Hey verminscum what IS a "custom built mechanical flow through system"? A much better description with pics would help. Your questions seem like the type a newbie would ask of an experienced "Urban Worm Manager".

How a forum works is people post questions and get answers posted publicly from an assortment of other people. In that manner everybody learns a little bit from each post and group knowledge is expanded. Skipping that step makes for a boring board.

Hiring a consultant gets an in depth look at a particular system from top to bottom including answering questions one might never even know to ask about improving the health and productivity of said system.

The senior vermicompost consultants on this board are not available for hire at any price and would be unlikely to personally e-mail to you their answer. The only way to get the benefit of their knowledge and experience is to share a bit of your knowledge and experience in this or another public forum.

That is how most public forums work.

The more you can tell us about your system, the more we can help with answers that will meet your specific needs.

A bit of research on the topic of vermicomposting available right in the archives of this website will freely give you knowledge of the topic. It does take just a few hours of work. That is what we all did. Then we asked questions of a specific nature that may have not been covered 200 times in the archives. A better question will get you a better answer, often many better answers.

It seems to me an Urban Farm Manage would have a lot of information on moisture percentage, food diversity, temperature control, and pest control to add to the often times rambunctious discussions here.

Also, like fencing, breastfeeding, and managing people, you may find that vermicomposting is more of an art than a science. Often times a full knowledge of how the system is working involves getting right in there with the process to see exactly what is going on. Most likely one of your experienced workers is vastly familiar with the answers to your questions. They could tell you more about the system than any book. Worms do not read the books thus they do not know how to behave according to it. It really is a hands on learning process to be able to judge the answers to those questions.

moisture percentage: of the food, bedding, results?
food diversity: what types of food are you considering?
bedding: why no question about bedding diversity?
temperature control: Are you vermicomposting in a temperature controlled building?
pest control: inside the bin or outside the bin such as cockroaches, mice, rats and snakes.
Who are the benefactors of your vermicompost? Is it simply a method to handle green wastes or to gain compost?

How did you happen to be in charge of a a custom built mechanical flow through system without a familiarity of the process of vermicomposting?

What type of worms do you have? How are you sure?

Anything I missed I am sure a few of our resident senior vermicompost experts and even up and coming regular level, and a few newbie level posters will correct. The newbies are the posters with all the great, new ideas that keep the board squirming.

~ Ugly, Mean, Old, housewife with a worm or two in the basement

Right on equinoxequinox! Very well said (written).

Hi verminskum. I interpreted "Urban Worm Manager" to simply mean someone who is managing worms in an urban environment. (like me!) Even if I'm wrong, well, we shouldnt be so hard on you. At the end of the day we're just talking about worm poop :-)

To answer your question...worms require the same environment regardless of the tyPE of system. Bedding, small doses of food, moist but not soggy environment, etc...

Are you asking if a mechanical flow through system has special requirements? If so, can you please provide the name of the system ?

Donegal, Ireland
Crazy Compost Wacko Who Also Loves Worm Poop!

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Vermicomposting Website