Starting a worm bin

CurrDogg420 · September 7, 2021, 3:17am

This is something my girlfriend and I had talked about doing for a couple years. I think it’s finally time.

I’ve got a lot of reclaimed potting mix from my recent grows. I needed some place to put it, and I happened to have this 1 yard bag that we had some (too expensive) garden soil delivered in this spring.

I tested its water holding capacity and it leaks like a sieve. It’s effectively a 200 gallon fabric pot. I don’t have any sort of water tight tray to go underneath it though. I’ve got it raised off the floor with some foam board insulation.

If you guys have any experience or info I’d like to hear about it.

Here’s a couple of links to videos I’ve been watching.

Mrb53004 · September 7, 2021, 2:24pm

if you have room in the yard, dig out and bury the bag half deep. Place composted material / eggs / worms in it…add regularly. Have a few holes for the worms to travel out of the bag and into the nearby soil. They will do this to protect themselves from hot / cold / dry / etc

CurrDogg420 · September 8, 2021, 2:29am

Well, I ordered some worms today - 2000 red wigglers. I considered getting some night crawlers too because the idea of diversity in nature I think is important. But I also realized I’m a beginner so let’s see if I can keep these ones happy to start with.

I’ve been watching some more videos too and it sounds like I’ll have a good supply of food on hand. I’ve got some finished compost and leaf mold in reserve, and an all-you-can eat salad bar in the veggie garden until late October.

I liked this one the most so far. It covered most of my basic questions. Long intro though.

This one was a real stem-winder, even for Future Cannabis Project standards. But I enjoyed it.

Mrb53004 · September 8, 2021, 4:05pm

I did both…Canadian NC and Red Wigglers
I use totes and half bury them in the garden after drilling holes for moisture and travel paths for the worms. In my Vegas heat, outdoors kills everything and my 2 feet deep totes weren’t enough to protect from the heat. I keep one larger one in the garage with a smaller one inside it and same holes. I use to have a spicket and get tea but it was too messy. I place food in the totes and the worms travel in and out to consume

CurrDogg420 · September 9, 2021, 1:08am

I’m actually planning to keep them in my basement. Big ass hole I already had.

My area is known for brutal winters so I’m trying to keep them from freezing. Same principle though. There’s a geothermal effect being underground - doesn’t really get below 50-55 in the winter, and it stays cooler in the summer.

What was your strategy for harvesting? With this bag I think the “scrape to one side and start a new bed on the other” method is going to be the way to go.

Mrb53004 · September 9, 2021, 1:20am

that is why I used a vermiculture method…a container in the hole, in dirt. Can be a container within a container within the dirt
The innder container gets the food, a little worm casing, paper, scraps, etc
feed the container, worms come in, eat, leave new casings…about every 6 mos or just a scoop at a time remove casings to apply to soil. Nitrogen in worm casing is usually around 10
I ran 6 containers…now 3…and get 10lb bag a month
takes around 30 minutes a week at this point…10 minutes a day at start till they get going

CurrDogg420 · September 10, 2021, 9:48pm

Worms deployed!

They’ve got 6-8” of reclaimed, rehydrated Dogg Farm potting mix for bedding.

Fed them a handful of damaged tomatoes from the garden and the contents of the kitchen compost bucket. Probably a pound of material. Figure I’d start off lite on the food?

It’s a new novelty for me so I’ll probably be checking on them quite a bit anyways.

Daddy1971 · September 18, 2021, 6:07pm

I used old tub come out of washing machine for worm bin buried in ground work realy well i was selling red worms and night crawlers had another one in creek for chub minnows i was in grade school

CurrDogg420 · September 18, 2021, 7:13pm

Daddy1971 · September 18, 2021, 7:20pm

Nice job looks great

Daddy1971 · September 20, 2021, 3:21pm

It might not look like much but boy can it make some compost

Daddy1971 · October 3, 2021, 1:25pm

Got my compost done ready put it to the test

Mrb53004 · October 3, 2021, 2:22pm

really looks nice. Are you going to add any amendments or just use as is? Will you use it as a topper / like mulch or make a SOIL?

Daddy1971 · October 3, 2021, 2:42pm

Its ready i added compost to old soil and i will add worm castings when i start filling buckets and i have another compost pile on the ground and it has red worms in it