newbie questions on bedding and bugs

17 years ago

After reading Worms Eat My Garbage and searching both this forum and the internet in general, I'm still left with some ambiquity over the 'when to harvest' question.

If my goals are to:

1) have some indoor compost-related project to work on when I can't be outside, and

2) compost some of my raw veggie and fruit items for now with hopes that next winter I'll have a big enough herd to compost almost all of our family's food waste indoors for the colder days (I have two outdoor regular compost bins)

3) provide some education for myself and my kids

4) maybe have some castings for indoor plants eventually.

Then when do I harvest/change out bedding or set up new area? I received my original worms via freecycle, so they came in newspaper bedding with food scraps, etc. And the bedding is looking rough. After they seemed to acclimate to location and temp, I moved them into a bin with a little bit of additional food (old apple pieces that had been frozen).

If I'm not going for pure castings and don't mind the paper bits and such, it seems like I could go ahead and make a new batch of bedding and let worms move themselves on over as they feel like it, for a fresh start, so to speak.

What I had hoped to find on the net was a set of pictures that showed a bin in use, one about half-way to harvest, one shortly before harvest and one the day of -- will it really get to the point that there is so little recognizable paper in there that it'll be obvious to me to harvest?

I have removed two of those larvae looking things that are black and about the size and shape of a paper clip -- I have them in my outdoor bins and I realize that I'll have various other critters living in my worm bins, but I draw the line at something that big. I couldn't even bring myself to look for pictures on the internet last night to id the thing.

My biggest question about bugs is how do I make sure to provide enough ventilation for the worms without also making it possible for other bugs to get into the bin or out of the bin? I'm becoming much more liberal in my respect for critters in the soil web -- outside my house.

help? questions welcomed.

Here is a link that might be useful: where I started -- small bin experiment

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

pyropunk
17 years ago
wonderpets,

I would really like to see your setup. Can you try to post some photos? (Just set up a photobucket account and copy the IMG link into the post.)

Harvesting, in my opinion is a matter of:
1) space left for feeding
2) amount of processed material
3) when and where you want to use the VC (vermicompost/cast)

Since you already have an outdoor compost heap, I suppose 1) isn't a big problem for you so it's between 2) and 3).

Since you don't want pure vermicast I suggest you start harvesting when the most (75%-90%) of the food is gone. The bedding usually gets eaten before the food because the worms just love wet paper ;-) Just stick you hand down the side and pull the compost slightly to the side. You should not be able to identify any food items - everything should be black and of the same consistency. At this point it is reasonably safe to harvest.

To 3) I gather form your "small bin experiment" post that you want to use the VC for house plants so any time the left over garbage is in reasonably small pieces is probably a good time.

The larvae that you pulled out of your bin are probably soldier fly larvae. Don't let them get in, they tend you make your bin anaerobic since their waste is very wet and the compost will compact start smelling. I used a piece of 80% shade net (the black plastic stuff) to cover all holes. If you can not find that maybe an old nylon stocking will do?

Hope that helps you.
Alex
wonderpets
Original Author
17 years ago
I'll work on some pictures -- it's finding the camera and uploading that is more of a hurdle than hosting.

I played with my setup today for about 45 minutes. Foiled my first breakout. I wonder if this one was escaping the humidity? Inside the rubbermaid bin, the temp was 73 but the humidity was 90% -- I hadn't offset the lid enough for ventilation.

Tomorrow I need to see about getting something to cover some air holes since my main goal is no bugs out, no bugs in.

I removed a third BSF larva today -- looked just like the pictures on the web. I'm okay that there'll be critters in the bin, as long as they are smaller than the worms and they STAY in the bin. How big is a BSF, anyway, that it is so large in larval form?
Related Professionals
New Braunfels Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Clarksburg Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Laconia Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Toledo Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Madison Landscape Contractors · Somerset Landscape Contractors · Tyler Landscape Contractors · Rockford Landscape Contractors · Portland Landscape Contractors · Westerly Landscape Contractors · Killeen Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Waterloo Stone, Pavers & Concrete · North Adams Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Providence Stone, Pavers & Concrete · Fort Collins Stone, Pavers & Concrete
mywildfower
17 years ago
wonderpet,

I had similar problems harvesting so I set up three identical bins .....

First bin has bedding, worms, other bugs, etc. and gets water and food from kitchen scraps.

Second bin contains any material from the first bin that will go through a 1/2" mesh screen; material that doesn't go through the screen goes back in first bin. This bin gets coffee grounds as food and a little less water than first bin.

Third bin contains any material from the second bin that goes through a 1/4" mesh screen; material that doesn't go through the screen goes back in second bin. This bin doesn't get food or water .... it's for "finishing" and storage for when we need some to use in the garden.

You're wondering if all of the screening hurts the worms. The 1/2" screen doesn't seem to at all and there are quite a few worms in the second bin. I feed the second bin coffee grounds because the worms love them, they are small in size and compost / get digested really quickly.

Worms don't seem to go through the 1/4" screen into the third bin. Those that do have all the food they need in the screenings in that bin (primarily castings, small pieces of food material, and coffee grounds) to stay alive. We use out of this bin and the worms make it to the garden .... which they seem OK with.

So far, that's solved separating the castings and usable stuff from the larger stuff and food so that the materials can be used. I used to hate tipping the bins over on a tarp in the sun and letting them dry long enough to do exactly the same screening process. I think this is better for the worms and I know it's easier on me!

Cheers!
boyle014
17 years ago
Mywildflower, how often do you put your bins through the screens? I take it each bin has a screen on the top? Or do you screen onto a tarp and then transfer the material that makes it through into the next bin? Sounds like a neat system.