What exactly do you mean by "worm juice?" Anything like wheat grass juice? For people or plants? Seriously, it depends on if you want a lot of worms or a lot of castings.

Dick

To answer the question on which bin. I did not know there was a difference. I would prefer comments on both types. One for more castings, and one for more juice.

Thanks so much,

To answer the question on what kind of juice. I have a neighbor who has a crude wooden bin that she produces the worm castings and then allows the fluid (excresion) to run down a thin rubber type hose into a container. My DH wants to buy something that could sit out under the trees and would not look as bad as this open bin our neighbor has. He wants to produce castings and I want the juice.
The juice is for warding off bugs on veggies and roses and also as a plant stimulant.

Based on my research and not actual experience, I believe you might just want to use the worm castings to make tea rather than using the fluid that runs out of the bottom of the bin. Not that that fluid is necessarily bad, but it can become anerobic and that might not be good for the plants.

As to the type of bin. I like my rubbermaid bins. I just drilled holes in one and set it in a deeper one with no holes. There are lots of directions on the web. You can buy bins and some of them look really neat, but they're kind of expensive. You might want to start small and experiment with a less expensive setup then work your way up. For a business you might end up with something as big as the worm wigwam or even more.

I visited the Yelm Worm Farm in Yelm, Washington last year and it was very cool. They have a huge setup with buildings covering large windrows of red wigglers. I think they're feeding them dairy manure. Maybe horse manure. Anyway, they also have a great big worm tea brewer. I'm sure it's an expensive setup, and I don't know how much they sell, but it was neat to see. You might google them. There are some pictures on their website.

Good luck,
Mariann

I got a little hacked off when I saw the prices on worm bins (the pre-made kind) I mean really, 60 bucks? No offense to people that have them, I think they are cool, but just could not bring myself to spend that kind of money on something that I knew cost somewhere in the range of $5 to make. So off to my garage where I stashed my now not used recycling bins, a little work with a drill and voila, a worm bin. There it sits right behind me in the computer room, and in case my wife is reading, I promise to move it to the basement one day. Nothing fancy but the worms are happy.

So, to your question, what is the best worm bin.... depends on what you are looking for. You can do it cheap, or spend a little and get a cool worm 'hotel' but in the end I think the results are similar as long as you set it up,feed and care for them correctly.

I agree with MKitten. I believe the drainage from a worm bin is just leachate, not the compost tea you would be wanting. The actual tea is "brewed", with compost in aerated water for a few days, sometimes with some additives for food for the growing microherd. The tea would be used within a short time of stopping the aeration, so it does not become anaerobic. As for what bin is best, it would depend on your situation and it can be as expensive/inexpensive as you decide. Starting small is good advice, so you can see how it works and what works best for you.

I was interested inMKitten's post. I have aworm bin using Rubbermaid containers. Could you be a little more specific on the size holes you have and how they are spaced and any other info on your worm bin. My worms are not doing that well. I pu 1/4 inch screen on the bottom of mine. Maybe if I put it inside another one like yours, it might do better. Thanks.

I, too, have a Rubbermaid bin setup. I started with a 10 gallon, but quickly moved to an 18 gallon one. I just like having the flexibility of a little more space.

Anyway, I drilled some 1/2 inch holes in the bottom of the bin, probably about 10 of them, evenly spaced across the bottom. And some 1/5 inch holes around the upper rim of the bin. I had originally planned to put the bin inside another bin, hence the air holes at the top were spaced so that they would be open even when the bit was sitting in another. But instead, I use the lid from the second bin as a leachate catcher.

Because I can SEE how much leachate is there, I can more easily monitor the wetness of my bin. But it can be annoying if it overflows, or someone bumps the bin.I have it set on top of a hooded cat box in a fairly high-traffic area (between the kitchen and the back door), so it's easier to get into. But that means that the tray is about mid-thigh, and easy to bump when going past. If you don't want that worry, you might be better off using two bins. Or not using drainage holes at all and monitoring the wetness of your bin very closely, though I wouldn't really recommend doing that until you've been vermicomposting a while and have a good feel for how much moisture your system needs.

As to your worms not doing well... If you just got them and are just starting out, you probably don't need to worry too much. Mine didn't get "settled" for a couple of weeks, and my system and worm population didn't really get to the point where I could say they ate a consistent amount of scraps until six months or so. Now, the bin is teeming with worms, and they eat a good couple pounds of scraps a week.

Things to watch for:

Moisture. Too wet and it will go anerobic. If you open the bin and it's stinky and wet, it may be too wet. I seldom "water" my worms anymore, though at first I sprinkled a little water in tehre every couple of days. Now the moisture from the feedstock is enough to keep it damp enough. Sometimes too much so, depending on what I'm feeding them.

Food. They don't eat the actual food, they eat the bacteria that grows on it as it decomposes. So if you just fed them "fresh" scraps, they probably won't seem interested. They'll be eating the scraps you put in there last week. Next week they'll start working on the ones you put in there today. That idea was strange to me at first, until I understood what they ate. I was discouraged that the food didn't seem to be being eaten. But as I continued to put foodstock into the bin, the previous offerings were disappearing.

Odor: If you open the bin and it's stinky and not too wet, it may be the foodstock. YOu may have too much foodstock in there for the number of worms you have, or may need to bury odiferous veggies like onions and broccoli in the bottom of the bin. If it's stinky, add add more bedding or remove the offening foodstock.

Pests: Fruitflies are the most annoying little bugs. *grumbles* I freeze any fruit before putting it in the bin, especially banana peels. This kills fruitfly eggs. But the other thing that really seems to help is burying the food deeply. Molds will grow in your bin. They're normal. If they get too big for your liking, check the moisture. I will leave the lid off my bin overnight to help dry things out. And I'll use some of the bedding to scrap the mold off the sides of the bin and get it down into the system where the worms can eat it. Indoor bins don't have some of the critter problems that outdoor bins can get. But in general, you need to remember that the bin is its own self-contained microsystem, and that bugs and worms and bacteria and mold work together for you to decompose your scraps and give you wonderful castings.

I put a link to what I used as the design for my first worm bin. After making that one I wasn't nearly as exact with my others. My most recent bin does not have drainage holes in the bottom, but I've been doing this for awhile now, and can tell better if it's too wet than I could when I first started out. It takes about 3 months for the bin to get going well. I'd say after about 6 months it's at the point where it can be split into two bins if you want more. The information in the post above was really good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubbermaid Bin