always justify food waste is saying that the worms will enjoy it.

 

[DankTankerous]

I think that freezing it as it accumulates then thawing it and blending it is super helpful for breaking things down quickly. My castings are completely fluffy and composed of small particulates. no need to screen.
I would be careful about how much alfalfa you add, you don't want your castings to be too high in nitrogen. You are going for a balance.

It's funny I always justify food waste is saying that the worms will enjoy it.

Yeah too much Alfalfa will get the soil too hot for the worms

 

[loco41]

I think that freezing it as it accumulates then thawing it and blending it is super helpful for breaking things down quickly. My castings are completely fluffy and composed of small particulates. no need to screen.
I would be careful about how much alfalfa you add, you don't want your castings to be too high in nitrogen. You are going for a balance.

It's funny I always justify food waste is saying that the worms will enjoy it.

Nice, ill definitely cut out the alfalfa meal from the worm bin. I do have a bunch of chopped up pumpkins in big freezer bags that I just got a few weeks ago. Ill for sure plan on blending those up and seeing the speed they go through that as opposed to just a rough chop. I like the idea of being able to blend the oats in, especially in such a controlled portion to the veggie scraps. Thank you for that. I did just sprinkle roughly a tablespoon of oats on my bin with some finished vermicompost just to make sure it's still in good condition since its been sitting for over 4 months. Tons of mycellium growth on them after just two days, which is always nice to see.

Lastly, are you guys adding rock dusts to your compost bins outside? I just turned mine, moistened it some, and added some basalt I had leftover from my last batch of soil I made. It wasn't much, two cups tops. Just looking to see if this would even have noticeable effects and was even worth the effort to add dusts to the piles.

 

[DankTankerous]

Nice, ill definitely cut out the alfalfa meal from the worm bin. I do have a bunch of chopped up pumpkins in big freezer bags that I just got a few weeks ago. Ill for sure plan on blending those up and seeing the speed they go through that as opposed to just a rough chop. I like the idea of being able to blend the oats in, especially in such a controlled portion to the veggie scraps. Thank you for that. I did just sprinkle roughly a tablespoon of oats on my bin with some finished vermicompost just to make sure it's still in good condition since its been sitting for over 4 months. Tons of mycellium growth on them after just two days, which is always nice to see.

Lastly, are you guys adding rock dusts to your compost bins outside? I just turned mine, moistened it some, and added some basalt I had leftover from my last batch of soil I made. It wasn't much, two cups tops. Just looking to see if this would even have noticeable effects and was even worth the effort to add dusts to the piles.

You don’t have to completely take out Alfalfa but just be mindful

 

[Goldrunfarms]

compost is one of my hobbies and is included in my chicken keeping. they are my compost machines. I make big hot piles and when they cool I put whole grain to sprout in there for them to encourage working the piles. they love the worms, isopods and sprouts

 

[loco41]

compost is one of my hobbies and is included in my chicken keeping. they are my compost machines. I make big hot piles and when they cool I put whole grain to sprout in there for them to encourage working the piles. they love the worms, isopods and sprouts View attachment 4249627 View attachment 4249628 View attachment 4249629

that's my dream right there, nice work. I have a lot more land to play with now on my new property, but don't think I can get chickens just quite yet. I would love to find someone with a lot of rabbits and start acquiring all the rabbit manure I can get. I have a 4 bin system made out of old wooden skids at the moment, but would love to incorporate some rabbit manure into them and see how that works out. I just now loaded them up with leaves and grass clippings all mixed together from the years of piling that happened on the back line of the property. I should learn how to post pictures so I could get some input on what I have going now and what/where people see room for improvement.

Also, anyone into making their own biochar? I've been looking into the kon tiki system and thinking about attempting to make my own if feasible or getting a quote from a metal shop and see what they could do.

 

[Wetdog]

I do the same thing and keep them in my bedroom as well. Worst issue I ever have is a random scraggler falling off the lid every so often. Sometimes I see it, other times they die on the floor within inches of the bin.

I'm not sure if this has been touched on in this thread already, but what kind of grain/oat are you guys feeding your worm? Or do you not put those in for a specific reason? I read somewhere not too long ago, but I think it was something I was missing, that the protein in grain helps the worms with reproduction and overall growth/health. I may have misquoted this, but would love some feedback on this topic.

Might you be thinking of chicken laying mash/crumbles? It's something I picked up from bait worm farmers. Pretty much corn meal with added Calcium and kicks up both size and reproduction. At less than $15 for a 50lb bag, (usually ~$12), it's certainly cheap as .....

Wet

 

[DankTankerous]

Can anybody tell me what the hell this is? I don’t think it’s a roach... this one has been in the box for a couple of months and stayed the same size, today I saw two more the same size. I’ll try and get a better picture but it’s elusive

 

[DankTankerous]

Yeah it’s a cockroach, I’m in contact with the folks who gave it to and i’ll Determine what to do with it. I really loved those worms, and I don’t want to get rid of it. Who knows maybe i’ll become an insect frass guy. On to bigger and better things

 

[ShLUbY]

Some well aged castings in a bin that i've needed to harvest for quite some time now. These look and smell great! Gonna bait the worms to the surface with some avocado and harvest these castings and get some new bedding going for them.

 

[loco41]

Some well aged castings in a bin that i've needed to harvest for quite some time now. These look and smell great! Gonna bait the worms to the surface with some avocado and harvest these castings and get some new bedding going for them.

View attachment 4250889

Looks nice, what bedding do you use for your bins? Do you use similar aeration methods as to when building a soil? I started my first bin with coco, but have switched over to just using lightly amended peat to buffer acidity, mainly just oyster shell and some rock dust, and a few handfuls of some bokashi mixed in to start. I like to use rice hulls in the bin for aeration and figure that some break down and add silica (could be mixing some things up I read, but thought I saw they are rich in silica when decomposed) in the castings too. There tends to be a fair amount of pumice in the bin as well, since i add a couple scoops of some sitting or semi "cooked" soil with every other feeding or so.

 

[ShLUbY]

Looks nice, what bedding do you use for your bins? Do you use similar aeration methods as to when building a soil? I started my first bin with coco, but have switched over to just using lightly amended peat to buffer acidity, mainly just oyster shell and some rock dust, and a few handfuls of some bokashi mixed in to start. I like to use rice hulls in the bin for aeration and figure that some break down and add silica (could be mixing some things up I read, but thought I saw they are rich in silica when decomposed) in the castings too. There tends to be a fair amount of pumice in the bin as well, since i add a couple scoops of some sitting or semi "cooked" soil with every other feeding or so.

peat, dead leaves and pumice are my bedding. no more than like 15% pumice. I add layers of outdoor compost with a TBSP of various amendments when building the fresh bedding. It's good to enrich your compost a bit with amendments every now and then. I just add a TBSP or two with food scraps every now and then. Also use dolomite lime in the bedding mix for buffer. going to start adding oats to the feeding regiment as well.