How often you add water

18 years ago

I just started a bin using a rubbermaid box. I used cardboard cut into small pieces and socked in water for the bedding. I added a little bit of sand, a little bit of soil, and a little bit of mulch. I then added decaying leaves and old onions.

Since the first day I added the worms (around 300 purchased in a nursery) I keep finding dried bodies on the inside of the lid and on the bottom tray (which BTW has no "gardener tea" yet).

I also keep finding gnats and tiny white bugs on the bedding.

With all that in mind:

- How often do I have to add water?

- How much "gardner tea" should I be getting?

- Should I be concerned about the gnats and tiny bugs?

- Was 300 red wigglers enough to start a bin (I read something about minimum 1000 worms to start a bin)

Thanks,

Featured Answer

squeeze

18 years ago

"gardener tea" is somebodies fantasy - any liquid coming out the bottom of a bin is leachate and as likely to be harmful to plants because of anaerobic bacteria, so the object is to keep a moisture level that doesn't leach down thru the material and mess up the system - ideally you shouldn't be getting any, while maintaining a generous moisture level in the bedding, which will be influenced by the material you use - leaves don't absorb much water .... the bedding should be wet enough that if you squeeze a handful a bit of water drips out, but not much ... if you do get some leaching, the best use is to pour it back on the bin

if you've got 'dry' worms, they're dead worms because worms breathe thru their skin, obtaining the oxygen in the water - they need to be wet, not damp

if you have compost gnats or any type of mites it's most likely because you have decomposing material exposed on the surface, or rotting happening [anaerobic decomposition] from pockets of rotting material [rotten whole onions?]

worms eat primarily bacteria, by slurping the decomposing organic surfaces, the bin should really be set up a few days or a week before the worms are added so it can begin to decompose and they have food immediately - the worms on the lid and bottom are looking for better conditions and something to eat, mixed veg/fruit waste preferred

Bill

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Comments (6)

susanfromhawaii
18 years ago
I can't answer all of the questions, but I started with 1 oz of worms in a small bucket. 9 months later I have well over a pound in a big plastic bin, but don't feel like disturbing them enough to separate and weigh all of them.

If the worms are drying out, it's not wet enough. In the beginning I kept things pretty wet and had leachate (the stuff that drips out the bottom - tea is different) most of the time. Now that my bin is better established, I've figured out how to give it enough water to keep it moist, but not have any dripping (despite the holes). I'd get yours a lot wetter. If you have drainage, they say it can't get too wet. I'd also dig around and see if you have any anaerobic pockets. I'd like to know why the worms are trying to escape.

Try getting it wet enough to leak, then leaving the cover off and a light over the bin. They'll bury themselves away from the light and settle in. Apparently they don't all settle in right away.

Welcome to the family of vermicomposters. Feed a worm, save a landfill.
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jpccusa
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Bill and Susan,

I never understood what part of the vermicomposting process would create the "gardener's tea." Well, now I know!

Bill, you said that by squeezing the bedding I should get a few drops... How do you squeeze it without squeezing some worms as well?

All the food I put in the bin has been finely chopped in order to speed up the decomposition process.

Regarding the Gnats, I buried the food scraps in the bedding, but since it is cardboard, they can get to it easily...

I'll try to use shredded newspaper... I believe I will have better water retention and less Gnats.

Thanks again Bill and Susan for the fast answers.
j_dubyak
18 years ago
If you properly moistened your bedding, and you have a plastic bin with a lid, the only additional moisture you need should come from your food scraps; they are mostly water after all - water that is eventualy liberated by the decomposition process.

If you can't feed that often because you don't have a lot of worms, a few mistings should be enough to keep your worms happy should things get dry (though even when not feeding for over a week my bin never got noticibly drier).

300 worms is plenty as long as you are willing to wait for the bin to get up to it's maximum capacity. However, if you want to be putting all your kitchen scaps in the bin right now, you'll need more worms...

Also, it's my understanding that a reasonable population of mites is a normal part of a healthy worm bin.
squeeze
18 years ago
squeeze it figuratively, it's not critical and can change rapidly, not at all "dry", not "sopping wet" - if your bin has drain holes, liquid coming out indicates too wet, if you don't have drainage and especially if you don't have any air holes in the upper area, it'll be likely to be too wet - if you leave the lid off, it's likely to get too dry

dig down along one side ocassionally and see how wet it is below, if your hand doesn't get dripping muddy it's fine ... and if you squeeze a worm in wet organic material, they'll prolly giggle, not likely to hurt them :)

Bill
jpccusa
Original Author
18 years ago
I might have added too many ventilation wholes on the top of the bin (where I found most of the dried worms).

I will post some pictures on the http://vermicomposters.ning.com website... I am JPCCUSA there as well. Take a look and give me your opinion.

Thanks,