Starting a worm bin

[canagen]

I was able to pick up some nice composted horse dung from the local equestrian center and I relocated the remaining worms I had to this new bedding over a layer of shredded newspaper. The worms should have a feast but my question is should I be adding anything to this in order to create better worm castings? When I sifted through the dung, there were clumps of undigested hay along with the black composted stuff that readily crumbled. Should I add more greens as in grass clippings?

Appreciate any and all comments.

 

[BakedARea]

When your bin is acclimated and productive, I would recommend using it as a compost bin for your food scraps. Don't overfeed it and you should have incredible castings from it.

 

[Stunger]

Remember not too much greens all at once in case it gets too hot for them, especially in hot weather.

 

[Vegan4life]

I watched this video from "growingyourgreens". It was very helpful to me.

 

[canagen]

I ended up just adding the rotted wood picked previously. I figured with the undigested hay and wood the worms should have enough food for awhile. I would just need to monitor moisture. Worms seem to like their new environment as I haven't seen any escapees. I am waiting for that manure pile to go down a bit in hopes of snagging more worms.
Cheers.

 

[greenjeans]

I add food scraps - no meat - shredded newspaper, shredded leaves, almost anything that would rot into the ground. BUT...it takes time!!! Altho, the worms once acclimated, will multiply real fast. I had five tubs, went down to None but then in the fall when I gathered up the earth from my plants I found about a dozen worms, so I started over - I now have three bins on the go.
That part about heating up is true...I had that start for the first time ever...caught it just in time.

 

[canagen]

...That part about heating up is true...I had that start for the first time ever...caught it just in time.

Yeah once I put them all in the bin, the first thing I noticed was the start of condensation on the lid which prompted me to add more ventilation. But it's good to hear that they can multiply fast. Worms aren't cheap for what they are and I see worm farming as a growing trend here in Edmonton.

 

[canagen]

Worm bin experts! I need an opinion

I layered some hay and moistened with LAB 2 days ago. Am I seeing fungi and is it beneficial?

Many thanks for any insight.

 

[greenjeans]

Not sure what LAB is but I have found that most stuff does better when it is buried in the compost - the new material needs to become almost liquid for the worms to eat it - I think - the hay would make a good cover and the worms will come to the surface of the underlaying material and fart around there for awhile but can't make much use of the hay.

 

[canagen]

LAB (Lactic Acid Bacteria) promotes decomposition, among other things. I've been using it on my soil during initial mix as well as spray for odors in and around the place. As far as I can tell, it works albeit slow.

What I was wondering was if that growth on the surface is beneficial or harmful. It almost looks like Beneficial Indigenous Micros but I thought that BIM was supposed to be a whitish shade.

Thanks for the reply and I layered hay in it to help with moisture content. I believe my bedding was not deep enough at ~3" in a 15G bin and I find it dries out too fast. Currently struggling with ambient rh these days.

Cheers.

 

[Vegan4life]

Mold, fungus it’s all part of the decomposition process

 

[greenjeans]

Hey Can - If it was my bin I would get about 6 inches of soil in there and bury all that stuff up. The worms need something to move around in. I don't know what all you have in there but if the worms feel crowded they probably won't breed and I think they like room so that they could move away from an area that is too wet or too dry. I don't know if you need LAB and I don't know if the worms would like it - they may love it - I don't know - but decomposition will happen naturally.

 

[canagen]

Yeah I was also thinking about soil depth. Thanks.