The butcher and frezzer paper are waterproof and will not work in a wormbin.

Hope this helps

1. There really isn't a min/max temp range. The organic matter that you add to the bin is constantly rotting which creates heat. In various weather conditions the worms will move to a 'comfort zone' created within the bin. You should protect the bin from extremes. A simple thermometer placed in the bin will give you a good indication of what is happening. Fluffing up the castings with your hands gives you an accurate temperature and moisture content.

2. The IDEAL temperature for the worms is around 70 degrees F. They seem to be more productive both in castings and eggs.

3. Bedding should be 6 to 12 inches of damp paper (shredded is easiest) Newspaper or stationary are pretty easy to come by. No glossy flyers. Remove clear plastic on envelopes if you can, as they don't rot down. Some people use leaves but they are slow to rot. Recycling depots often have shredded paper or grass clippings etc. After all you are recycling!!

4. Ph is not an issue. Don't waste your money. Ph in bins are generally close to 7. Foods high in whatever nutrient doesn't show up in castings.

5. Butcher paper, waxed paper, cellophane, pretty well any coated paper won't break down so forget it.

My 2 cents....
RELAX Don't worry about them!! They have been doing their thing for millenium and they do it very well. They like sweet foods, not because they have taste-buds, but the microbes grow faster on sugary fruits. and they devour the microbes. (Try and find a chunk of watermelon after they've had it for a week....)

Be careful what you read!!! Commercial enterprises will tell you anything to make a sale. And newbies, although well meaning, are still newbies and are only reiterating stuff they have heard rather than first hand knowledge.

Enjoy.
Bev

Promote Global Worming

Thanks!

What about cardboard? I was tearing it up into small squares (started out trying for 1 inch, but some are probably 2 inches). My dog even got into the spirit! He loves to rip apart paper products. And he was almost as fast as I was and mine were pre-soaked in water!

Well, you've already heard about freezer paper and meat wrapping paper, so, won't waste time on that. Cardboard, eh, I tend to stick with shredded paper, like business letters, or, photocopy paper, less ink, per page, and its easy to obtain. Beside having our own paper shredder, my wife could bring home bunches of it from her work. best of all no cost, and it seemed to appeal to my worm's, so, why re-invent the wheel, so to speak........

Tempertures, max, for me was 75 degrees, over 85 degrees they will crawl out of the compost mix, for cooling. Below 50 degrees, they stopped moving around much, and would retreat to the center, of the mix (compost), thus a range of 65-75, seemed to work the best for me. Best rule of thumb, the compost temperture will be 10-15 degrees higher, than the surrounding temperture.
I was three years, into the indoor worm bins, before that, I consentrated on building my earthworm count, outside. Coffee grounds, along with the filter paper, seems to be OK. Tea bags, were less of a success. Egg shells, unless well crushed, didn't go over very well, either. Citrus, tomato scraps, onions, peppers, and such, weren't well accepted, at least by my guy's. Breads, contain yeast, and gets quite hot, during the breakdown period, plus some molding going on, as well.

Spritzing the top every other day, with water, is good. But, even some tap water, is too hard, or smelly, sulfer content is too high.

Rain water, is just fine, its for the most part, soft water, and its free. If, you live right next to a coal fired electric plant, then you might avoid that too.
Sounds rather picky, but, getting a good grade of worm castings, is the goal, and that only happens, when the worm's are happy, and productive. No meat products, is another good rule, or, animal manure, unless you don't mind smell.

Basic rules are simple, good air flow, controled amounts of water, and fair temperatures. I always stayed with a mixture of greens, coffe grounds, shredded paper, and then, leave them alone, as much as possible.

Depending on how much you want to produce, 2 lbs of worm's, would be the minimum, to start. Avoid over expectations, after 45-60 days, my 2 lbs of worms, were just really getting going, its not a quick process. Rule of thumb, is a doubling of worm population, every six months. My 2 lbs of worm's, were barely eating a half, to three quarters of a pound of food a day, and this is assuming everything is at optimum levels, right food, right temps, and moisture content. You will, most likely make a mistake, or two, I think everyone does, at some point.
After last year, being so ill, I said goodbye to them and
had my son release my bin worm's, outside into my raised garden beds. No-sense everyone suffering.
I couldn't walk without falling on my butt, spent most of my time indoors, in bed, or, in my chair. Last year, was my "lost summer" year, my room was my domain, and the air conditioner, my best friend. Crutches aren't worth a crap, for getting around. Yes, some improvement now, but, it remains to be seen what this year will bring.
Hope I haven't made too many spelling, or, typo's here, my eyebulbs are burning out, as well.

Well, good luck on your adventure, I hope you do well.

"1. what is the max temp high and low that you could expect survival with no direct sun? "

hi kelser, in another thread I suggested coir as bedding and you may want to consider that in your climate. just to give you an idea, for 6 months of the year my daytime temps range from approx 86F - 110F, ocassionally it does get hotter than that but it mostly stays within that range. In those sort of temps coir bedding is your worms best friend. It retains moisture much better than anything else and that is what you want to avoid in high temps, a dry bin.

I've known plenty of people who lost their entire worm population during a hot spell in my climate, but I've found temps above 95f to be the most problematic, it's really important during those days in particular, that the bin stays moist and cool or your worms could keel over and die.

I found cardboard to be great. They will utilize the tubes as a safe place to live and eat. The glue is vegetable based and so both the paper and the glue rot down to a feast. The only downside I found was cutting the stuff up. My shredder won't handle it so it was a tedious process. But go ahead and use it.

The best thing to do is try stuff and if it doesn't work go on to something else.

A side note, a worm bin should never get any direct sun! Even a cool day could cook them in the sun, especially if the bin is plastic.

I think corrugated cardboard is the absolute beds bedding I've used so far! I have a fellows powershred paper shredder and if the cardboard fits into the slot, it seems to be able to handle it fine. (I have broken two other shredders with cardboard before.) It doesn't ball up or pack down the way paper does. It provides bedding and food value at the same time and is usually free!

During the really hot part of summer here, I would put a frozen half gallon bottle of water into the bin so the worms could have a cool retreat if they needed it. Remembering that the air temp is something different than the moist bedding temp so telling you an exact max temp is difficult.
As noted above, anything over 95 F (air temp that is) to be a danger zone requiring extra attention. That extra attention being something like misting or some cold bottles in the bedding.

Also, Min temp, the statement that there is no min temp, I'm not sure how accurate that is. Most "composting" worms sold are not going to manage too well being frozen solid as they are from tropical and subtropical climates where the ground doesn't freeze. I would personally try to keep my bin from getting below 40 F. It is possible that the decomposition will help keep a bin warm but since most of us try and avoid hot composting in our bins, it is unlikely that a small outdoor bin will survive well without protection over winter in say Minneapolis.

Ideal temp is probably around 70 F give or take a bit depending on the particular variety of composting worms.

Bedding depth. Most people will go on the shallow side of 6-12 inches but my beds are deep (probably 18-20" with the bedding being 8-16" as materials are added.)

Perhaps you could tinker with some soil ph test kits if you really want to but they aren't very accurate and you probably don't need to do such things unless you use acidic bedding like peat or coir. Just avoid using huge amounts of acidic food or juice in the bed (relish, citrus, vinegar, etc.) If you are worried about the acid of something like newspaper, ground up egg shells can help neutralize that.

As to the butcher paper or freezer paper. Is it just wax coated or is it a plastic substance? If it is just wax, it will eventually break down though I wouldn't go out of my way to find it to use in the bed. If it is a plastic substance coating it then don't put it in cause you will only have to remove it later (though it probably won't kill anything if there is a bit in there.)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Bin