How will I know if there are too many worms in a bin?

15 years ago

I am quite certain that my 30-gallon Rubbermaid bin that I started a month ago with 2 pounds of worms is nowhere near over-populated, but I was just wondering...

Actually I am inclined to start another, smaller bin (just because I have a 10-gallon one ready) but keep reading that worms thrive more on neglect than being messed with. So since I just got them a month ago, although there are quite noticeably more worms and much bigger worms that I saw at first, should I just let 'em alone for a while yet? I am anxious to raise as many as possible before planting season so I can add them to my 10 raised garden beds outdoors. We just built the beds last fall, and filled them with compost from our local composting facility--but when we were filling the beds, and with all the digging I have done into surplus compost to use as mulch, I did not encounter a single worm (!!), so I really want to get some in there come warm weather.

I shredded & soaked a bunch of newspaper overnight a few weeks ago. Next day, I drained off the extra water, then wrung out the paper until it was like a wrung-out sponge. This sat in a covered bin by itself for a couple of weeks as I wanted to see if it would smell or get moldy or anything. (It didn't.) But it just seems so icky and artificial for worms to go into that as opposed to something more dirt-like... :-)

Then dh came home from Starbucks last week with a bag of their used coffee grounds. (I get them all summer and add them to the regular compost pile or put them around the roses and azaleas.) I decided to mix the grounds in with the paper (remember, I have not added worms; just still experimenting with bedding possibilities). Well, I noticed this morning that after a week there was a slight odor coming from that bin now; looked inside & saw that the grounds have gotten moldy in spots.

I am tempted to try adding some blender-chopped kitchen waste to that along with some used potting soil (which also contains some of last year's garden compost)to see if it will heat up like my regular outdoor compost piles. I thought maybe I could let it heat up once (if, indeed, it will--and I don't see why not) and then add some worms. I know I should not add the worms to hot compost in a closed container, or stuff that may become hot. Outdoors, they can move away, but there's nowhere to go in a bin!

Also, would a switch from peat to my mixture mess the worms' digestion up? I DO have a bag of peat out in the shed, it's just that it's kinda hard to wade through the snow to the shed right now, and the bag'll be pretty frozen. But if you think I should stick with that since it is what the herd is accustomed to, I will!

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

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Comments (2)

leearnold
15 years ago
WeedLady, I raise my worms in a bedding mixture of approximately 50% shredded newspaper, 33% shredded cardboard, 17% coffee grounds. Plus I add some sand, ground egg shells, and cornmeal. (small amounts) I try to NOT pay for anything that I don't have to!
The newspaper/coffee grounds complement each other really well. Newspaper holds water, coffee grounds don't. Newspaper clumps together, having the coffee grounds mixed through them prevents that. Plus, the worms LOVE the coffee grounds! And, after I mix the bedding, I do exactly as you said. I let it sit till it becomes "biologically" active.
As for your bin(s), two pounds isn't much and you have had them for a short while. I wouldn't mess with the worms to much yet. However, you might pull out a few of the breeders and toss into the new bin. Remember - patience is the vermicomposters mantra! You didn't say how much food scraps you are feeding the worms. The more you have to feed, the faster the "herd" will grow. I would give it another month or so though.
leearnold
15 years ago
Oh yeah, I forgot to say - the amount of worms in a bin will self adjust to the amount of food oyu are adding. The more food you add, the more worms there will be. The less food you add, the slower the population will grow. There really ISN'T such a thing as "to many".
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How will I know if there are too many worms in a bin?

Comments (2)

leearnold

leearnold

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