How to know when to FEED your worm bin- 55 gallon worm bin
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- 55 Gallon Worm Compost Bin- Look at the wormery
/ @plantobsessed
This bin was made from cutting a 55 gallon food grade barrel in half long ways and screwing the open ends together to make a 6 foot long bin.
To see the previous video click here • 55 Gallon Compost Worm...
The bin lives in the cellar of my 200-year-old house. In the winter the furnace dries it out, and in the wet season the moisture leaching through the bricks makes the basement very humid. The current set up was started near the first of the year 2021 after the wormpocolypse. A rat was in the basement and all the bins had to be moved to totes and buckets with lids on to protect them. When the rat was ended, I added 4 or more of the in-progress bins/ buckets with the compost mix of red, blue and European nightcrawlers in them to fill the big blue bin. I continued to add ground leaves and food. Currently the bin is undergoing a refresh. I am harvesting the castings as the top of the bin dries and adding new bedding and food. Keeping the moisture even in the bin is difficult in the wet summer. I flip or fluff the bin to keep the air in the bedding. Back to the wedge method starting now.
I am an Amazon affiliate. The items below are the Amazon affiliate links for the items I use in my wormery. I have read and recommend these books. The cost is the same to you, but the channel will get a small commission if purchases are made using the links.
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2x bathtub wowm farms, 4+ years old. In the shade of an oak tree. With summer temperatures up to 35c° and winter down to -10c°. Cocoons survive the winter without a problem. That means we have 6 months of high production and 6 months of slow production. And since i found your youtube channel i'm using the wedge method and it works awesome! Thank you for your great work!
That is great. What type of worms do you keep? I would think red wigglers would live at -10c for a while. Sounds like a great worm farm. Glad you like the wedge. 😃🪱👍🏼
@@PlantObsessed We call them Californian red worm I think it is the same as red wiggler? I think they are native to Europe. But I didn't go deep in research. I have harvested them from manure piles from my neighbors and move them to my bathtub. As long the produce casting i am happy :). In The werthe middle of the winter whole bathtub was death-frozen all around the edge at least 4 inches (10cm) or more for than one month, and I was sure nobody survived. But in April they were back active and hungry :)
Check-ins with Blue never disappoint! 👍🏻
Thank you for coming to the premier 😀👍🏼🪱
A year in, red wigglers, started with 1000 red wigglers, using a 27 gallon tote. I now have another 27 gallon tote. New bin, feed every 4 weeks. Mature bin, every 2-3 weeks depending on amount of food. Add bedding every time. My focus changed to breeding to get my worn count up. I think it’s working.
Thank you for all the tips and tricks!
Sounds like you are on the right path. In a few years you will have to start selling them. Lol 😃🪱👍🏼
I started my small bin half a month ago. Luckily I received worms, about 250, from an existing compost bin. With the worms I got a lot of material/food scraps and I already see mites and white worms in my bin. I see mating worms 🪱 every time I take a peak under the newspaper on top.
Excellent,it sounds like you started with the best culture for your ecosystem. Ps the snow white worms are probably pot worms. You can see them up close in my microscope series playlist.👍🏼😀🪱
@@PlantObsessed Great, found mycelium in the bin too this morning and cocoons. So exciting it al works well! Thanks for all your great informative videos!
I started a year ago in June with a pound of what I thought was Red Wigglers but ends up Blues and Red wigglers. I now have thousands of worms in a very large tote. I have started a new bin that only has Red Wigglers in it and also a new bin with ENC's. But I want to thank you for your instructions on worm farming as it has helped me so much. My worms get to live in my laundry room which is 70 year round. I love the Worm Farming community as I watch most of the big farmers that are out there. Thanks again
Thank you for watching. I'm glad your worms have the best environment ever. I wish my basement was that stable. Happy worming😃🪱👍🏼
I’m planning on adding night crawlers to my bin soon
I like to have the blend. They work well together.😁👍🏼🪱
I have a medium vertical CFT teenage bin, and a large sandbox bin that is 5 months old.
Nice. I regret tossing the old sandbox now lol. 👍🏼🪱😄
Thought I should leave a word or 500. LOL I cannot leave comments on TV youtube😂 I do watch your videos.😊
I see. They should fix that. 🥰👍🏼🪱
Oh, major newbie here. Literally started my 3 gallon pail 2 days ago. 😂 I've been watching RUclips videos and gathering info for almost a year. Must say, your videos are the best. I'll have a 20 gallon bin by the end of the day and get a new batch of bedding aging for it. Once again, thanks for the great info.
I'm glad you like the videos. Feel free to ask any questions. 🪱👍🏼😃
@@PlantObsessed which books do you recommend for beginners?
@@JenMetalMajesty of you check my Amazon list in the video description it has a short list of beginner books. 👍🏼🪱😃
Thank you so much!
Kindly make a vedio of fabrication of 55gallon bin.
ruclips.net/video/vLAqssdJmNM/видео.html
I have several small bins that are about 6 months old now
Keep at it. It is totally worth it. 🪱😃👍🏼
Agree, I love adding shredded cardboard to my bins
I can't wait for leaf season so I can add more nutrients for them. I have to think cardboard doesn't have much. Still better than the landfill. 😃🪱👍🏼
Ann Brilliant Video 👏👏👏👏♥️♥️
Glad you enjoyed it🪱😃👍🏼
I have an 11 month old flow thru that is 2-1/2' X 8' X 2' deep started with 2 Lbs. of mixed ENC & RW. I also started a big blue like yours with the same mix of worms this spring and several barrel and stacking bins that I am trying to separate & breed the ENC. This year has been a big improvement in the garden.
It is amazing what worm castings can do in the garden. I can't believe I gardened for 30 years before I discovered them. 😃🪱👍🏼
It would be good to know what you consider to be a fast and a slow food.
For me if it is gone in a week it's fast. Like watermelon or cucumber. Slow food takes a month. Like apples or potatoes. Pineapple or cranberry takes over 6 months to go away completely for me. 🪱😊👍🏼
I started my 1st bin last September. So, not quite a year old. I was producing more kitchen scraps than it could handle so over the past year I've started 3 more bins. They are all large Rubbermaid totes. I guess that makes them medium. I did not purchase worms. I dug them out of a friend's manure pile. I live in a mild climate, so I keep them on my covered porch year-round. I have not harvested any substantial amount of castings yet.
I bet after a year you have quite a bit of castings. You can do a partial harvest to keep some open space if you don't need castings right now. 👍🏼🪱😃
I have mine for three years and 3 months. I have stacking systems, started with 2 and now bought a third (couple months back). I can see that the third “bin” is slower and it’s taking a long time for worms to populate it, they prefer to hang out in old ones. I started with approximately 100 red wigglers (unfortunately they are not generous with worms in European stores). Now I have over 1000 (my estimate).
Here in the US we buy from people not stores. Do you have anyone that does that over there? My top is the slowest for me. 👍🏼🪱😃
4 month old bin with 250 count worms. Change in moisture immediately had a die off of all mature worms. Wisps and any cocoons are now majority. Sadly my parenting needs improvement.
It happens. I had a die off last year when we got struck on vacation with cocid. The cocoons will hatch and in 3 months it will be like a brand new bin. Keep at it. 🪱👍🏼😃
Awww I've got a baby bin. Started in March with very few worms. Fed too much so too wet to begin. Got it drier. Now just plodding. Got a subpod too and I shoved a lot of wet stuff in there from my baby bin. Subpod is doing good. Bit worried about it being outside in the winter though.
Worm farmers never stop learning. Every season I have to relearn how to cope with dry and cold. I hope people learn from my mistakes. 😀👍🏼🪱
You can speed up the maturity of your bin by feeding compost to the worms. Worms love compost.
Yes, or using worm castings from another bin. 🪱👍🏼😀
Thank you for the videos Ann, very informative indeed.
I have a question with regards to bedding. If I put dried leaves, or other stuff that is dry and papery such as garlic or onion peel, could that be considered as bedding?
I say if it is brown..ish.. it can be bedding. 👍🏼😀🪱
@@PlantObsessed Awesome, thanks for your swift reply 😄
My 2 bins are baby bins. They are 5 months (150 days) and 4 months (112 days) old. They are bus bins and I think 7 gallons. I feed around every 10 days, but fairly small amounts. I also have more of the long-term food because my family eats that sort of stuff more.
They will take care of what you give them. I'm glad you are being patient with your bins. Thanks for watching 👍🏼🪱😃
Well our bin, with your worm in is how old Ann ? 😂😂😂
Perfectly timed video, ive only fed the bin twice since getting it from you. Seems to working. Im guess around 70% percent ?
Good point about time constraints, and bedding, lots of it has bought me time, i feel.
Thought i was tripping, until i realized it was cg 😂
Cheers Ann 👍👍👍
I built it with castings and worms from a 2 year old bin. So it should still be at least a teen. 🪱👍🏼😀
@PlantObsessed perfect!! I let mow through most of the bedding and have givin 2 mixed feedings :)
I have a baby bin. I started it back in June.
By the new Year you will have a nice teenage bin. 😁👍🏼🪱
So much good advice and info in this video!! I've got very small to medium bins, 3 super aged and 1 newbie about 6 months old😁I have Blue Envy!! I love him so much!!🪱🪱🪱
He is awesome. Maybe some day the EP would let you have one in the screened in porch? 👍🏼🪱😃
My bins are minus a couple of months old. That's why I'm here - learning. Wanting to do one with ANC and one with RWs. Live in FL so they will need to be in my house - to hot in my garage. Always between 73-78 degrees inside.
One question, can I mix the ANCs and RWs in one bin?
They don't fight. When the conditions are better for one they will out compete. Then when the conditions swing the other way the other breed will grow. Thank you for watching 😃🪱👍🏼
And, one other consideration with regard to bin size is surface area. You are using most of Blue's 55 gallon size, whereas somebody with a tote of any size probably has approximately 6 inches of depth (i.e., do not fill their bins to capacity).
Looks like you've been making salsa!
~ Sandra
Very good point. When I ran a barrel vertical system it was a mess. Tis the canning season here. So I can enjoy my garden all winter.👍🏼🪱😃
I have two small bins a neighbor gifted me when they moved. I think they’re mature, but I’m brand new!
What do you use to shred your cardboard?
In the description of the videos I have the link to the paper shredder. It is a heavy duty one. 👍🏼😁🪱
Apparently, my tower, with four trays is 100lt. This is 21 gallons, but it's not run in the same way as your CFB. That is something I find challenging having come to it after running huge heaps. I'd much rather have the space to run something large along side it, but that is mostly my own impatience, and not any fault with the tower. Also, I'm temperate Zone 8, so my worms are only ticking along, just trying not to die in the cold through 6 months of the year. Very different to working with warm heaps!
Impatience is something I understand well. I had 23 bins at one time to help make more castings for summer. It was crazy. Winter is slow here in zone 5 too. Mine are mostly inside. So that helps a little. 😃👍🏼🪱
I have an urban worm bag. I recently have been finding my worms trying to escape. What do you do with this issue? I was thinking of removing any food in there in case there's something they don't like. Doesn't seem too wet but there is a lot of coco in it so maybe it's holding too much water or is too salty. I hate to start over since I have 6 months into this one. Tried to harvest last month and no good castings yet..
Just keep going with bedding and slow down on the food. Some worms just crawl with change in weather. 👍🏼🪱😃
💙
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My bins are somewhere around 15 or 16 months old, I think, and have been moved into 2 stacked rubbermaid tubs from five 5 gallon buckets. All red wigglers. They seem to be doing remarkably well in our 100+ degree weather the last month, and go through food super fast. (I do have them stacked in a spot that never gets sun, have made them an additional 'tent' from empty buckets and a tarp, and feed them frozen food.) I don't actually have any real idea what my population is, as I started with a 5 gallon bucket passed off to me by a neighbor's son, which I split a couple times, then consolidated along with 2 buckets from a friend who decided vermicomposting wasn't for her.
The worms can double every 3 months. I think you are doing all that you can to keep them healthy in this heat wave. As long as they have moisture they seem to do ok here too. 🪱👍🏼😃
Small baby bins. We are just at 6 months old.
You are ahead of most people. Next thing you know there will be worm bins and subpods everywhere 👍🏼🪱😃
@@PlantObsessed I can hardly wait 😀
i am trying to learn about worm farming, so knowing those little critters need to be in the bin helps. i am going to work up to a blue :) i already have the barrel, and i am at least six months out from beginning my journey into worm culture. i think i will start with a bin from the worm lady, i think you said in one of the videos you purchased from her once. and she has pure red wigglers, not a blue mix. i plan on adding worm chow as a supplement beyond composting scraps.
what are the common pitfalls for the first six months, beyond overfeeding?
what is common in the area of mold etc one will encounter, and yet need not worry about?
being new to this, i expect to see many things, and i would like to not get freaked out over it, but know it is either good or bad, and thus how to deal with it. so i am doing my studies now so i will up my chances at success when i do begin. thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
I took the same approach. I was impatient and expected too much. I stressed myself out about them. Keep the moisture even and don't feed until most of the food is gone. If it is cold or hot they won't eat as much. Don't worry about them so much they are pretty tough. 😃🪱👍🏼
I'm using a grow bag and it's outside for now. It's just a little over 5 months old. I started with 100 red wigglers and the last time I counted adult worms were 287
They are multiplying nicely for you. Do you plan to move them inside for winter?😃🪱👍🏼
@PlantObsessed yes, there going back to the basement. It's fully finished and heated
I use morter trays from Lowes. I plan to build a rack this week. Also plan to video for those who dont know how. I used to be in the buildong business also adding another poumd of pute red wigglers in a few days. Getting them from Memes. I am about 40 miles
from her.
That is great. Good luck. Do you plan to sell too? 😃🪱👍🏼
@@PlantObsessed I plan to start selling around the first of the year. Building my population first. I have 1k more on order this will give me about 4 k. I am told 1 k should become 10-16 in one year. I had a bit of stock sold some to invest in worms. Stock not producing 10x in a year.
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I would have black soldier fly larvae if I don't cover the bin. How did you prevent them from getting into the bin? Thank you!
The bin is inside in my cellar. Most of the time I don't have issues with outside critters. Thank you for watching 😃🪱👍🏼
@@PlantObsessed Thank you, that makes sense.
Do you ever have problems with mights from your castings damaging your plants? I had spider mights kill some of my indoor plants a while back and don't want to repeat it.
They are different kinds of mites. The kind that eat live plants are not the same as decomposers in the bin. Thank you for watching 😃🪱👍🏼
All small bins a new and my farm is 9months and medium sized
That is great. I hope they are all behaving 🪱😁👍🏼
@@PlantObsessed they were but today I’ve found one that’s a 5gallon bucket with a tap, is extremely wet and smells a bit funky. Wasn’t sure what to do as no room for dry bedding… so I got as many worms out and into coir that I could, and have left the wet bedding in plant pot saucers in the garden to air dry a bit and hopefully if I mix them about every few hours I’m hoping between the sun and the wind they will dry it a bit and stop it smelling too bad and being too wet. It’s a different type of system to all my others as it precomposted not coir all my others-breeder bin x2 and grow out bin x2 and the maze farm are all on coir.
Will see what the next few days hold and if I can dry it out I’ll probably just mix the coir in with it so I don’t have to separate the worms again- I just don’t want the worms escaping while I try to dry it out a bit or them getting bothered while it’s drying.
I have about 4 outdoor wormerys that are 18 gallon totes size and I keep them outside for the sake of lack of indoor room...... I have euros/ red wigglers.
They about 5 years old.
Do you have any issues with animals getting in the bins?
Thank you for watching 😃🪱👍🏼
Just started my worm bin Friday the 8th this month, put them in the binFriday night. I'm green at this and curious wen i shud feed them 1st feeding. They in a plano sportsman's trunk 28" long 13.3/4 wide and 11" deep. Want to sell as fishing bait eventually and curious how to and wat to feed, i did get worm Chow from Uncle Jim's along with worms also but as i say im green at this
If the goal is to get them big you need to feed chow and keep the population low by splitting the bin about every 2 months. For chow it works out to more frequent feedings less volume. When you look in on them after a few days, and the food is gone then it's time to feed again. Good luck. 🪱👍🏼😊
@@PlantObsessed thanks a bunch for the info appreciate the luck wishes im gonna need them
My bins are over 40 gallons and 1 year old
Wow that's awesome. Happy worming. 👍🏼🪱😁
Can you tell me why my worms are trying to "escape".
What breed are they? If it is a new bin it might just be a start up problem.😀🪱👍🏼
Small bin 3 months
Good luck with the baby bin. 👍🏼🪱😃
Here in Janesville wi I have a baby bin 4 month I have then in a Hungry bin.
How do you like the hungry bin? Almost everyone I heard of has a hard time keeping the moisture right. I figured it was made for a particular environment. Maybe a dry one. 😃🪱👍🏼
@@PlantObsessed I really like my hungry bin, the first couple of months I had problems with the moisture and the wigglers try to scape found a few of them in the floor. I texted the lady I purchased them from.
She told me I was not putting the right amount of bedding and too much coffee ground. Following her instructions no more escaping and have a ton of happy babies.
I think small and definitely baby
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Why mix worms? I ha w all RW
They came in a mix. It ends up working well. In the heat the blues go to work and in the cold the euro and rw work. 👍🏼🪱😃
my bin is a small baby bin.
It will grow up soon. Do you think you will get them a bigger bin eventually? 👍🏼🪱😃
Is it okay to feed rotten food to your worms?
Yes. They will be able to eat it faster. My bin is very large so I feed a large volume. if ypur bin is small make sure to pocket feed so they have an area to get away from it if it heats up.🪱👍🏼😁
Beauty thank you! @@PlantObsessed
Hi, sorry I have only watched about 4 videos so far but I went and bought a paper shredder already 😂 but I’m wondering do you have some kind of lid on these barrels ? I have a 3 level tumbler but I’m going to make changes to how I do it as it’s not working very well but I’m already learning from you 💚🙌🏻 I’m in a very humid hot sub tropical climate though.
My barrel systems are all inside so I don't have to worry about outside animals or pests. But they do not have any lids at all. In the winter time when it is dry due to the furnace I do put a plastic cover sheet on it to keep the moisture in but not for the worms. 👍🏼😁🪱
I feel like my worms aren't eating. And I have pockets of a smell, almost smells like poop. Not the whole bin though.
If the bin is young that is the most likely reason. You can add some outside compost to try and add beneficial microbes to help.