Building a 3-bucket worm bin Step-by-Step!
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- One of the ways to compost during winter is by constructing and using a worm bin. This video shows you how to make a 3-bucket system for getting the most soil fertility on a small scale you can easily use in your own home!
One of the hardest things about vermicomposting is separating the castings from the worms when harvesting. This 3-bin method makes it super easy!
Learn how to find compost worms in your yard and garden to populate your worm bin for free! Another video will be coming out in the spring when the weather warms up! So be sure to subscribe!
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Thank you for your video and sharing knowledge. Can you share what food not to feed them. Thank you!
Citrus, meat, oils from what I've been told.
Thanks for this great idea!
I think hot glue would be much easier and less messy than using adhesive caulk. Hot glue is thermoplastic and essentially the same material as the plastic bucket, no outgassing and it cools and holds quickly with no long wait for curing and easy to clean up or make quick repairs.
I think it would have been helpful to add bucket rotation details to the end summary. Here is my thoughts on how this would work.
After adding the third bucket you wait long enough for worms to migrate into the new feeder bucket ( average time? )
Remove the top feeder bucket with the worms
Remove the bucket with screen, now full of castings and dump out castings for use in the garden.
Dump the contents of the feeder bucket into the screened bucket and start over adding the top bucket again when the food is exhausted in the screen bucket
Thanks for the idea!
Do you put the frozen food as is in the bin or let it sit to room temp. ? If no egg carton, can make cups out of toilet paper rolls , just thinking out of the box.
How long do you microwave your egg shells?
30 seconds
doesnt the mycrowave take the nutrients out of food?
Microwaving, and cooking, changes the forms of nutrients like enzymes, amino acids, and proteins but it doesn't affect minerals in any appreciable way.
I appreciate that you review the chemical makeup of the food scraps (i.e., shrimp shells are silicone based and beneficial) sand explain the usefulness. Finally, a garden channel that talks science! Thanks.
The way I see it, the science that's useful is the science that teaches us how to co-exist with nature, not to manipulate it! There is a branch of science that seeks to manipulate it and I don't want to have anything to do with it!
I didnt know they like cardboard. When I have no leaves, I can add boxboard and stuff. That’s great. Mine are very fond of coffee grounds
That is awesome! A lot of people think the worms like the glue in the corrugated type. I do know that if you need to find more worms to establish a new bin, (when the weather's warm) all you have to do is lay down some sheets of corrugated cardboard on your soil, and you will find plenty of them under it in a short time!
Coffeegrounds is a "green" part of compostingredients, Nitrogen. Cardboard is a brown material, Carbon. In a compostbin we need a balance of C:N = 25:1
But I m not sure if wormbins work the same as a compostbin.
Sawdust is a nice brown material.
@@Misterdandamanify Actually... it doesn't work the same, even though the ingredients are mostly the same. You don't want your bin to heat up with the microbiology decomposing your materials, and you usually won't get that because there's not enough mass for it to heat up. From what I've learned, you should only give them enough "green" material for them to fully consume before adding more.
Boxboard that has any gloss to it has lead in it as far as I know. Magazine covers for example. I would stick with cardboard. I am also weary of newpaper ink. Maybe see if you can find out what your particular newspaper ink is made from by contacting the paper itself, or just buddy up to a business and get a carload of cardboard... Blue Dumpsters may be a browngoldmine😅😂!
This is what youtube is good for, we are all shooting for the best of the best, and help each other and learn continuously, and not give over all our cash to The Man... Big Ag... Shoddy companies posing and burning suckers like us, with plastic polluted bags of crapp.
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrowhow long does it take for the worms to move to the 3rd bucket completly
Thank you for telling us the details needed. You're the first to say what the reproductive rate would be in so many videos I've seen. Possibly 200 per each found. Brilliant! Thanks!
Actually... it wasn't me. It was by research done at the West Texas A and M University. Just remember that they say that that number is under optimal conditions!
Remember to protect your lungs when powdering egg shells. Wear a good filter mask.
I never open it up that quickly. I had to do it for the video. That doesn't usually happen. BUT you're right!
Composting worms are different from the regular earth worms, red wigglers is one composting variety from memory, best of luck 👍
Yes, thanks
That's true. Red wigglers do the composting. When I saw him throw in earthworms, I wondered if that was going to be a problem?
@@maryannn.1108 They weren't earthworms, even compost worms can live in the soil, how else could they find and inhabit my compost pile?
The earthworms will die if you add them to your red wiggler bins @@maryannn.1108
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow compost worms only live in soil if you specially feed and mulch them and keep them moist enough
Love your real life, practical and informative presentation. You’re a lucky man. No way my wife would let me film this in the kitchen. Lol
LOL! You need to get a new wife!
Finally, a good use for all the free buckets I find in dumpsters at work.
There's ALWAYS uses for them around the homestead!
Just make sure they're food grade ❤
Awesome video and instructions! I understand now why my attempts failed - I used the big plastic tub and they had WAY too much to eat. Within 2 weeks, they had moved out and into my cold compost pile in the corner garden. We were all very happy with that result but I wanted more castings and I will now begin again. Just didn't learn enough last time. THANKS
You're welcome! I did that video back in December, and I haven't fed them once since then! When I pull back the bedding, there are already a LOT of worms now. They're happy to eat the bedding at this point. Once they multiply more I'll start feeding them kitchen scraps that I've frozen first. I do that to kill any fruit fly eggs there may be hiding in my compost!
27:48 somehow I just had a flashback to Back to the Future here
Sir i am from Pakistan very nice explore worm nice knowledgeable post thank you so much👍
Buckets are great if you have problems retaining moisture in a worm bin, but I prefer totes because of the increased surface area. I have both stacking systems with holes between the levels as well as just regular totes with no holes and no lids. As you said, keep it simple - it doesn't have to be complicated!
~ Sandra
Awesome vid! I made a "worm bin" trashcan with barely any info and little interest about a month ago. The hellscape it turned into was foul, but I sifted through it for a few hours to grab as many worms+eggs as I could before leaving what was left in the sun/for the birds. Your video popped up and I happen to have tons of buckets for my actual hobby (mushrooms), so this worked great. I can definitely say this video sparked my interest in actually doing some worm farming! I did your exact set up and have a bucket setup chillin in the shade now. Excited to find out how fast these worms will go through my little egg carton snacks and multiply!
Thanks for commenting, keep us updated!
Great tip on pulvorizing egg shells!
People buy what they hoped was going to be high quality compost and or castings, and see plastic from banana peels, and bread tags, and random bits of whatever Mc Donalds toy was last month. And lots of it, not just an odd piece. Someone in a comment said their Dad forund 55 pieces of plastic in 1 handful of compost he bought.
I think I made my point. Thank you Sir. I saw your egg shell vid, and I uave an old coffee grinder sitting downstairs, so I grabbed it and immediately fed my composters hot\leaf mold, and an area where they come for food scraps I been tossing to see if they come. They do. I have a pile of castings about half a cup in the spot. I was crushing them up good like your demo, but hadnt known it was still too big for them. Thats the 2nd thing you taught me that others fly past, and miss the details in only a few short vids. I appreciate you Sir! We may not be experts, from University but, time tested, experience is priceless.
Hi Wes, thanks for taking the time to respond. I HATE seeing plastic in my garden/compost just as much as you do!
Some towns/municipalities are doing the right thing and recycling food scraps citywide, but there's no way someone is going to sit down and remove the labels off each of the bananas, the way we do!
The towns may give it away to their townspeople for free, in which it's better than NO compost for those who don't know how to make their own. Or they may sell it to the highest bidder, who will make it into the "high quality compost" you were talking about and sell it for a lower price than the REAL high quality compost!
The only way I judge the quality of compost is by looking at it under my microscope to see if it has all the beneficial fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and beneficial nematodes. If it has the right ratios of all that soil life, plus a nice loose structure and sweet smell, that's all I care about.
If the compost meets all those criteria, I can tolerate the plastic which is for the most part inert and will neither help nor hurt my garden soil.
What is FAR WORSE is a good looking compost that's either lacking soil life or too high in anaerobic bacteria and too little fungi. Usually, the free municipal compost has the worst of both worlds because the municipal workers are just doing their job, they're not going to go out and turn the piles every other day to ensure enough oxygen is going to get into the heap to prevent the overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria.
And they're definitely NOT going to wade through that anaerobic stinky decomposing matter looking for and removing pieces of plastic! For the most part, those workers have no idea how to properly make compost and the town managers can't let the workers take the time to do it properly!
On top of that, who knows how many prescription medicines, and other hazardous materials people can throw into their recycling bin! AND get yourself a microscope and learn how to use it. If you buy a bag of bad compost, spread it on your lawn, and use a different brand for your garden!
The bottom line... make your own if you can! If you can't, buy compost only from a company you can trust, like Coast of Maine, but always verify with microscopy!
But, yes I do... remove EVERY plastic label from EVERY banana and orange! I HATE plastic in my garden!
Never thought I'd see plastic throughout my compost and potting soil until it happened. Store bought was dead to me that day.
I’m of the understanding that the normal garden worm won’t be effective in a compost bin Are the worms your collecting escapee’s from another compost situation?
Hi Robyn, there are lots of different worms living in your soil and you just have to learn to recognize them. You're right that earthworms don't live in your compost bin. However, both earthworms and compost worms live in the soil. Otherwise, the compost worms wouldn't eventually get into your compost. They can't magically appear!
The best way to learn to recognize them is to dig around in a compost or manure pile and pick those for your bin, After a while you'll learn to recognize them easily!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you, it’s looking like a great day to get out there and do just that. Great idea, and great day to learn more about exactly what I have out there.
Could you make a video about sifting the castings? Thanks for making this video.
I'm planning on doing one about that in December. Be sure to subscribe and click the ALL bell so you will get the reminders when I put up the new video!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Thank you, I am looking forward to the video
Thank you so much! I have learned more in 2 videos than in the past year of catching videos on gardening. Especially how to process egg shells and how to make worm raising easily with this simple and very complete video. We appreciate all your hard work in making and editing this information, subjects that I needed to flesh out what little knowledge I have. 😀 Kudos to you and hopefully I will be able to employ much of what you have taught in this.
I appreciate that!
I have an old coffee grinder that I got at a garage sale and I grind the eggshells into powder and sprinkle it on top of the dirt
Thanks for the information. Did you say that the egg shells should be microwaved or oven baked prior to grinding in the blender? Also do you recommend using coir as a base soil mix since it has a neutral pH to begin with? Also how do you feel about adding gypsum and/or Calcium bicarb or carbonate powder to the mix to prevent acidification of the mixture? Now I'd like to offer you an idea in return. What about adding springtails and dwarf white isopods for coculture with the worms since they both consume mold and fungus thereby protecting the worms? I think that would help prevent one of the major problems with vericulture. I'm going to try that method since I raise both already. Also dolomite might be beneficial for the worms as well besides egg shells since it's both a grit and contains both calcium and magnesium which should be beneficial. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I'm not sure how I'll know if you respond as I've never written a RUclips comment before but I will try to see if you respond within the next week. Again thank you.
Oh one last comment. The buckets won't stick together due to a vacuum because of the holes you dilled in the bottom. They just stick because of the tight fit.
Hello Johnny, I microwave or Bake my eggshells to kill any salmonella bacteria that could be present, especially since We consume the powder. I presently don't add anything to the bins except the eggshell powder. I will consider what you said about the springtails and dwarf white isopods, but I don't know anything about them at all! But please subscribe and select notifications so we can have an ongoing dialog. Thanks for your help!
Thank you as well. I just found a bag of pulverized lime stone in my garage and it is a combination of calcite and dolomite as well as a very fine powder. That is a good substitute for egg shells without any concern for salmonella or even worse camplobacter which is arguably more common and just as bad as salmonella.
Here's another idea for a tweak on your 3 bucket method which is an improvement on the 3 bucket methods of others. Yours is very insightful and logical. How about for the lid use an old tee shirt or other cloth material to cover the exposed top bucket? You can always cut the center out of the lid and just use the ring for securing the cloth from sagging or falling in if that's a concern. It can be wet directly for retaining moisture as well.
About springtails and dwarf white isopods, they can be culture in pure culture very easily. Springtails do best on calcium bearing clay in a rectangular Tupperware container and kept very moist and fed yeast. Either nutritional, powder or baking yeast, doesn't matter. So people culture them on wet lump charcoal but the population density is much greater on clay. You'll have 10s of thousands in a month or so. I'd recommend temporate springtails rather than a tropical species. For dwarf white isopods, parthenogenic so in theory you only need one to start a colony. Same Tupperware container in a bedding of coir and oak leaf litter, boil first if collected, and feed them supplemental veggies or a little dog or cat food for protein, one or two kibbles only. Don't worry about mold since they eat that as well. I'm sure they will compete with the worms for organic matter but they don't eat much but they will address any mold/fungus problems as well. I've never shipped them before but I've received them via the mail and can offer you a starter culture if you like. They're also available through numerous online vendors. I also have plenty of the clay and coir and oak leaf litter, although I'm sure you do as well. I'm not sure how I can have you contact me, but if you think it's safe I can post my cell number or email address in this thread. Just lmk. I've also added about a half cup of play sand to my worm bedding since as. You point out very correctly, worms have gizzards and perhaps the lime stone isn't hard enough or lasts well for grinding and quartz stone maybe better. Anyway it's in there so I'll leave the choice up to the worms to make. I sell these products I mentioned wholesale to pet shops I work with for bioactive terrariums for dart frogs and some lizards. Most of this information comes from dart frog hobby websites and chat boards. I'm sure that you can Google all the information I've mentioned here. I'm raising red wiggers as reptile food but after learning from you I'll be saving my worm castings and tea for my lawn and garden and I'm sure that my banana trees will love it! Again thank you for your information and if there's anything I can help you with please don't hesitate. John
Loved the video. Another perfect way for me to get started. I thought the egg carton idea was genius. Watched the biochar series yesterday. Making a list of items I need and am so thrilled I am seeing a path to growing my soil fertility. My forever home is going to an ever more beautiful place for me, and the bugs, birds, soul, etc etc etc. Much gratitude to you, and blessings to your home.
Glad it was helpful!
Great ideas for the average family with practical stuff; thanks for the details of construction for all of us!!!
As the worms migrate up into the 3rd bucket there is no screen on the bottom of the 3rd bucket. When bucket number 3 becomes the middle bucket, how do you prevent the worms from falling into the bottom of the first bucket?
Dump that bucket into the one with the screens after you empty the castings out. Sorry, I failed to say that.
I am new to composting and ignorant of vermicomposting. If you would told a year ago I'd be handling worms like little babies I'd told you were crazy! Now I have a question: Is there anthing to entice the worms to migrate up? The first time the plan worked like a charm only because there was no babies or cocoons in that second bin. When I stopped feeding the top bin for two weeks, moved it to second position, I was now only feeding the top bin, after another 2 weeks I went to harvest the castings out of the second bin and it was FULL of babies and some adults which I had to sift out by hand. Not how I thought this would work. Suggestions?
Hello Sandy, welcome. You just have to wait longer after stopping feeding in the lower bin because it really isn't ready yet, there's still undigested matter in the bin, so you WANT them to finish their work.
This is especially true if you have coffee grounds in there because they look like worm castings, so just let them finish their work. That will give you higher-quality castings
When there's NO more food, they will leave. They have to, to survive. The best way to entice them up is to put a piece of rotting fruit, like a banana, on the very top of the top bin and they will migrate up to it!
Thank you for the info. How do you separate the eggs from the casting?
I don't. There are plenty so if some get into my potting soil I don't mind!
You strike me as an incredibly nice and compassionate human who is worn out and tired I’m assuming from all your hard work and I appreciate all that you teach as I’m doing my best to retain it all as I agree and am starting a worm business- castings- plant food - home worm farms and just yesterday I learned how biochar is going to be a big part of what we represent. Have you heard of the hammer head worm epidemic I’ve found some here omg it’s not the end of the world but people need to pay attention as they are spreading throughout parts of the United States and they are in a good and bad worm scenario they are plain evil and destructive as destroying beneficial worms along thier journey- please spread the word as I am trying to as well people should be aware🙏thanks again we’re lucky to have caring folks like yourself in our corner- one of the good humans😁👍😁💪🙏😇
Thanks Jon for bringing the hammerhead worm topic up. Here is one website (among many) that tells you what to do if you see one in your garden: www.bobvila.com/articles/hammerhead-worm/
When I sift my bin I have noticed that worms like to "nest" in my half egg shells. I call them "worm hammocks". I'm not worried about the worms metabolizing the shells for added calcium cause when I sift I end up pulverizing the the egg shells a bit. I do like the way this video grinds the egg shells to a power. I have hard well water so I'm never worries about calcium. But I you are there is a KNF preparation that uses an acid ( I think it's vinegar) to make the calcium in the shells bio- available.
I also have Heavy clay soil. So I like the chunky shells for added aggregate in the garden beds.
Thanks for the comment. I personally only use the Water Soluble Calcium (WCA) as a foliar spray during the flowering time because I prefer it NOT to be water soluble when I add it to the soil.
When you make WCA with vinegar, the acetic acid neutralizes the ALKALIZING EFFECT of the calcium in the shells.
I want the eggshell powder to neutralize the acids IN MY SOIL instead of the acids IN THE VINEGAR.
So I get the best of both worlds by doing it this way: I add calcium to my soil AND reduce soil acidity.
When you use WCA in your soil, you've already used up the alkalizing effect on the vinegar, and it no longer can reduce soil acidity.
The bottom line: if your soil is acidic, your acid soil will do the same thing (without the added work) and give you both benefits: additional calcium AND reduced acidity.
This only applies if your soil is acidic like mine in the Eastern US.
Here is an interesting study from the University of Illinois talking about the effectiveness of eggshell powder in your soil: extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2018-03-28-using-eggshells-garden-and-compost
7:17 get them free! Every dollar spent on new plastics in this world is one too many.
I've watched this video twice and I am missing a step. Bucket #1 is for catching liquid. Bucket #2 has holes, and screen (to keep worms from falling into bucket #1). Bucket #3 has holes for worms to pass through when #2 is full. Do you dump the worms back into #2 after they have migrated into #3? There is no screen in #3 or they wouldn't be able to get into it. Does #3 replace #2 or is it just used to move the worm to a fresh bucket?
1) Put new bedding and food into bucket #3 and stop feeding bucket #2.
2) Put bucket #3 resting on top of the castings in bucket #2
3) The worms will migrate up through the holes in bucket #3 in search of food leaving bucket #2 free of worms.
We are just starting our 5-gallon buckets system with 100 worms. We are going to put 50 in each bucket. Do we need to do anything except feed them for the next 6 months? Do we stir the soil up to give them enough oxygen, or are they OK without doing that? How will we know when there are too many worms for a bucket? Are you going to do a video on how yours are doing? How did they turn out? Thanks for the informative video!
That's a great start! I have about a thousand in my bucket since last winter when I started it. You should have WAY more than that if you take care of them over the winter!
I consolidated both of my bins into a single bucket and I got quite a bit of castings from it already. You'll know when you have too many for the bucket when it's just a mass of worms. One cup of worms is about a thousand, so when you get to about 2,000 you should consider dividing them further.
In addition to feeding them food scraps, you do have to keep the soil moist. I may give them a stir once in a while if it seems to be too soggy, but mostly I don't. I'll probably do a one-year follow-up video in December.
Please visit Worm Ohana in my recommended channels. Worms is all she does and I consider her to be the expert I look to! www.youtube.com/@wormohana
Dry your egg shells in the oven, not a microwave. The microwave destroys all good things in the egg shells. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Sir, from the Philippines
Just found your channel and I must say Wow! Excellent educator. Thank you for breaking things down at times so newbies can join in and learn.
❤😂 excellent thank You! Enjoyed learning how to set up properly! I notice the holes are much bigger better air circulation and more will try out i like the egg carton system i have them stacked up already interesting! Greeting from Ireland and well done!
Thanks for commenting. One thing I forgot to say about freezing the food prior to feeding it to the worms is that it will kill any fruit fly eggs that may be on it, especially the banana peels.
Thank you! So we’ll and clearly explained! I am going to try this and I will let u know how it goes.
thank you. I am inspired by the simple design. I think I can do this. lol. thanks again and look forward to more video's.
If we all do this, we can make an impact!
With all respect, but you make it soooooo complicated, my compost heap from pallets and contained a mass of worms. I put in there every thing, kitchen scraps, cartons, newspaper, leaves anything that will go down in time. Not covered, rain snow heat all have free access and it’s great compost including the free worms who love it, do not ask me where they come from they found it by themselves. After a year of putting everything on it I had the most fantastic compost in the world used in the garden and started all over again, beginning with cardboard bottom.
I do all of that too, but I want pure worm castings to add to my starting and potting mixes in late winter and early spring when there's still snow on the ground. This is the ONLY reason for us to have a worm bin. For people who can only grow in pots because they live in a city, this could be extremely important to their success in gardening, and in my opinion is a must-have!
I also have worms in a big container and also all over the garden, but I like this set up to collect the worm casting s.
I figured if you've got a practical way to make bio-char at home, you probably know a thing or two about worming.
Great video! I have red wigglers arriving next week. The bucket method seems workable.
One tip - consider playing the music for a shorter length of time and not while you are talking. Having music play while you talk makes it difficult to concentrate on what you are saying. I almost turned off the video thinking the music would play throughout the video.
Noted!
Your gonna have some spoiled worms on your hands . Every time you open the lit to feed them there gonna be dancing
I watch again an again you brief this awesome i like so much very teach great Sir👍👍👍
Very good description and the step by step instructions. Been thinking about growing my own strawberries and blueberries,blackberries, cucumbers. I did once got some but I feel shot of caring for them. Now I have a greenhouse will be much better for me to care for them. And wild like had came thru. Very good teacher thanks 👍
I appreciate that very much!
hi there, love this design. because it has less surface area than a bin or tote, would you recommend adding more holes in the sides of the buckets for air flow?
I made one of these out of the yellow 5 gallon square tidy cat cat litter buckets they stack perfectly
That's great! Here's an update: I made the bins one month ago, and when I poke around in the litter I can see lots more worms than the 50 I put in each of the two bins!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow I started with 2 cups of worms from a bait shop few years ago now have a small composting business got into it because I got tired of paying for worms for fishing but now I've started using them to compost lot's of boxes and food scraps and yard waste and I have few rabbits so my worm's get the rabbit droppings also I don't use the bucket setup anymore but was just letting you know that the yellow tidy cat cat litter buckets stack perfectly and do not get a air sealed and lock together so you can pull them apart with no problem
@@joshslackslack8115 That is fantastic! And it beautifully illustrates the principle of starting out small, learning the basics, and then scaling it up to whatever fits your needs! I hope people are reading these comments!
I add egg shells in my coffee pot. Just break them up. Shells react to the acids in coffee. Then shells go in garden.
@@markblix6880started doing that a while back as well. Also add, cinnamon, powdered ginger some whole cloves with some tumeric, you can also add just a bit of the MCT oil. Just start easy.. not too much and build up from there to the perfect balance for yourself. We are all willing to share and learn from one another, I love it!🙏🏼
What a great practical way to make the bin.....we have done some outside ones before, but this is so much better. I am always using buckets, and we are always on the look out for food grade buckets being sold locally....usually one can find them for 50 cents to a buck in the local advertising market. Thanks again!!!
What I like the best is their portability... so easy to move around, and I can have as many as I wish with varying stages of maturity! That way I don't have it coming in all at once! Once you have several thousand worms it would be great to do this!
Excellent video! Thanks ❤
Leachate should never be fed to vegetable plants!
What excellent ideas! I was thinking of two possible changes, just use one peice of screen to cover all those holes and instead of adding bolts to keep it sliding into bottom bucket you could put a pot or brick in bottom to hold it up. Do you have to glue the screen? Will they squeeze under it at edges if I used one big round peice?
There's no right way or wrong way to do this. Whatever works, works. If you can figure out a way to keep the screen covering the air holes so the worms can't get out and the flies can't get in, great! The stone on the bottom to keep the buckets from sticking to each other is a great idea!
They will!
Great job on this video. You explained everything perfectly As the reasons why. Thank You.
Glad it was helpful!
If the third top bucket has hole so the worms can travel up…. Do you remove everything in the 2nd bucket and transfer the 3rd bucket to the 2nd bucket?
Yes exactly!
This is so clever! I have a wood worm bin with 4 shelves, but will definitely make a bucket system. Eva
The best part about it is how easy it is to separate the castings from the worms when you're ready to harvest!
I loved this video! New subscriber here. Ok 2 stupid questions of the day...........(1) how much do you water them? (2) what is the purpose of the gray plastic tub?
The gray plastic tub is just an example of another way to house them, and I just water them just enough to keep it damp all the time.
famous last words "my wife wont care if I just dump this out onto the kitchen floor"
Sounds like you're speaking from experience!
I watch many videos on this & I like your design the best. Buckets have a small footprint, so this will be my worm bin. Thank you❤
Glad it was helpful!
Think I'm going to try this. My only worry is the glue used for the screen holes. The buckets had no chemicals in them, but then you might introduce chemicals with the glue that you use. So, I would be careful with what kind of glue you might use. Thanks for the video. I learned a lot!
Hi, thanks for posting. I normally let the glue completely cure before putting it on the bin to allow all the outgassing from the adhesives to complete. After that, the glue doesn't come in contact with anything in the bucket. It's just there to let air in and keep out any fruit flies.
On ebay they sell circular silicon disk/mats for round dehydrators..... they fit these buckets perfectly! I discovered this when making a water filter
Outstanding, detailed video. 😊 my new worm farming friend. However I have a question regarding the worms being kept in the middle bucket by 8 holes covered with door screen. It seems to me that the tiny new worms could pass through the screen without much effort. Your thoughts regarding this question.
I don't think so, if they could pass through the screens, you would see them in the lower bucket, and to date, I haven't seen any.
Thank you for the video! I have made a similar set up to yours after watching your video with a few exceptions. I bought several whitish clear buckets- i spray painted them black to keep the worms in a darker environment. Next i made the breathing holes on the side just under lid. I keep my worms outside and did not want the worms getting drenched especially during the hurricaine season we have in Texas right now. I wish i had read the one comment on the hot glue because waiting for this caulk to cure is a pain. But not sure it would hold up in Texas heat too well.
Good job!
Great thorough video.. love the bolt rest idea- one note: hex head bolts pose problems due to their thicker heads- Phillips head screws at 1/4” works great towards allowing buckets to stack.
Thanks!
Question, can I buy fishing worms to get started. I realize they are available on Amazon, but I need a cheap way to get started, as I am just starting.
Fishing worms are generally the wrong type. Instead look up composting worms. You'll waste your money and you wont get the best results with fishing worms.
Chinese restaurants will give you 5 gallon food grade buckets if you ask them nicely.
I've gotten some from my local restaurant and put Gamma lids on them to store my dog food, flours and other foods I want to store.
Thanks for letting us know. The supermarkets still are an option in the bakery dept. but they've not been wanting to donate them lately! I use the smaller ones from cake frosting to use as my double cup for my large pots, like the ones I'm growing my potted peppers in!
9 minutes! till U start the subject of the Video.............saying with respect.
Don't laugh , my first worms were and still are collected off our back concrete area after it rains, I rescue them for the worm bin. Happy worms
Those usually are the compost worms you want and NOT earthworms! Good job!
I have 100 worms. How long does it take for them to reproduce? Should i get more worms for my worm bin?
They will start reproducing immediately! Red wigglers and compost worms are prolific breeders and will, in practice, double their population every 3-4 months. This means that over the course of a year, 100 earthworms, and their offspring, can reproduce to 1,200 to 1,600 worms!
The reason I say in practice is because a study from the W. Texas A&M University shows that as little as eight worms can reproduce into 1,500 in as little as six months in the right conditions. But I think the more conservative number I stated above is more reasonable! Who knows, maybe you'll have the perfect conditions and hit that higher number! I would suggest that you pick compost worms out of your compost pile in the spring and summer if you need more!
Wouldn't microwaving the egg shells kill all of the nutrients?
Microwaving kills anything that's living! If there are enzymes or proteins in the eggshells they will be destroyed, but the nutritional part we're concerned with is the minerals. They will be unaffected by the heating. The reason we heat the shells IS to destroy the harmful bacteria that could cause disease and even death if we were to consume them. I don't want to be breeding Salmonella in my worm bins!
Not sure if someone mentioned it, but garden worms ARENT composting worms. Garden worms Maybe good for fishing, but not composting.
@bigdaado I know I mentioned it somewhere, but thanks for bringing it up again!
Great video. You said later "a half pound a week" but subtitles says "half pound a day."
Thanks, when you first start out you use a half pound per week, and later when they have multiplied you could use a half pound per day!
Why be so careful the buckets never had any chemicals in them and then use silicone to glue in the screens? 😂
Because once it's cured it doesn't outgas any more! If there were chemicals in the buckets, they don't cure and will continue outgassing for years.
Are those red wigglers? I used to look for worms for my chiclids under pots and logs just like you did.
I believe they are, but it really doesn't matter much what they're called because they were living in my compost, in my soil, so they're the right kind for my microculture, rather than purchasing what are called the "right" kind from somewhere 3,000 miles away! I don't usually search for them under pots and logs. I usually put a banana at the top of my compost bin during warmer weather and all the worms I need will be attracted to it. I only did it that way because it was in December!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Eisenia Fetida seem to be the best worms for this purpose.
I misuse thrift store paper shredders fir carsbiard and paper bedding
That's a REALLY good idea!
Will worms die if cold?
Can they freeze over winter?
You can't let them freeze or let the buckets fill up with rain water. I NOW keep them in the cellar all year!
why can't you just buy some worms and put them in your garden?
The purpose is NOT to grow worms but to make worm castings which are a valuable addition to your starting soil mix when you start your plants indoors in mid winter.
What happens to the liquid from the third bucket?
I dump it in the compost pile.
I’m going to try the 8 worms and see how many I get
That's a great idea for an experiment! You can also gather hundreds of them in warm weather in a separate bin for your vermicomposting needs. Just put an over-ripe banana lightly covered on to of your compost bin, and you'll have hundreds of them in no time... if they're already in the pile! Keep us posted on how it turns out!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow I’ll definitely let you know. My worms don’t seem to populate very fast. I do enjoy them.
Thanks for this tutorial! I am excited to get a worm bin started for myself. It’s like a compost bin that you don’t need to leave the house to get to :-)
Bing watching you two! I would like to be your almost 62 years old, SC gardening comrade please! I relate to everything you two do. 😊 Worm hunting begins.
What plants are those in the background?
Just some house plants... mostly African Violets.
Outstanding presentation! Many thanks for sharing such a comprehensive and understandable tutorial. If the buckets are white should the bin be stored in a room that doesn't get a lot of light? I thought worms didn't like light and I would think that white buckets would make their habitat too bright. Thanks again!
The material (in my buckets at least) is about an eighth of an inch thick, so no light passes through! Maybe... if the sun were shining directly on them!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow That's good to know. Many thanks again for the knowledge. Btw, the bolts in the side of the bucket trick is something I wish I'd seen a long time ago.
That's something I learned off a RUclips video. I wish I could find it again, but, then again, he probably learned it from someone else! So who do you give the credit to?
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow I'll be giving you ALL the credit! It's going to make things much easier for me with my self watering bucket containers. Trying to separate the two buckets that have been stuck together after an entire growing season can be a royal PITA.
I'm thinking about just putting a rock in the bottom bucket instead of bolts. What do think about that?
What was that stuff that you used half of????
I'm not sure what you're talking about. What's the timestamp?
Here in Australia, what you call shrimps we call prawns. It’s easier to say.
Are you farming red wigglers?
I'm not farming them. I just raise them to get castings for my spring planting. When I get too many worms, I just dump them into my compost bin so they can carry on their work there.
I live in South Florida I am trying to learn how to grow worms to make a worm farm I do my own compost I do my own raised beds because the ground here is no good are there any tips that you can give me of doing a worm farm and how to get the minerals out of the worm farm the castings
The best thing to do is to head on over to Worm Ohana's channel, www.youtube.com/@wormohana for advice. Worms are all she does, and I would consider her to be the expert to ask!
Ok
Can you do this in under 15 minutes?
You can build them a lot faster than that if you're not making a video and explaining everything!
Thanks for sharing your very worthy insights and taking time to be very thorough with your explanations of how to s.
Thank you for this tutorial? I am going to make this bucket setup.
I would have to by them I live in far west Texas. Lol
Thank you. I’d love to try it. I think I may ask the grandchildren to go worm hunting for me. Get them involved as well ❤
But make sure they're compost worms and not earthworms. Just get them from your compost pile until you know how to identify them. Earthworms won't live in your compost pile!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow thank you very much. I’m going to have to look them up and see a picture. My compost is very tiny. I’m new to that as well. I also want to try making my own biochar if I can. I have lots of pine trees down from storms. I hope that is good
The next advice I give you will shave 10 years off your learning curve. Make a BIG, as big as you can enclosure out of fencing, shipping pallets, or whatever you have, and make as much compost as you possibly can! Put in fall leaves, grass clippings, hair from haircuts, weeds, brown cardboard, kitchen waste, newspaper, seaweed, etc., and make sure you dump the whole thing onto your garden beds. I use 6 tons in my quarter-acre garden every year. This is the one thing I wish I had known sooner! I have three videos you can watch to see this in action:
• ruclips.net/video/Mr4GKDq1_4M/видео.html
• ruclips.net/video/J3wPr4hwS2o/видео.html
• ruclips.net/video/4MaxX0yioHI/видео.html
Thank you again so much
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrowif adding that much compost, it's a good idea to get a soil test done. Soil can become too rich. An example of this is on the OYR RUclips channel.
What about all of the chemicals, inks, bleach, etc., in the paper and cardboard? I try to use only cardboard with no coloring.
I have LOTS of shredded paper (from junk mail!), but have never used it in compost, etc., due to all of the chemicals/inks/dyes in the paper. What are your thoughts on this?
I'm with you! I also don't put bleached WHITE paper, colored paper, or cardboard into my worm bin, compost pile, or garden!
I powered my egg shells with my vitamin mix.
But I don’t wash my egg shells and I don’t microwave my shells either.
We use our powder egg shells with our tomato plants.
Stop’s bottom rot.
The only reason I wash and microwave the eggshells is because they are for human consumption and I want to make sure there are no harmful bacteria living on them!
Do you have to screen them? If so what size screen?
Great information 👍
Glad it was helpful!
Learning quite a bit here! Thank you for the information. New question is about how many worms can you have in a bucket? I'm reading max is ~1500.. What's you experience?
I just go by the way they look, and am not sure of how many there are! If there are so many worms they look like spaghetti in a big clump, like about a quarts worth, then I'll separate them into three separate bins.
So to collect the casings, middle buck, redo. The bedding and food. Replace middle buck, when worm migrate back down to middle, harvest top bucket.
That won't work as there are screens covering the holes on the bottom of the original bucket where the worms are residing. Take a third bucket with holes on the bottom, but without screens covering the holes. Put new bedding and food in that bucket and put it ON TOP of the original bucket which will now be in the middle. The worms will leave the middle bucket, (that you stopped feeding), and migrate up to the top bucket leaving nothing but their castings (mostly) in the middle bucket.
I don't worry about accidentally getting my worms in my garden when I put my compost out- I think they're good for the garden, anyway.
I agree!
what happens after the worms go up to the top (3rd bucket) - you can't remove the middle bucket or they could fall into the liquid in the bottom bucket. I guess you could remove the castings bucket and replace with an empty bucket with a screen on the bottom.
I remove the contents of the middle bucket and then dump the top bucket where all the worms migrated to in the the empty second bucket. Sorry I forgot to mention it on the video!
😮
I just brough my bin indoors and switched over to your bucket system. I have 3 buckets going and still more in the bin.. God that was heavy! It's so much easier to handle now. I look at my screen (no-see'um weave) and wonder how the heck the worms could migrate through it.. Did I use too tight a screen?
Only use the screens on the middle bucket to keep the worms from falling into the lower one. But when it's time for the worms to migrate into the third bucket so you can harvest the castings, there can't be any screens covering the holes.
Can I use earthworms from my garden?? When do u put everything in TOP bucket???
You should only use COMPOST worms, like the ones you find in your compost pile, mostly red wigglers where I live. Earthworms won't survive long in the bucket. After you've done it a while you learn to recognize them even when you find them in your garden.
You start putting food and bedding in the top bucket when the middle bucket is mostly worm castings. You stop putting food in that middle bucket, put new food and bedding in the top one, and then the worms will migrate out of the middle to the top bucket so you can harvest the "mostly worm free" castings from the middle one.
After the worms go into the third bucket with the open holes, is the second bucket emptied and you start over again? Just wondering, bc the third bucket has no screening over the holes. (i.e. - what do you do with the worms coming thru the third bucket?)
You dump the contents of the third bucket (that has no screens) back into the second bucket ( that has screens) after you've emptied the second bucket of the harvested worm castings!