new to worm composting and already have a problem LOL help :)

13 years ago

hi everyone!
I've been reading up on here, and wow so much great info! Thank you all already!

so here's the problem, I HAVE WORMS! Local farm was harvesting castings and gave me about 250 of them. Healthy buggers!! I ordered a bin (last week), called to make sure it shipped Monday, (secrets and lies) i got my tracking today, and my bin wont be here till Monday grrrr!! Picked up my worms yesterday with the promise that my bin would be here yesterday.

I have my worms in a five gallon bucket with enough food to last a week (from the farm batch) but im worried about ventilation, having to "store" them for the week. Can i keep them in there ?( i can open and let air in daily) Or, should i drill some holes in another bucket and move them? ( i would rather not disturb them again till the bin gets here but i will if i have to) Just dont want to lose the healthy worms the farm was so nice to provide. any suggestions are welcome.
jaci

Featured Answer

weedlady

10 years ago

Thanks
for the kind words, Hannah Cbus (is that Columbus, OH, by chance? I am in Marion.)

One of the
neat things about Gardenweb (having been in & out of many of the
forums since the mid- 90s, I still cannot get used to the Houzz name!) is
the way it is set up, so that any new comments bring the original post to the
top of the board. In the Garden Party, people used to do that just to keep a topic
going (which I think may have been frowned upon by the original webmaster,
Spike, but not sure)... I haven't been to the Party in more years than I can
recall, though; just so busy with other stuff!

Gardenweb
really gets a lot of the credit for me passing my Master Gardener exam with a
98% back in 1997. I had been gardening already for close to 30 years when I
took the MG course, but the many forums are just so full of good info
that I used the many Q & A as my study guide. :-) Now, after
nearly 50 years of gardening, I still am learning, but always am glad if I can
help others learn, as well.

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Comments (13)

Priswell
13 years ago
Don't worry about it at all. Keep the bucket in a cool place out of the sun, maybe in a closet in the house or outside in the shade. Add a small amount of damp shredded paper to give them a little room to stretch themselves out. You may have put too much food in there for them, but mostly, I wouldn't worry about it.
chuckiebtoo
13 years ago
Sometimes worms that have been newly relocated can have a tendency to desert the new home enmasse if there is no light over the (I assume) open-at-the-top bin(bucket) as soon as darkness comes.

You might want to leave a light on over that bucket a couple of nights. Don't worry....they will settle in.

Chuckiebtoo
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jakalfoshakal
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh good, so far so good then. The food came with the bedding from the farm so it's minimal I won't feed again till the bin gets here and only at "test" quantities" :) the top is covered with the moist newspaper to allow for escape and cardboard to keep them from having an easy out. I was concerned with them trying to get out but when I checked them this morning they were munching away and looking pretty happy, so it's good news that they can hang out in their bucket home for a little while. Thank you guys for chiming in. I hang around in the Hoya, plumeria, hydroponic, and adenium boards a lot but its nice to know that there are nice folks who like to help over here too. I'll be posting again begging for help soon LOL thanks a million!!!!!
PRO
equinoxequinox
13 years ago
Now that we have saved you from the escape of the zombie worms this evening, please know that the worms can stay in the bucket for a very long time. You might decide to set up their new home and let it mellow a few weeks before the big move. Just to clarify... the only cover on the bucket now is just a piece of cardboard laying lightly over the top? "( i can open and let air in daily)" does not refer to an air tight cover? Sounds like you will enjoy your new pets.
jakalfoshakal
Original Author
13 years ago
I am enjoying them already!! The cardboard is just laying on top nothing air tight, a slight breeze from me walking by could probably knock it off LOL. And im not sure about the saving me from the escape thing just yet. Checked on them this morning and they were making their way into the newspaper (they didn't have very many browns at the farm) and some were on the sides of the bucket. Now im scared!!!! I've had a bunch of greens decaying away in my kitchen bin for 2 weeks. Took every ounce of discipline to not feed this morning. They look sooooooo hungry!
Shaul
13 years ago
Could you possibly take a photo of your 'hungry-looking' worms. I would very much appreciate it. But how do you know they're sooo hungry? Do their eyes twinkle in a certain way when they glare at you, or do you hear sounds emanating from the bucket, whenever you pass by like: "Dammnn Yoouu", "Dammmnnn Yooouuu". Or perhaps they're just saving the newspaper for dessert.

Shaul
Hannah Cbus (5b/6a)
10 years ago
I have to thank you- pretty much the same thing happened to me with the worms showing up a week ahead of the farm. I was in total panic mode til I found this. Now it is all good!
hummersteve
10 years ago
It is generally accepted that a 5 gal bucket is not the best type of bin for composting worms. This type of worm will stay in the top 3" of the bin so generally you would be thinking more surface area than more depth. In saying that it will work for a while if youre starting small.
chuckiebtoo
10 years ago
Like the occasional chance bumping-into with a long-lost love of your life, getting an email from houzz that includes worm-herder buddies from our dearly departed blog brings back all the emotions we collectively went thru whilst trying to keep a bunch of wigglers....wiggling.

Chuckiebtoo
PRO
Iowa Worm Composting
10 years ago
Those worms will be fine in the bucket. Make sure when you set up your new bin to leave enough room that you can transfer most of the bucket bedding to the new bin. This will really help to inoculate your new bin with beneficial microbes and fungi. Your worms will like that and transition much better. Playing them a little country music wouldn't hurt either. Keep us posted on your progress. What kind of bin do you have coming?
weedlady
10 years ago
Take note, you
4 folks who most recently responded helpfully to jakalfoshakal, especially the last one: the original post was
entered on May 2, 2013. One hopes that not only has the bin arrived, but is
going along just fine. Perhaps j would post an update for us to relieve the suspense?
;-)
Hannah Cbus (5b/6a)
10 years ago
Oh I knew that when I commented. I was just so grateful to find answers that I commented anyway. I didn't realize (new here) that it would pop it to the top of people's lists. :) An update would be nice though.

P.S. Weedlady, I really appreciate the insight from your posts as well- especially because it is so relevant to my exact location. :)