How many people have a worm bin / do vermicomposting (composting with worms)?
Weekend Recap, Part 2
Friday:
In the morning, when I went downstairs to check the Wriggly Wranch with the new european nightcrawlers, there were a few more dried up worms on the floor. There were only 4 or 5, not as many as the dozen or so yesterday, but it was still disheartening. When I popped open the lid to the Wriggly Wranch, there were just as many worms gathered around the rim of the lid as yesterday though. In the overall picture, I still had at least a couple hundred worms in the pound I purchased so the losses were not catastrophic, but obviously I felt the need to do something other than helplessly hope that the worm suicides would stop.
What I decided to do was set up an emergency bin and put half of my european nightcrawlers into it just in case the situation in my Wriggly Wranch continued to be seem like the Titanic with passengers bailing out left and right. The type of container that I had immediate access to was an unused 70 quart Sterilite storage box I had once purchased from Target to organize my basement. This wasn't ideal, since it's clear plastic, but I knew it would be OK in my dark basement. I ended up scooping up half the bedding from the Wriggly Wranch and putting it inside my Sterilite emergency bin. I also put all of the attempted escapees that were still gathered around the rim into this Sterilite bin.
Last night, after the first mass escape, I had done some googling trying to find out what I might do. Before buying my ENCs and 2nd bin, I had read a comment from Kelly Slocum, the vermiculture expert, saying that eisenia hortensis could be raised successfully in a Can of Worms bin, which is the more expensive, commercially-available round version of my Wriggly Wranch bin. However, this time I found on Carolina Pet Supply's page a recommendation that eisenia hortensis needs 6-8 inches of bedding material. (Each tray in the Wriggly Wranch only allows about 4-5 inches of bedding.) So I added a moistened mix of peat moss, shredded newspaper strips, cardboard, egg carton, and brown bag material until I had about 7-8 inches of bedding in the Sterilite bin. I also got my tools out and drilled a bunch of aeration holes in the Sterilite bin, following a hole pattern similar to Sherry's homemade bin in her cool worm room photo. Since I had my tools out and another extra Sterilite bin, I decided to convert that one into a bin for half of my red worms. So in the course of one day, I went from being content with 2 bins to having 4 bins. How crazy is that!
In the morning, when I went downstairs to check the Wriggly Wranch with the new european nightcrawlers, there were a few more dried up worms on the floor. There were only 4 or 5, not as many as the dozen or so yesterday, but it was still disheartening. When I popped open the lid to the Wriggly Wranch, there were just as many worms gathered around the rim of the lid as yesterday though. In the overall picture, I still had at least a couple hundred worms in the pound I purchased so the losses were not catastrophic, but obviously I felt the need to do something other than helplessly hope that the worm suicides would stop.
What I decided to do was set up an emergency bin and put half of my european nightcrawlers into it just in case the situation in my Wriggly Wranch continued to be seem like the Titanic with passengers bailing out left and right. The type of container that I had immediate access to was an unused 70 quart Sterilite storage box I had once purchased from Target to organize my basement. This wasn't ideal, since it's clear plastic, but I knew it would be OK in my dark basement. I ended up scooping up half the bedding from the Wriggly Wranch and putting it inside my Sterilite emergency bin. I also put all of the attempted escapees that were still gathered around the rim into this Sterilite bin.
Last night, after the first mass escape, I had done some googling trying to find out what I might do. Before buying my ENCs and 2nd bin, I had read a comment from Kelly Slocum, the vermiculture expert, saying that eisenia hortensis could be raised successfully in a Can of Worms bin, which is the more expensive, commercially-available round version of my Wriggly Wranch bin. However, this time I found on Carolina Pet Supply's page a recommendation that eisenia hortensis needs 6-8 inches of bedding material. (Each tray in the Wriggly Wranch only allows about 4-5 inches of bedding.) So I added a moistened mix of peat moss, shredded newspaper strips, cardboard, egg carton, and brown bag material until I had about 7-8 inches of bedding in the Sterilite bin. I also got my tools out and drilled a bunch of aeration holes in the Sterilite bin, following a hole pattern similar to Sherry's homemade bin in her cool worm room photo. Since I had my tools out and another extra Sterilite bin, I decided to convert that one into a bin for half of my red worms. So in the course of one day, I went from being content with 2 bins to having 4 bins. How crazy is that!
2 Comments
-
Comment by Bing on July 23, 2008 at 3:18pm -
I might expand to 5 eventually, but I don't think I would have enough easily accessible foodstock unless I start raising rabbits. Hmm...
If you ever try a 3-drawer bin, post about it... I have a couple of those sitting around storing old clothes I should probably donate... ;-)
Add a Comment
You need to be a member of vermicomposters.com to add comments!
About vermicomposters.com
Steven Chow
created this social network on Ning.
© 2008 Created by Steven Chow on Ning. Create your own social network
I've been tempted to try various types of bins just to see.
I'm kind of thinking of one of those clear types with the 3 sliding drawers. When will it end??