I'd say you are off to a good start.

Hi Geg,

It sounds like you have the makings of a great bin. I do exactly the same thing here, only I have ten of those things fully running.

I think the key to this type of bin is DO NOT overfeed. For example, when I started a bin like that with 75 worms, I think I fed a total of 5 cups of feed in like 3 months (I dont remember exactly, been a while). I now have 10 bins with about 3 lbs each of worms. They each get a couple of cups every 2-3 weeks. If it gets very wet, add dry paper / cardbords ripped up. If it gets too wet, move all beddding to one end (pile it up), and elevated this end. All the liquid will drain to the empty end (give it a couple of days). Mop it up and level out the bedding again.

Have a search for my posts, and follow the "75 worm experiment". I think this will be right up your ally.

Keep up the good work bro!

LOL

J

Besides adding too much food, I think the 2nd most common problem (both for newbies and some of us that have been doing this much longer) is not adding enough bedding. Online compost calculators recommend that your ratio of bedding to food should be 20:1 if you're using newspaper. (That's the only one I checked.) However, even for other bedding types, the idea's the same. I don't add enough bedding to make 20:1 but I've started adding a LOT more, almost every other time I feed, and my worms seem to be happy - who knows. I just know you won't go anaerobic with that much bedding, or (my favorite error), heat up too much.

Thanks Susan! Do you just throw the bedding on top or do you mix it up?

geg: Sounds like you're off to a good start. I started my first worm bin 4 months ago (I now have 3-18 gal ones)and didn't think I'd be this excited and engrossed in worms. So have fun and relax. They're pretty forgiving. I do agree with Susan's suggestion of adding more bedding. I have found that newspaper really mats together, so I always combine it with corrugated cardboard, egg cartons, and leaves. One of the important requirements for worms is oxygen, and the mixed bedding allows for more oxygen in the bin.

I put lots of fluffed up wet machine shredded newspaper on top to discourage flying things. I'll put food under that 1-3 times depending on how things are going. Then I'll put food on top and put another layer of bedding. It eventually mats, but not right away. If you just put big squares of newspaper in, the worms will never get to the middle of the mats. It's not the end of the world, when you harvest, you just dump them back in to the working bin, but it's a hassle.

Because you're starting a new bin without any compost to put on the bottom, in about a month or two you will need to mix everything up because they won't get to the very bottom layers of the bedding without doing that. No matter what you started with, it will be really compacted and there won't be much oxygen. As my namesake pointed out, oxygen is absolutely crucial.

So to answer your question, I throw it on top, but it gets incorporated. I do occasionally mix up the top few inches of the contents, but more because I want to see what's going on than because it needs it.

Do you have holes in the bottom of your bin? At 4 inches high, it's not so important, but as the contents get deeper, holes help with 2 big problems. They allow oxygen to come in the bottom as well as the top, and you won't be able to get your VC too soupy wet. Worms can get through window screening, so don't bother with really small holes. Make them big enough that they won't get stopped up. In general, worms won't leave a good environment. If you find a bunch of them in the drainage part (I use the lid of the bin), then you know something's wrong with the bin.

My bins are inside my studio apt, so you'll only need to put yours out on the balcony if you want to. When I put mine on the balcony, they get a breeze and dry out REALLY quickly. Just a forewarning.