Makshift Bin Full - How to get them into a new one

19 years ago

Hi there,

I have been vermicomposting for 3 years now. Always used a styrofoam box (broccoli box) with holes drilled in the bottom. Its naturally insulated and seems to do a great job. Worm multiply readily. Over the years my mistakes have been a natural population control;

Too much water

Too much fruit (fermented)

Fly maggot infestation

Never have I destroyed the population, just reduced it and they have recovered well. Anyway, having learnt from each episode I seem to be doing a better job, and this year my worms are going great. So much so that the bin is now nearly full of castings and there are so many worms I cant beleive it.

So, I want them to migrate to a new box. But the new box is the same size so doesnt fit inside the first, so it doesnt seal perfectly and the bedding doesnt touch the top box. Every time i add enough feed to get the material to the top, after a few days it has shrunk back down.

In the past Ive always had to transplant them in an emergency so tipped out the box and sorted the worms on plastic. But I want them all to move by themselves, new hatchlings and all, dont care how long it takes.

If I put black tape around the join, and even though the bedding isnt touching the top box, will they migrate up the sides and through the holes in the bottom of the top box? I just dont want them to starve by not being able to make it to the new box.

A long winded question. Anythoughts would be good.

Thanks,

Raphael in Australia

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Comments (4)

swampboogiequeen
19 years ago
I'm the lazy vermicompster. But, I have made 5 successful bins out of my first 1.

All I do is...

harvest the bin by scooping everything up into a mound. Make sure there is light, and wait 5 minutes. The worms go down. Scrape off the top part until I hit a worm, and save that for my finished vermicompost. Rescoop everything into a mound, wait 5 minutes, repeat as necessary.

then, whatever is left at the bottom after I finish my bottle of wine, just gets dumped to a new bin.

Works fine. They're pretty resilient.
chuckiebtoo
19 years ago
Raphael: If you're adamant about letting the worms do the work, put an amount of food in the new bin equal to the empty space left in the old one. Flip the old one on top of the new one. Let gravity and worm intuition do the rest.

The worms'll gravitate downward. Scoop out compost after a few days and, if you just can't help yourself, you can go through those scoops and gather up cocoons and any worms with more important things on their minds than heading for the new cafeteria right away.

My most rewarding times messing with worms is taking a census every once in a while.

Chuckiebtoo

Hello, SBQ
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raphael_gardener
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for the help. You are right, its good see the accumulated mass of worms you've raised. i will do the 'pile-of-worms' method.

SHould be heaps!

Thanks again,
Raf
gardenfanatic2003
19 years ago
I just divided my bin tonight because it was wall-to-wall worms, and I used the "Super-Lazy Vermi-Composter Method". After the new bedding was prepared, I lifted up a rotten banana that was in the bin. There was a swarm of worms under it. Scooped them up and dumped them in the new bin. Had to take a few handfuls because there were so many of them. Did the same thing with another rotten banana that was in the original bin. There were 4 apple cores laying on top in the original bin. I did the same with each of them. Any worms that were crawling up the sides and on the lid were transferred to the new bin.

Sure, I got some of the old vermicompost from the old bin into the new bin, but that doesn't matter to me. It just helps to innoculate the new bin with microbes.

However, if you're wanting to get all of the worms out of your original bin, not just some of them, in my opinion, the easiest way would be to get a large Rubbermaid tub (30 gallon). Put some chicken wire in the middle, put the contents of your present bin on one side, and new bedding and food on the other side. They'll migrate over, but it won't be an instantaneous process. That's the easiest way for me, because I don't have the time or the patience to sit and sort through all the compost to get the worms out.

Deanna