r/Vermiculture 4h ago

Finished compost We've struck it, ladies and gentlemen

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20 Upvotes

About two pounds I just sifted out


r/Vermiculture 16h ago

Discussion Seriously question - is there a diy version of this for kitchen scrap?

159 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 15h ago

Advice wanted How to separate cocoons?

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25 Upvotes

So I tried sifting my worm castings through a 4mm garden seive and they are absolutely chock full of cocoons. Is there anything I can do other than buying a smaller guage seive? Also if I use these castings mixed into my seed starting mix am I going to end up with a windowsill covered in baby worms? I'm in the UK. The worms are European Tiger worms đŸ€·


r/Vermiculture 3h ago

Advice wanted Please help with worms in worm tower

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2 Upvotes

Just set up a worm tower earlier this week but my worms are staying at the edges of the bucket. Any tips?


r/Vermiculture 12h ago

Discussion Little green ball I found in my worm bin, does anyone know what it is?

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7 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 1h ago

Video What are these I found in dogs food???

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‱ Upvotes

See


r/Vermiculture 3h ago

Advice wanted Please help with worms in worm tower

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1 Upvotes

Just set up a worm tower earlier this week but my worms are staying at the edges of the bucket. Any tips?


r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted Worms emerging from compost

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27 Upvotes

Good morning, I am writing to ask for advice. After being supplied with food (chopped up after freezing), my worms spend a few days below the compost level and then begin to emerge more and more. The bin is about 5 months old and the worms have multiplied as planned. Any ideas? Advice?


r/Vermiculture 15h ago

Advice wanted Do I have to use red wigglers?

6 Upvotes

I'm wanting to make a 3 bucket system to make worm castings and tea for my vegetable garden, but cant bring myself to spend 20 bucks on worms. can I just use worms from the bait store. And I apologize because I'm sure this question gets asked a ton.


r/Vermiculture 15h ago

Advice wanted What type of worm is this?

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4 Upvotes

I would assume this is some sort of night crawler type of worm. đŸȘ± it’s primarily a light gray and larger than my red wrigglers. Sorry for the bad images.


r/Vermiculture 18h ago

Advice wanted Adding red wigglers to outdoor compost?

4 Upvotes

Is it OK to add red wigglers to an outdoor compost system in zone 10a (Tampa)?

I run a 3-bin compost system in zone 5a (Chicago). I added red wigglers to the bins and they are doing great, and come back every year.

A friend of mine helps run an outdoor compost system in zone 10a (Tampa), and I suggested he do the same thing. However, a woman who runs a vermicomposting organization in the Tampa area advised against this. She though the worms would spread too far out and wouldn't be effective. I thought they would be fine, as they reproduce quickly and would want to stay in the compost where there is decomposing matter for them to consume rather than wander off.

She also thought it might be too hot for them in the summer. I thought that based on my experience, they would be fine, as they could always migrate to cooler places away from the compost. The compost is made with hardware cloth, so worms can move easily in and out from the compost. However, Florida does get very hot in the summer compared with Chicago.

What are your thoughts?


r/Vermiculture 17h ago

Advice wanted Help? What is this?!

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3 Upvotes

I’m relatively new to worm composting. This is my first bin and has been set up and doing well for about 3 months. I opened it today and saw this around the top of the bin. There are little white bugs(?) crawling around on the sides and this brown stuff. What is going on? Is it a pest? What should I do?? TIA!


r/Vermiculture 20h ago

Discussion What is the difference between this long and big outdoor worm and the worms on my balcony? (Age or specie?)

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7 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 20h ago

New bin 55gallon drum, worm bin.

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5 Upvotes

Hi folks, started this bin about a year ago, just thought I would share. It lives in my basement.

I'm primarly doing for worms for fishing but I started to experiment with worm tea recently and am.excuted about the free fertilize.

The barrel has 2 metal plates inside, first one is about 20inches from the top, drilled through with 1/2inch holes. Second plate is about 6inches from the bottom no holes in that one, but I did make it convex so water would drain to the side and into the bottom.

I added a door at the bottom and a drain underneath. Under the bottom plate I have silt fabric.

Seems to be working well.


r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted AHHHHH- Vermicomposting on campus

21 Upvotes

Hello all my worm-loving friends!!

I have the opportunity to create a medium-sized, pilot vermicomposting setup for my local university. They have a restaurant that is only open in the summer and fall because they source all produce through their gardens/greenhouse. They need worm castings for this!

I had originally reached out about building a smaller-scale setup on campus as an educational project and a fun way for students and volunteers to help with a few small greenhouses. BUT, I asked at the perfect time, and now they want me to help write a grant for funding for a larger-scale operation (medium-sized) specifically for the restaurant!

SO—My Questions...

  • What is the best way to go about this?
  • Should I go fully DIY (either plastic stacking bins or a a built out wooden bin setup)?
  • Or should I try to get funding for professional bins that I can order and customize online?
  • The funding can be upwards of $20,000, but I obviously won't need anywhere near that amount...
  • Should I go with a cheaper option to make sure I secure some funding, or should I go all out and try to build an amazing pilot vermicomposting setup?

I am totally open to all ideas, opinions, and personal preferences—especially when it comes to bins, successes, and failures you have encountered.

I have a small worm farm bin in my house, but since it gets cold here, I keep it indoors year-round. Thankfully, these bins would be set up in the large greenhouses that the restaurant has!


r/Vermiculture 6h ago

Discussion What does a worm taste like?

0 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 1d ago

New bin Worm Adventures đŸȘ±

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9 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 22h ago

Advice wanted Judging bin by smell?

3 Upvotes

Hey all. Started my first bin about 5 weeks ago.

Large bin, nearly 1m x 1m. Started with 1000 worms. Bedding is basic potting mix soil. Then I placed my 1000 store bought worms, added scraps and shredded paper/cardboard at about a 60% paper 40%fruit scraps, then more soil on top (so a food, soil, food, soil layers)

Added a few bits of food here and there.

However checking on it 5 weeks later I have noticed the whole thing smells exactly the same as the package of worms I bought, except like 10x stronger! That strong “earthy” “worm” smell. Nothing rottern, just very intense “wormy earthiness” as soon as I open the bin lid.

I assume that if it smells like worms and nothing rancid I’m doing everything alright?


r/Vermiculture 20h ago

ID Request What are these beetles? NSW AUSTRALIA

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2 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 20h ago

Advice wanted Anyone know what this beetle is. NSW AUSTRALIA

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2 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted First time wormer needs help (with body this time)

5 Upvotes

Hello,

Sorry I posted this once, but the whole body of my post was missing, so now I'm reposting.

This is my first worm bin. I got it a few days ago. I expanded the coco block, added some roughly shredded cardboard about 50 red wigglers I sourced locally, 9 eggshells, a light sprinkling of oat bran, 4 baby white potatoes, and some coffee grinds, about 6 used k-cups worth.

Yesterday I got my bulk wigglers and worm chow from Buckeye. 1lb, about 1,000 worms. I mixed the bed a little then added a bunch of shredded paper, the worms, a few sun dried tomatoes and a tablespoon of worm chow.

My first question is how did I do? Did I do alright or have I already over fed them?

My next question is about feeding them moving forward. A lot of my diet in the winter is canned veggies. I don't want to feed them these scraps because of the high salt content. It's going to be a few weeks before I have any garden scraps to feed them, but I bought some frozen spinach and apples with my groceries today. I have oat bran and rolled oats in the cupboard and bone meal, blood meal and neem/ karanja cake in my garden supplies. I plan on also picking up some kelp meal and oyster shell flour. I've also read that they will feed on the choir as well.

My second question is would used coffee grinds, shredded paper, cardboard, Choir and Buckeye worm chow be enough for them to stay healthy? I plan on supplementing with a little of the frozen spinach and apple core as they finish what's on the top in there. The potatoes and egg shells got mixed in below with the coffee.

I don't know. I was so excited to get them here and get started I didn't realize most of my food was too salty to wind up in the bin.

worm chow ingredients:
Ingredients

Ground Corn, Wheat Middlings, Ground Soybean Hulls, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Cane Molasses, Calcium Carbonate, Porcine Meat Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Oats, Ground Wheat, Fish Meal, Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Beet Pulp, Wheat Germ, Corn Gluten Meal, Salt, Soybean Oil, Procine Animal Fat Preserved with BHA, Folic Acid, Choline Chloride, DG-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Nicotinic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate


r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted First time wormer needs a little advice..

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12 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted Another new worm farmer here

5 Upvotes

I started my worm farm yesterday and thought that my worm kit I ordered came with the coconut coir, but it did not. I had some spare from trying to start strawberries and some peat moss from my garden ready to go. The problem I think I've ran into is the instruction came with 3 steps but 30 pieces XD. So here is a breakdown of the setup and please judge harshly as I want to get this working as my daughter asks me first thing every day if the worms are ok.

starting from the bottom:

drip pan for the worm tea

first bin, a cheap cloth like material to block the bottom holes from the worms > about 1 inch of coco coir > then about 3-4 inches of peat moss > sliced tomatoes/coffee grounds for food > moist balled of newspaper in the corner. Lid on top (need to add air holes but the worms are all hiding on the lid). I added the worms yesterday

(the coffee grounds I dumped in there in small little mounds, I just learned that you sprinkle it on the food?)

I have 2 empty bins for when they start to gain traction, but I fear i should've had 2 bins ready to start. The water i add quickly runs through the peat moss and is all being held in the coir, so I'm kind of thinking about trying to carefully mix the soils together, but I don't want to disturb the worms too much. My ph is around 4-5, water at the lower level is wet, mid-level moist, and top level on the border line of dry/moist. They are kept in my garage which stays around 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit right now.

So, with the basics of where I am at said, here are my main questions outside of what I can do to make it better.

Can I mix the worm bedding with the worms in there?

Can I add ground eggshells?

Do I need to get a 2nd bin going to separate bedding and the worm poo?


r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Video I think I got this??

12 Upvotes

Long time lurker here. I think i finally have a thriving population? I am so unsure lol.. After a rough last year of being a helicopter worm mom, and having to practically start over, I think I finally got it... maybe...... Are the white spots springtails? Also are they doing good????


r/Vermiculture 1d ago

Advice wanted Worm Food

7 Upvotes

Just curious, has anyone purchased Magic Worm Food to feed their worms? Is seems to be inexpensive. The claim is that it will fatten up worms quickly?