Rotating the bins and Harvesting Worm Castings

by Barry
(Lakehills, Texas)

(1) When the middle bin is full, do you put moist bedding in the top container with the food for the worms to migrate to?


(2) When you harvest the castings, will the shredded newspaper used for bedding already be broken down as compost or must it be separated from the castings?

(3) Won't the plastic sheet and cardboard 'cover' shut off the ventilation to the bed?

Thanks you for your response(s)

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Jul 04, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Worms migrating into the top worm bin
by: Stephan Admin

Hello Barry,

thank you for your interesting questions!

Let me answer them one by one.

Qustion(1) When the middle bin is full, do you put moist bedding in the top container with the food for the worms to migrate to?

Answer 1) You can but don't have to add bedding to the top bin once the middle one is full. You can just start adding food in small quantities and the worms will start to follow the food into the top bin.
Some of them might return to the bottom others will stay. Over a period of time more and more worms will move upwards and stay.

If you want to support their actions you can take every now and than a handful of bedding and worms from the middle bin and add it to the top bin. The process of worms moving from the middle bin to the top will take a while but will happen bit by bit.


Question (2) When you harvest the castings, will the shredded newspaper used for bedding already be broken down as compost or must it be separated from the castings?

Answer 2) When you harvest the castings the shredded paper will most probably have been eaten up by the worms and converted into castings. If there is any left over paper remove it and add it to the top bin.


Question(3) Won't the plastic sheet and cardboard 'cover' shut off the ventilation to the bed?

Answer 3) The worms don't need a huge amount of air ventilation in their bins. The cardboard, newspaper and plastic sheet shouldn't cover the surface of the bin like a tight glove and usually don't do. If there are some gaps here and there along the sides that air can get in and out that will be more than sufficient for the worms.

I hope these answers help.

Kind regards and happy worming Barry

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