Your bars are too close together. I think some people place them as far apart as 3 inches. The Worm Wigwam has a grid with holes 3 inches by 2 inches. The vermitopia bins put the bars (it uses ropes) 2 inches apart.

If you are going to harvest by manually scraping VC between the bars, cross bars will make the process more difficult.

Oh good, too close is not a problem cause I can easily remove the bars in between.

Thanks for helping! I am trying my best not to kill my first batch of worms!
Karen

One thing I have noticed in my own flowthrough bin is that you don't want much space between the wall of the bin and the closest bar. With even just an inch of space, I have VC falling down through that space.

Maybe because when I tear apart a bin the worms seem to like to put their castings on the walls. Thus the most composted and finest grain material will be between that first bar and the wall and fall out first. The other spaces have the whole middle to hold them up. That is my theory. Could be wrong. If it is true and the most worked material is along the outside edge than maybe we don't want bars but a circle in the middle holding up the middle. Or a funnel upside down angling material to the quick results area.

Thanks for the info!

I am hoping this bin is ok. The sides are closer maybe 3/4 inch.

also, can I add brewers yeast to a bin? I have some that is expried

thanks!

I am curious, why does it bother you to have VC falling down?

My thoughts now are to leave it until it does fall down rather than hurry it along with a scraper. This allows more time for better processing - more vermicast and less vermicompost.

A small amount, I don't mind. Otherwise, I want it to come down when I want it to, not when it decides to.

If it's castings, I'd want it to fall continuously. Compost with chunks of 1/2 processed material I would want to stay in the bin. I'm thinking of going ahead and setting up a flow thru..not because I am unhappy with my bins but because I am looking at the continuous (even if small amount) supply of castings.

If it is castings, I'd want it to fall continuously, but I don't expect the VC to be smart enough to know when it should fall. If I manage the bin properly, I can make that determination better than the VC can.

I respect your opinion, and look forward to your posts, they are among the best, I enjoy them greatly, but I disagree, Sorry. I think it is ok. It is through this process of everybody doing things totally different that we all learn and the fastest and new methods are discovered. I support everybody doing vermicomposting even the exact opposite of me. I learn lots from them too. (You all tossing in 100% wet office paper know who you are :-)

I want smart vermicastings. I envision a vermicomposting flowthrough nirvana where the vermicastings hit a magical dryness and self crumble into the collection plate. I do not want to have to manage a bin properly other than ensuring conditions are not bad for the worms. I do not want to have to make determinations. I want the worms, the engineering of the bin, and time to do the work.

Realistically this is no where near happening for me yet, but I am working towards it.

pjames, welcome to the club. A tip. Put the falling through material into a wire basket of you desired opening size and shake it. What falls out can be put into a bucket to cure and cocoons to hatch. The larger 1/2 inch or 1/2 cured stuff can go on top to be processed again. It should help the new stuff along and balance out.

This does not exactly fit in with my idea of no work but it is fun.

I may just leave it alone then. I prefer them to just fall out when ready.

I hope my worms come today! I am getting excited and the food is rotted and waiting for them.

Karen

My thoughts are that you can't really overcook VC, so the longer it gets processed, the more pure it becomes.

I also prefer the concept of just using a shovel to collect 1/2 bucket of VC every few days rather than having to lie or kneel down next to the bin and grope around inside trying to rake some VC out. I have found some spider web in the harvest chamber, and as we get a couple of very nasty varieties around here (red-back spiders and white-tail spiders) there is less incentive for me to put my hand in there.

When I first started harvesting, I ended up getting a stiff piece of wire and bending it up at each end. I then poked one end into the harvesting chanber and used the other end like a handle, so I could gouge away without having to get down low enough to use a small hand implement. This worked quite well and I was wondering how to improve on it, but then I noticed the VC started to "self harvest" which made me even happier.

My FT is still less than 4 months old, so it seems to me that it is still evolving and the self harvesting action may stop - or get better as time goes on.

I suspect it also matters what you feed it, so probably no two will really work the same.

The collected VC is still a bit too damp, possibly it drops to sit in some leachate as I blend my veg scraps and occasionally was adding water during summer to keep the bin cool. So far I have used some to make AVCT, and added some when planting in the garden, but the rest I am putting into a COW along with the handful of worms that are still in it, to allow it to dry out a bit more.

That COW is now 3 layers of VC with a small quantity of worms to keep it "alive" and I am not adding any extra food. I have only just started it, so it will be interesting to see if it works as a finisher for me.