It does seem to depend alot on the variety. Mid-August, I planted about 20 leaves. One had babies within a week (I kid you not!), that was Rob's Boolaroo. The other Bolaroo leaves took a little longer, but still all had babies before anyone else. The Gallwinku babies (leaves smaller than Bolaroo) though took about a month to show up. Another I planted, a NOID, just sent up babies about two weeks ago. The second leaf of this NOID is still happy and turgid-but, no babies yet! All the others were somewhere in between, the average about a month. These were all grown in the same flat, under the same conditions. I'd been wondering if the large leafed varieties take longer. The NOID is a very large plant and the leaves are easily 3 + inches wide and a little taller. This is interesting to me. I would love to hear more folk chime in on the varieties and time it took! Best, Judy

It is my understanding that during the peak daylight hours the plants produces nectar about every 30 minutes. Now if you are watering the plants via sprinkler it takes the plant overnight to reproduce the nectar that was diluted by the water falling directly on the flower. That is why it is recommended that we butterfly enthusiasts only water plants with soaker hoses or other underground systems.

You will just about always have some material you can recognize. Two months would be way to soon in a newly started bin. After one year in one bin I could still find very small pieces of paper and cardboard. Conversion to vermicompost is subject to a lot of variables. A few are: 1. temperature the bins are at. 2. Type of food fed before you received them and what you feed now. This determines how fast the herd goes to work. If they were introduced to brand new food it would take some time for them to 'get going'. 3. How much food is added and how often. 4. Were the new bins seeded with compost which had some of the bin life necessary? I think you get my drift, there are no hard and fast rules. If there is random pieces of leftover bedding and food I would not worry about it but would harvest if I were ready.

Thank you for all the thoughtful responses. I'll try to answer questions and update briefly. Sylviatexas, I'd thought of trying the back door, but couldn't get him to come to me there. He's so used to going out the back door in the morning. Yes, I think he connected me and the "big giant slab of door" big time. :-) Annztoo, when the door hit him I stepped outside and called to him with soothing words. There's no problem with his room. Once I bring him in and deposit him at the threshold, he goes right in. In the morning, he's curled up in one of two beds. (Scruffy is usually in the other.) Incidentally, that's the only room downstairs that has a door. I have a very old house with an open floor plan that evolved over the years. Yes, Rocky is eating and drinking normally. I don't have a way to plug in a heating pad on the porch, so for quite a few years I've been using these: Snuggle Safe Microwave Heatpad I have three, and I can't say enough good things about them. Emory, good point about changing a routine forever. I thought of that the other day. Cats love their routines! Or are slaves to them. Either one. Propping the door would be an interesting--and possibly useful--experiment, but it would let single-digit air in. :-) Lukkiirish, I've had experience with cats who were born "in the wild" (barns, etc.)--in fact, my present cat Peachy was one of the tiny kittens and mama we discovered in our ice house. Although these cats could be very affectionate, they were skittish when presented with sudden noises or movements. Come to think of it, so am I--and I was born in Manhattan General Hospital! :-) But Rocky has never been like that. He was calm, curious, and affectionate from the start. I suspect he was dropped off here, possibly because of a persistent infection in his foot that eventually necessitated the amputation of one toe and ended up costing me over $500. While recovering from that, and again from a later injury, Rocky slept with me. One sweet memory I have from those times is when I was petting him, and then stopped. He reached out one of his large paws and gently pulled my hand back over to him so I'd resume petting. Of course I did. Current Resident, good point about how traumas possibly experienced by Rocky in the past might play into this event. I can't know what happened to him before he came here, but I observed something that happened last year. Before that, for his first two years here, Rocky was perfectly secure as "king of the mountain" on our property. He and Scruffy were best buds (still are--no problem there), and he had plenty to amuse himself all day. You could sense his serenity and ease. Then last year a stray cat showed up and attacked him. I saw it happen, the cat leaping in the air and landing on Rocky. He remained in the area for a few weeks, and I heard stories of other attacks. Then he disappeared, but Rocky's demeanor was changed slightly, and apparently for good. The change was subtle, but I noticed it. Update: Yesterday was quite a bit better. Rocky didn't follow me to the mailbox like he used to, but he hung around me outside and got lots of petting. That morning, when I took him out of the bathroom I sat at my desk with him and gave him lots of petting and sweet talk. I received a lot of purring and paw-kneading in return. So last night it went like this: At bedtime I dished up his canned food as usual, but this time I took the empty can with me and set it on the porch. Rocky came over to sniff it, and I petted him a couple of times. Then I picked him up and brought him inside. With Emory's caution about creating a new routine in mind, instead of carrying him to the bathroom I set him down inside the front door. He ran off into the living room, but only briefly. Then he walked past me to the back door, but that was okay because it gave me an opportunity to show him his dinner dish, let him sniff it, and let him see that I was putting it in the bathroom. Sure enough, he followed the dish into the bathroom. Whew! This morning we sat at my desk again for more petting. I'm feeling more hopeful, even as I'm aware this will take more time and patience. Thank you all again!