RM depth

16 years ago

RM bin users: how deep do you allow your bin to fill before harvesting? i'm pretty lazy with my bin (std size), and notice that when the VC depth gets more than a foot, it gets a bit smelly in the center (though not so anaerobic to scare away my worms, who seem to love it there). the consistency seems quite good - albeit a bit wet. is it a bad idea if i just keep dumping food/bedding on top as usual until the whole bin is eventually full?

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Comments (7)

sbryce_gw
16 years ago
I harvest at about 8 inches.
11otis
16 years ago
My RM is a stackable so I keep feeding till it's full, hoping that the worms would travel UP. There are always worms dangling and congregating around the holes of the lid of one and the bottom of the bin above it. Not sure if those are worms moving up or down. Can't pin a name tag on them, lol.
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steamyb
16 years ago
When my wife and I harvest a tote, we use the dump and sort method. So for each inch of VC in a RM tote, I figure one hour for us to go through it. 4 inches = 4 hours, and not my idea of a fun afternoon.
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equinoxequinox
16 years ago
We sooo need to get you a better harvest method. How about chuck the top layer of stuff into the next bin. Fork the rest of the stuff into a 5 gallon bucket or two. The moisture sinks leaving the top half dry and much less interesting to the worms which will congragate in the bottom half. In two days the top half of each bucket should be empty of worms. Remove that. In two more days the 2 out of 4 section should be empty of worms. Remove that. Dump the worm rich 1/4 rest of the bucket back on top of the bin. You are compost rich so it is not a problem to let the few crumbs recycle again. You will soon see that vermicompost again, it is not going anywhere. I estimate 3.5 hours more fun in the afternoon.
steamyb
16 years ago
It's worth a try.
Thanks!
mwudan
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks for the replies. i've pushed most of the vc to one side, and have only added food and bedding to the cleared side in hopes of luring the worms away from the vc. but i think i'll speed things up with the bucket method above.
PRO
equinoxequinox
16 years ago
Because the worms have been all distubed keep a night light on. The wetter the vc the more days until it drys. Even with the dump and sort method if it involves piling into cones or pyramids and pulling off the wormless top and edge material can take much less time if when removing worms from the bin the gobs and handfulls are tossed back into a working bin. And then use 10% of the time to do 90% of the job. Unless you are harvesting worms to sell or keeping scientific track for records some vermicastings can stay with them. I usually let the bucket set again and find the straglers at the bottom of the bucket.