Sharp Rubber Duck

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Resources for Growing Quality Medical Marijuana

Worm Bins

Authors: Pepperpot

Typical beginner's questions include:

What kind of worms does one need? and how much of them?
Most people use Eisenia foetida (Red Worms) and usually start with about a pound for a home worm bin. These are the kind I have. The more worms you start off with, the faster your bin processes kitchen scraps.

Where does one get the worms?

Worms can be purchased through the Internet. You may want to do research to find your closest worm farmer. I stayed close to home because I didn't like the idea of worms being shipped across the country. You can also try collecting them from compost and manure piles.

What can be used for a worm bin?

For home use, you can purchase a premade worm bin or you can make your own. I use 10 gallon Rubbermaid storage bins with lots of holes drilled in them. There are several plans published on the web for home worm bins.

What can be used for bedding?

Leaves, shredded office paper, shredded cardboard, shredded newspaper, coconut coir, peat moss, composted manure. I use shredded newspaper and peat moss.

What do worms eat? Manure, paper products, kitchen scraps (no meat or oily stuff). The dominant theory running right now is that worms actually get their nutrients from microbes that grow on the food, so they have to wait for microbes to grow to eat them. When starting a brand new bin, it is often advisable to put in the bin a few days before the expected arrival of the worms so there will be sufficient microbes for the worms to eat. DO NOT FEED them fresh PINEAPPLE. Pineapples contain an enzyme that denatures protein which will damage the worms' skin.

How much do worms eat?

The classic answer to this is 1/2 their weight per day. So if you start with one pound of worms, you are supposed to give a 1/2 pound of food each day. If you feed them only once per week, then it means you must give them 3.5 pounds of food.

Where does one place the food in the bin?

Some people bury the food in holes in the bedding, rotating the locations with each feeding. Some people just dump the food on the surface. I dump food on the surface because I'm lazy. If your bin is indoor, you may want to bury the food because your bin will attract quite a bit of fruit flies if you leave the food exposed on top. My bins are outside so I don't worry too much about the flies.

When can one start harvesting compost?

If you start with one pound, give the bin six months before the first harvest, afterwards, harvest every three months. I harvest when about 5 inches of compost has collected at the bottom of the bin.

How does one harvest a bin?

You can do the dump and sort method which means dumping the bin onto a plastic sheet in bright light, wait for the worms to squirm deeper into the compost and skim off the top layer of compost. Then wait for worms to squirm down again and skim off compost. Repeat until you have a pile of worms at the bottom and no more compost. If your bin contains a lot of compost, divide the pile into several smaller piles first and then do the wait and skim procedure for all piles. Return your worms to a bin prepared with bedding and food. There are a bunch of other methods so do a search on this topic.

Are there boy worms and girl worms?

No. They have no gender. They have both ovaries and testes so any two worms can mate and produce cocoons.

What do cocoons look like?

Yellowish to brownish bead-like sacs about 1/8" in size. Some people describe them as looking like teeny-tiny lemons.

A highly recommended worm book for beginners is Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System. The book covers all topics mentioned above and more.

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