Emergency Bedding Refresh When Bin Is Full of Castings That Are Older
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- Опубликовано: 21 июл 2024
- Hello!
I’m still dealing with bins that are full of castings that have gotten a little on the old side and have become sticky and not easy to sift 🥲.
The bins are full of castings and I really need to get fresh bedding in.
What to do?!
There’s a few method to muse to address this problem and I show you one of them here. I’ll post another videos in a few days which will show a second method!
Thanks for watching!
Yours in the dirt,
Jayne
#redwigglers #worms #vermicompost #composting
It never ceases to amaze me how you always seem to have new fresh information for us to learn about our worms! Thanks Jayne!!
Thanks Leo! That’s very nice of you to say 🤗. I find all of this worm stuff quite interesting. And there’s so much that we have no idea about too! Never a dull moment ❤️🪱
Jayne thank you for your up date.Always good..
Thanks Diane! I’m down to one remaining bin to get new bedding into. Some bins are completely redone and back to normal and a few like this bin in the video I have to go back into over the next week or so but at least I’m making progress!
I’d be nice to say ‘I’ll never let the bins go so long again’ but that’s a fantasy 🙄. Life happens. It’s one reason this time and it’ll be a different reason the next 😆. Thank goodness worms are so forgiving!!
Thanks for watching 🪱❤️🪱
Dry bedding to get out straggling worms is a GREAT idea!
Hi! I found this out by accident 😆. It does work great as you saw. Hope it helps you with any persnickety worms 🪱❤️
@@RockinWorms well if I ever use it in one of my videos I’ll give you a shout out, SUCH a good idea!
@@TrapperBV Thanks! I’d appreciate that. I was coming back now to edit to add that I used the dry-ish pre-compost to ‘wash out’ the sifter too. There were quite a few worms clinging to it as well. Worked a charm 👍
Hi Jayne, My 2 Shoeboxes, Dick and Jane were neglected for 2 months. That's a long time for those tiny bins. I'm planning to use your method and move the 🪱🪱🪱on down. Definitely sticky💩
I've added dried into them before.
Time to bait and start again ❤
Take care and have a great weekend
❤Peggy❤
Hi Peggy! Thanks for watching! Yea, it happens doesn’t it? Just can’t get back to a worm bin as quickly has we had planned 😡.
I do like the horizontal migration method very much - even getting a slim space where new bedding can be crammed in, coupled with some yummy food, will get those worms moving and allow for getting the sticky castings out easier 👍. Good luck with your bins!
Good evening Jane from Jesus and me!
Gret video and ever so very timely for me as I need to one of my bins NOW !
I did not find where to get the sifters . . . maybe I did not look in the right place
Hello to you and Jesus! Old sticky castings are a pain to deal with 😡. But it happens!
I just 2 days ago used a 3rd fast rescue method on a bin that needed help NOW too. I mixed in lots of dry sifted cow manure. Worked a charm! Fast and didn’t mess the bin up for potential sifting of castings in the near future. Peat moss, coconut coir, dry finely shredded leaves - they all work well too. You might want to try a few methods and see which one you like best 👍.
As for the sifters I just checked online and they are currently out of stock for home shipping. This has happened before and after several weeks they came back in stock for shipping. Here’s the link for them:
www.calranch.com/se-stackable-sifting-pan-set-green-sku7059020?queryID=c3abd6ed80886183c0b645291bfbd1b5&objectID=204512&indexName=Magento_Productiondefault_products
Let me know if that link doesn’t work for you. 🪱🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms The link worked but out of stock now.
Thanks. I'll try again in a few days.
@@vickibee8451 Keep checking. Last time it took a few months but did come back in stock for home shipping 👍
Thanks Jayne,
As always, very helpful. I appreciate the sharing of knowledge and information.
Bruce in South Australia
Hi Bruce! It’s nice to hear from you today 😊. I’m glad you find my content helpful! 🪱🪱❤️
Good job, Jayne! You sound like you're on a roller coaster when you talk while sifting! I suppose raising worms can be here raising just like the fairground!
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra! I know! I get a little panting sounding 😆. I don’t know about hair raising but I do get trepidations going into a bin that’s been a bit neglected 😳. Never know what it’s going to look like 🪱❤️.
Thanks for stopping by!
17:00 similar to your idea of retrieving worms stick to the bin, I discovered that it is way easier to count worm. I collect the worms in a container and as I am accumulating them the form a slimy worm ball. When I sprinkle dry dirt over them then they are very easy to separate and count.
Hi Linda! That’s a great discovery!! One of the reasons I don’t like light migrations are the tight worm balls formed, especially if I want to count worms or brush away cocoons that are stick to the worms throughout the ball.
Excellent way to separate them out a bit without adding back too much bedding. Thanks so much for sharing this tip! 🪱❤️👍
Where your castings are at is when I harvest the castings. If their as wet as yours I'll do a light migration. I don't like doing that because it's time consuming. The other thing I'll do is take a gallon of worms and castings and put them in a tub. One gallon dries out pretty fast. So if I need 5 gallons of castings I'll make five one gallon piles and let them sit a day or two and sift.
Hi Rick Jay! Light migration is definitely another way to handle this type of situation - except it’s actually even more time consuming because worms will hide in the clumpy bits. So the clumps have to be broken apart, usually by hand but with light migration you’re already handling the bedding/castings.
The same issue occurs with using the downward migration method, which I also considered. Clumpy bits. Grr. 🙄.
That’s why after considering the pros and cons I went with the sifting out of what I could m, breaking up what I couldn’t, and enticing the worms to migrate out of the castings at one end so I can fire them sift it later. Rinse and repeat 🙄😆.
I’ve also spread the material out in a thin layer to dry it out. Clumpy and getting the worms out is still an issue. For me anyway 😊. I got myself into this and I’ll get myself out - with some extra work and time! So it goes 😆. I wish you better with your castings!! 🪱❤️🪱
If you put another bin with holes above it with all fresh bedding above the bin you want to refresh, will the worms move upwards to the new bin??
@@darleneswetz8325 Hi! According to all the worm tower manufacturers they will. And also captain Matt uses a similar process for his huge worm bags. It’s not 100% effective but does a great job on getting the majority out according to him. It’s a method I want to try myself - just haven’t gotten there yet!
It’s very much the reverse of the downward migration method that I have used a few times.
I honestly think I’m going to have to move to using this type of sorting or worm removal system in the future - or a trommel - as my worm population continues to grow - especially when I move into making a business out of it. Hand sifting may just not be efficient enough/too time consuming.
There’s lots of really cool things to try!
Thanks for watching and bringing up great alternative options ❤️🪱
@@darleneswetz8325 I also want to add that in many cases it’s a ‘6 of one, half dozen of another” or a ‘pick your poison’ thing. They all work. They all take similar amounts of time as the worms move at the speed worms move 🤣. It comes down often to what time YOU have and what equipment you have, like screening, extra bins, sifters, trommel, etc. Inevitably there’s a trade off. Faster methods often entail damaged worms, lost cocoons and small baby worms, monetary costs and storage needs. Slower method can offset most of those negatives but the cost in hands on time spent is much higher. As always, it comes down to the individual worm keeper’s decision as to what works best for their situation 👍.
Ok, I just needed to say that 🤣
@@RockinWormsI've tried Captain Matt's method of using a mesh and putting the food up top and waiting three days as he says, but the worms usually try to go in from the sides instead of through the holes. Lol. So I ditched that method and instead prepared fresh bedding and let them go downwards from the top. It takes awhile, but it works.
Love your videos. Have 1 question. How do you store your castings. I am still new to this process.
Hi Geri! Welcome aboard! I actually did a video just a little while ago where I talk about castings storage 👍😊. Here’s the link:
New Ways to Store Castings! Reuse Those Pet Food Bags!
ruclips.net/video/-T95yCgfAjI/видео.html
Give it a look and if you have more questions, ask them all! ❤️👍🪱
Thankyou
What is in worm chow? How is it made? Ingredients ?
Hi Sue! I have a video on making worm chow:
My Worm Chow Recipe for Happy Chonky Worms
ruclips.net/video/nDIjqXjgte0/видео.html
It’s important to remember that you can freely substitute ingredients based on what you have on hand or can buy on sale or deeply discounted. My ingredients change fairly often based on what open bags I can get at the farm store. 👍😎🪱
Jane where do you get your plastic bins?
Hi Sandie! I bought them from Walmart. Online but they had them in the store too at the time. I checked for someone else a little while ago and online was sold out. Here’s the link so you can track them or find something similar:
Sterilite 28 Qt. Storage Box Plastic, Titanium, Set of 8
I really like these bins. They are a good size to work in, hold a good number of worms, and have lasted well so far! 👍😎🪱
🥀🌹🪱👍🌺❤🥀
Hello I am new to worm bins, what size sifters are you using? I am having this exact problem and don't want to lose them to this heat wave! Thanks!
Hello! I mainly use a 1/8” and 1/12” mesh sifter. Many people use a 1/4” mesh sifter for castings. It’s a personal preference.
I have a community post where I give the link where I bought my sifter set for not quite half the cost Amazon wants 😳. It’s the EXACT same manufacturer and set as Amazon. Check that out. I haven’t looked lately and I know some of my subs have bought them so I’m not sure what’s still in stock. Also they’ve come and gone and come back before so if they’re out and you can wait, keep checking back. The company name is C.A.L Ranch. I have no affiliation with them at all. I’m just a happy customer. 🪱❤️