Who Among You have a Worm Inn

11 years ago

Humming steve asks about tiers. I have one of those, sort of. See Design an Outdoor Bin. Those worms are existing at 40ÃÂº unless they dropped into the hole below, in which case they may be enjoying 50ÃÂº.

I have never had compost of any kind warmer than ambient temperature.
How does giving them lots of food keep them warm ?

My Worm Inn has the white patches that the burlap gets when molds get to it.
Will it rot ?

On the issue of Design, I think the Inn needs to be on a pulley aka block and tackle.

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Comments (3)

nexev - Zone 8b
11 years ago
Hi Barbara, fresh organic material that is high on the 'greens' (nitrogen) side will be quickly colonized by the bacteria that break it down. These little creatures generate heat while working, maybe just a tiny bit each but the more of those greens you have in one pile the more they will multiply and billions of them can make some serious ticks on the thermometer.

This is the same as a compost pile that heats up simply by the mix of greens/browns and adding water. In the worm bin you dont want it to get too hot though so the worms need a place to escape even if it is just the other side of a tray. As I understand it to get to the really hot bacteria (thermophilic) the pile needs quite a lot of mass so that probably isnt an issue for the worm bin but even lower temperature bacteria can push heat up over 100F which isnt good for the verm.
mendopete
11 years ago
"Compost heat is produced as a by-product of the microbial breakdown of organic material. The heat production depends on the size of the pile, its moisture content, aeration, and C/N ratio. Additionally, ambient (indoor or outdoor) temperature affects compost temperatures." This is from Cornell university compost physics. I hope it helps you understand.

If your hanging worm-bag is made of burlap, I think it may rot. Then again, I have boiled water in a plastic bottle on a campfire and the bottle did not melt! Who knows??

Happy Wormin'
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barbararose21101
Original Author
11 years ago
The Worm Inn isn't burlap but has burlap in it. EQ's Worm Inn has white patches too.

The only Hot piles I've ever seen was about 6' x 6' of fresh-cut grass. It was steaming.

Since I leave cut grass on the "lawn" I never have that green.

I did for a while compost dog poo in a deep hole with the neighbor's grass clippings. Until she decided to leave her's on her lawn. I have a compost thermometer, but didn't think to use it there. When that hole filled up I began to obey the city preference that we bag dog poop in degradable dog poop bags and put in garbage. (The neighbor lets me use her pickup service ).

I guess I can use the thermometer to check temperatures in my variety of piles. To be continued.