Stackable Flow Through Bin Owners

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Comment by Andrew on October 18, 2009 at 6:29pm

I have to admit I recently gave my Wriggly Wranch to my sister. Since I still help her tend it, I figured it was ok for me to join this group.

Comment/question: when you add the 2nd level, you stop feeding the 1st level and wait for the worms to move up. If I remember correctly, the VC in the 1st level tends to settle or compress until it no longer contacts the bottom of the 2nd level. I used to occasionally pile the VC into a mound so that at least a part of it would still contact the 2nd level. Anyone else do that?

Comment by rom mendoza on August 5, 2009 at 6:43pm

I guess it depends on what you're using the compost for and when. Using some partially done VC at the begining of a growing season is probably better than waiting too long and missing a growing season. Where I live, our winters generally are shorter than our summers.

Comment by Strumelia on July 26, 2009 at 8:45am

I agree with Mary, I think many people try to harvest too soon. The longer you leave the old trays alone and keep feeding the new level, the more beautiful pure castings you will get in the end, with the fewest worms in it left. Go ahead and add new trays/levels...but only feed the topmost tray, and leave the bottom ones alone for several months before harvesting them out. The wait is worth it!
Here is what my first harvested tray looked like:
FIRST HARVESTED TRAY
I had left it alone for about 3 months after adding trays on top of it. It was almost pure castings and had few worms and no recognizable chunks of food or bedding in it anymore.

Comment by Mary on July 26, 2009 at 6:44am

After a year I'm only on the 4th level. It's different for different people but don't get in a rush! I'm averaging about 3 months to totally process each level.

Comment by David on July 21, 2009 at 7:50am

Started my second level on my COW on Saturday. I checked it last night and the guys are moving up to the second level. So far so good...

Comment by George Sara on June 7, 2009 at 9:35am

Well I did it. I scraped some of the existing bedding and worms from the top of my lowest bin in the COW and started a second level bin with some food and new bedding. The worms do not seem enthused but there are a few hangers from the new bin when I lift it up. Pretty exciting for a newbie. The bin seems stable so we shall see.

Comment by Mary on June 4, 2009 at 6:36am

From today's edition of the Wormfarming Secrets Newsletter:

"What do I do if worms do not move from the finished compost? My
final product is full of worms and I'm afraid it will be almost
impossible to remove them all. Is there an easy way to do this?
Is there any danger if I do not remove them and then put these
worms into my garden?" ~ Christina Savage


Hi Christina,

If the environment is comfortable, pH is right, temperature is
nice then the worms will love to stay there.

Most composting worms will not move away from the finished
compost immediately unless you entice them to (although Eisenia
Foetidas are more likely to roam around). Slowly through time,
the worms will move out to look for more food, but this can take
many months.

You are right that it is really hard to create a 100% worm free
worm cast product because there will always be some baby worms
you will have missed out, or cocoons where new worms will hatch
out from in the future. However there are effective ways to
remove most of the worms from the compost to give you a good
quality final product (and you will want as many worms back to
start your next batch of vermicomposting).

Before I go into different ways you can separate your worms from
cast, please be assured that having a small number of worms in
your final worm compost is not a problem at all!

In fact if you spread some of the worms with the worm cast in
your garden it will be a bonus for your garden soil. Composting
worms will not survive for very long if there is not a lot of
dead organic matter around the surface, but for the time it is
there it can help aerate the surface of the soil and continuingly
add fresh worm cast in to the surround garden soil.

You can use food to entice the worms to move, and this can be
done in two ways.

The first way is horizontal separation. This will be the best way
to separate worms if your worm system is a simple tub or box.
Imagine splitting your worm box in half down the centre. Feed on
one half of the worm box only and leave the other half to rest.
Very soon the worms will all migrate to the half with food
leaving the other half without food to mature and harvest. Now
once the other half is ready for harvest, swap the halves and
repeat the process.

The other way is vertical separation, and is used for vertical
stacking wormery systems.

These are boxes with perforated bottom trays which stacks on top
of each other. As one tray is finished with the composting
process, you will need to add another tray on top filled with
food and new bedding. The worms naturally migrate upwards looking
for food, and will crawl up through the perforated base into the
new tray, leaving in the old tray harvestable cast free from
worms.

Another method to separate worms from cast is to use the light
method as I have mentioned in my previous newsletters. This is
also a great method to use to further separate any worms which
may still be in the cast after vertical or horizontal separation.

Worms are sensitive to light and will try its best to get away
from it.

Grabbing a handful of the cast, create a pile on a covered
surface and use a lamp to shine on to the cast pile. Any worms
will start burrowing down to the lower surface. You can now
remove the top surface of the cast pile revealing the worms. With
the detection of light, the worms will again burrow further down
the pile allowing you to remove another surface of pure cast.

Repeat this process until you end up with a ball of worms.

You have successfully separated your worms from your cast!

Kenneth C.

Comment by Chris Farrell on June 4, 2009 at 4:58am

We have hundreds, if not thoudands of red wigglers in all three levels of our 'farm' and an inch of black liquid muck in the liquid tray which is filled with worms. The general character of the top tray is slightly ripe garbage with worms, but not a higher density anywhere. Most are from tiny (1/4 inch) to 2 inch. There are no 3-4 inch worms, and no way to separate them from castings at any level.

Comment by Mary on May 29, 2009 at 7:27am

In my system it takes approximately 3-4 months for each level to be "done". Then I stick on the next level, put in the bedding and food and start again. The worms go back and forth between the levels until the new level gets pretty much to their liking. After three or four months, it's time to add the next level and they all move up again. I've had my system for a year and am just getting ready to harvest the very first level and I suspect it will have very few worms in it. If you've only had yours for 3 months, perhaps you're not giving it enough time.

Comment by Strumelia on May 29, 2009 at 7:23am

Chris, you can find lots of YouTube videos on harvesting worm compost, just try using a few various search term combinations.
Here's one good one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0u1gOflHcA&feature=related
Search engines are your friend. ;)

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