Worm composting – how quickly to red wigglers reproduce?
I have decided to start worm composting in my kitchen. I went to a seminar hosted by my city’s waste management department about 3 weeks ago and the guy gave me a couple of worms to get started with. When I say a couple, I really mean about 9-15 worms (I keep reading about 1 lb bags of worms – I definitely don’t haven’t that many!). Anyway, everything is going well, my little makeshift composter is not smelling and things are getting eaten. The worms seem to be putting on weight too (and forming their little egg sacs) BUT I was wondering how quickly the population of worms will grow (how quickly they will reproduce under ideal conditions). I am not currently adding all the veggie material I can because I don’t want to over load them – there is still a lot of uneaten food in there so I am assuming they don’t need more . If anyone has any knowledge of how quickly they reproduce, I’d like to know so I can adjust the food amounts I add accordingly
Thanks a bunch!!
I didn’t know that about eggshells and white worms (nematodes?). I will absolutely keep that in mind.
I should probably add that I am keeping my bin inside (at approx 21′C), so the temp is ~constant. Where I live, we just had a snow storm and are apparently getting more flurries. I think that would kill off my little worms!
Sounds like you are doing fine on the food front. Less is more in the early stages. Once the weather starts to warm up so do the worms. Activity and munching will increase substantially as will the number of worms in your bin. After the first summer you should have an adequate number. You will still need to drop the amount of food going in during the winter as the worms slow down no matter how many you have in there.
Word of warning, if you notice little white worms then your bin is too acidic and this can kill your worms. The best way to avoid this is to regularly add crushed eggshells and avoid too many citrus fruits or onions/garlic going in.
Have fun. Adds a whole new dimension to composting and you will have liquid gold for your plants:)
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Slugs in compost heap. Good or bad?
I have a green plastic composter, with worms and ants.
I have been advised that the ants make the compost finer, and also add some nutrients to the soil.
However, slugs have taken up residency too. Is this good or bad??
To make good compost, you need to empty out your composter and turn the contents before putting it all back. The trouble with plastic ‘dalek’ composters is that it’s harder to do this than if you have an open-topped cubic one. Turning the compost lets air in, and this is good because oxygen is necessary to the decomposition process. Also, it helps to turn the stuff that was on the outside of the heap to the inside, so it gets a fair share of heat and moisture. If you have an established colony of ants, as well as the slugs, you evidently haven’t been doing this, and you can pick out the slugs whilst turning the heap. Get a big sheet of plastic and empty out the heap. Give it a good mixing and pile it back in. You can use any good stuff which may be at the bottom of the heap – I agree about not spreading the slugs’ eggs, but probably the stuff at the bottom would be OK as it’s been down below the level where they might have been laying.
Plastic composters are often sold as the ‘easy’ answer to making effortless compost – ‘you put the stuff in at the top and lovely compost comes out of the bottom in no time’ – but that’s just not so if you understand the compost-making process. I’d get rid of the plastic thing and get a proper 2-compartment cubic version. Cover it with bubble-wrap to keep the warmth in the heap, without getting mould spores which could damage your lungs, as carpet does. When it heats up in spring, turn the first heap into the second compartment and you’ll get lovely sweet compost with no ants or slugs.
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Directions on how to build a smaller plastic bin type composter using fishing worms and compostables?
I want to start composting on a small scale. I need directions on how to build an under the counter composter out of a small plastic bin using fishing worms and compostables…
Is there a website I can get this information from?
http://www.sierraclub.org/e-files/worm_bins.asp
up at the top of your screen, just type WORM BIN and you will get a number of sites.
I have a worm bin outside. We sent away for a box of worms when we set up our bin. We have so many worms. We only put certain kinds of stuff in the bin. No meat products, or oil, or table scraps. We only use fresh vegetable and fruit peels and pulp type stuff — stuff which is a by product of our kitchen prep work. Our worms love mango skins and pineapple. But I cut the pineapple into smaller pieces so it can be digested faster.
The table scraps and left over food we put in the city’s yard clipping recycling bin. Since they ask for the restaurant and home kitchen refuse, I think that the city probably uses the chemical composting method.
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help with composter?!?!?
my composter has been invaded by ants! i checked on it today and there were ants in my box. i read somewhere that you could flood it to get rid of them temporarily so i did that. i also read that if you mix sugar, hot water, and boric acid and pour it into a paper towel and put it in/around the composter they will eat it and die. the only pesticide i have at the moment is boric acid. any suggestions on how to deal with ants without harming my worms(red wrigglers)
bugs are like people, they’re attracted to food period. i put vegetable and fruit peelings(the pulp from our juicer, mostly carrots, celery, and apple). haven’t put anything new in for a few days cause i wanted the worms to eat all the scarps that was already in there.
That is the basic formula for Terra (Terro?) ant killer. The sugar attracts them and they take the sugar and boric acid back to the nest eventually killing them.
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Where can u find a can of worms?
I would like to make a composter
Anywhere there’s potential for trouble!
Seriously though, compost requires a certain type of worm. Nurseries and gardening centres usually sell them, or contact a worm farm supplier or check online.
My composter is a contained above ground tumbler. Can I add earth worms?
I wouldn’t add them directly to the tumbler because of the heat, and the fact that frequent tumbling will injure and kill a lot of worms. You can, however, turn the material out of the tumbler when it’s mostly broken down, and add worms to the compost as it "cures". If you turn the tumbler contents out onto the ground and cover them with a tarp, you shouldn’t have to buy red compost worms, they’ll migrate in from the surrounding area if it has grass or vegetation cover.
If you do buy worms, make sure you get "red wriggler worms", and not earthworms or nightcrawlers. Red wriggler worms are composting worms that live under piles of decomposing organic matter, not in the soil. Other worms live in the soil itself, and either won’t survive in a compost pile, or they’ll leave.
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Paper towels in a vermicompost?
So, I’m 15 and I’ve been working on being more environmentally conscious over the past few years. Now, I have a composter and I use vinegar and baking soda to clean. I know worms in a compost will eat paper towels and such. But my question is: Will worms eat a paper towel that has been used to clean with vinegar and baking soda? Will it injure the worms? Will it make the soil more acidic/basic? Thanks 
A few here and there would not be too bad. Figure the acidic acid in vinegar is the pretty much the same as in lemon peels.
But if you have had something bad enough growing in your bin that you needed to disinfect it, then toss the paper towels. You would not want to reintroduce a contaminate.
I keep a couple of pales of mature compost when I empty out the bin. As I put fresh material in the bin I sprinkle a layer of the mature compost over it. The colonies of good bacteria and worms get a head start. This layering seems to breakdown the material a bit faster with less smell.
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Is it okay to make a composter in an old large plastic bucket?
Would it harm the worms? Make the compost bad? Be perfectly fine?
S.O.K. but you have to ask yourself if the bucket is really big enough, cos compost really is a full year’s cycle til it turns into usable garden material and a bucket soon runs out of storage space if stuff is going to be coming in regularly (grass clippings, twigs, weeds, vegetation, kitchen vegetable waste plus sprinklings of earth)
I would go for a defunct larger plastic dustbin if there’s one handy. They’re not expensive, either, if you have to buy one.
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Worm farm and composting?
Hi, I’ve just started a veggie garden. So, I thought I’d be environmentally sound and start a worm farm an a composting bin (heat composting). I’ve read that worms don’t have teeth and things should be small enough for quick digestion. So, my question is:- If I put my scraps into the heat composter first, can I add this compost to my worm farm once it’s semi-composted?
Cheers 
You absolutely can do this.
It is exactly what I do and I am a worm farmer.
I put all my fruit and vegetable scraps in my traditional compost pile, let it go through the heat process, then begin feeding that pre-composted materials to the worm bins.
They go through it very quickly, it speeds up the entire process and makes a beautiful, nutrient rich finished product.
Good thinking!
Bluegill fishing assistance?
i have researched on line and many say a 1/32 ounce jig is the best things to use for these fish. I have plain jigs, what do i hook on them. All my rubber grubs are too big. All i have thats small are these, black soldier fly larvae. heres a picture of these worms.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/wp-content/gallery/bsfimages/bsfl-eating-an-apple-2-wtrmk.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/bsf-bucket-bio-composter-version-2-0/&usg=__GCYtE8J9lByn5M3jvSyRGMcICrE=&h=800&w=754&sz=469&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ryOETec506Ee9M:&tbnh=168&tbnw=168&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbsfl%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D653%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=143&vpy=81&dur=2390&hovh=231&hovw=218&tx=161&ty=114&ei=oBklTfqsI9H8nAeW2_jRDQ&oei=oBklTfqsI9H8nAeW2_jRDQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
do you think those will do for fishing bluegill?
WORMS! All you need is tiny pieces of worms on your hook. Don’t leave too much hanging off or the pesky fish will rip it off. Also, crickets and other insects work. Bread and corn have been known to work but I have never tried them. Good luck fishin’!
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