I love this. Why? My daddy raised red wigglers all my life, and I just naturally do it too. He had worm beds in a bath tub, an old refrigerator laid on it's back (door taken off) and an old chest freezer (He used a carpet scrap to cover that one). The last one he made was out a barrel that was cut in half lengthwise that laid on a stand made from rebar. It was easier on him as he aged. Not only did we use them in the gardens, but he sold them for fishing to the locals. My oldest granddaughter used to love digging for worms with me. Memories! Hope these ideas help others.
We are seeing a revolution happen before our very eyes… the rise and empowerment of brilliant, helpful media content creators. Gratitude for all these enthusiastic activist-helpers in the world. And for this video, my red wigglers thank you.😁❤️🙏🏼
Without people like you who make it simple and clear, beginners like me wouldn't be able to do it. Thanks for the information and i will be looking out for your vids👌🏿🥒🥦🍅🍅🍓🍉
Thank Elsie and Albert for sharing this important information with us. Im in South Africa been breeding worms as hobby for more than ten (10) years now. I am going small commercial but your bath 🛁 method just enhanced what i already had for years. Teaching children at a local school will go a long way. Thats where i have vowed to start.
Hi my brother I'm also from South Africa i see you more experienced with worm farming i want to start it maybe you can share some ideas really appreciate it we can contact each other kind regards take care
THANK YOU for SHARING , it's good to know why red California worms are better , once a saw a vídeo of a brother in México and he got 2 Big blue plastic containers that stand up vertical, he screwed their 2 lids to a thick square plywood and then cut a window in the upper part, besides he drilled a couple of 2 " holes in middle bellow part and got 2 plastic tubes glued with silicon to connect both containers, he also drilled a hole in the middle end of each container to obtain the liquid fertilizer, finally the both containers are one aside the other horizontally and with some wooden support in the middle bottom of the 2 containers, what he did was incredible, he started by putting a layer of woodchips in the bottom, then a layer of manure, then a layer of kitchen wastes, repeatedly to the top of the first container, when the worms had estén all the food in this container You start to repeat the same on the next container and the worms Will leave threw the tubes yo Star eating the food in the second container, i found it incredible, and hope it can be of another good way to raise earthworms, si Best luck & WISHES
Old freezers work really well for keeping your worms cool and contained. Turn them on their back and fill the worm bed. You can leave the door(s) on the freezer, but it you have to make sure they can get air.
Leaving the doors on old refrigerators or freezers is illegal in most states, though, because of the risk to children (whether they are supposed to be on your property or not).
I live in Texas and I just mix up multiple types of dirt, top soil with cow manure and horse manure and shredded up oak tree leaves into the plastic bags that you buy top soil in from Home Depot and then put the bags on the ground and cover them up with plywood with something heavy on top to keep the wood from blowing off. Worms eat holes into the bags and then get inside and rapidly multiply. I leave it there for a couple of years and the worms really multiply. I do not have to do anything.
One suggestion: Find a used appliance/appliance repair place in your area. They will often have freezers which are beyond repair. These can be bought cheap. I bought two for $10 each. I like the upright freezers because they are not so deep when laid down. Great insulation for worms. Built in lid. On really hot days I may even put a gallon milk bottle with frozen water water in the freezer. That will take several degrees off the inside temp and thanks to the insulation in the walls and lid, will keep it cool for quite some time. Used these in southern New Mexico where temps often exceed 100°. Would probably be good in the cold areas also. Prevent freezing. Maybe use a low wat incandescent bulb to keep the inside warm.
Thank you!! I know this sounds dumb but I never realized the soilder fly was my problem in bins past!! I kinda thought "well, let nature work together" 🤦♀️ I'm excited to try again, better with this advice, this year! Thank you!
I still don't understand why black soldier flies are a 'problem' in worm bins ... can't they co-exist nicely if there is enough food for all? Can someone please help me understand what problems black soldier flies present for the worms?
Hi, can we add some rose petals to the worm bin, actually we use a lot of flower petals for performing puja at home and have a lot of flower petals left over the next day. We keep them for a week or two before dumping them. I’m from New Delhi , India
Elise Pickett's dedication to teaching sustainable and organic vegetable gardening in Florida is commendable. Her focus on topics like food forest, permaculture, and homesteading adds depth to her valuable content. Keep up the fantastic work in empowering others to cultivate sustainable practices and foster healthier ecosystems! 🌱🍅 #SustainableGardening #OrganicGardening #Permaculture #Homesteading
I'm so glad you did this video, perfect timing, I just got worms about a month ago, they are doing well, it seems, but this info is a great help, they are in buckets and totes right now, I have two big coolers from my old fishing boat that are doing nothing, will start setting up a bigger home for them tomorrow and plan for shade, thank you both for a new start for my worms!!!!
Only problem with city mulch is they’re composting grass. Grass is great but people hire companies to maintain lawns which spray massive amounts of chemicals. Maybe I’m overreacting but I want organic castings from my bins.
Black soldier flies are actually efficient composters. And the larvae make great feed for chickens or other animals that might feed on them. On the other hand, what they produce doesn't have as much of ze good stuff as worms do. So they're not totally a pest!
I am working with 4 different composting species currently and I am discovering that my favorite are the Indian blues. They reproduce faster and compost faster. I live in Ca and it gets hot here but I do compost inside with minimal air conditioning...it gets to about 90 indoors. I use micro screen lids. And yes you do have to use lids with blues. It IS a good idea not to feed super often or sprinkle the carbon with worm chow instead.
I honestly do not know you can function in 90 degree indoor Temps. I am a 74 yr old Floridian that was raised all over the world with my father being military. I can not sleep when it's hot. It was 96 outside last Wenesday. And the humidity is awful.
I noticed the man was using a makeshift sifter. There’s a sifting lid called the NorCal Trim Trap that’s intended for use by cannabis farmers, but I hear of worm farmers using it to help sift. Could be useful for people who want a sifting tool but don’t want to build one themselves.
I got 4 sifting pan/gold panning screens of graduated size. They fit on a 5 gallon bucket and can be stacked. I found them on Amazon and 3 of the 4 were used so I saved some $. They are much lighter than my homemade screen sifters and they stay on the bucket so I’m not cleaning up spilled castings and worms.
Great tips! I prefer not to use any bedding that has "chunks" of wood from twigs etc. They take a very long time to break down and makes it a bit more work to get the castings out. Shredded cardboard and brown paper can take the place of wood from trees...because they are wood from trees. I use that along with compost, a bit of dirt/dust/ground eggshell. I do not layer the bedding materials, I mix them up. I also spray the bedding as I add it. I also chop up or tear apart the vegetable scraps. I do not liquify it or use a grinder, just by hand, maybe a knife depending.
Blue worms are similar to red wigglers but more heat tolerant. I just use a small plastic trash can with a few holes in the lid for air flow. Coffee grounds and cardboard and a few odd greens here and there is what they get, no problems with BSF on that menu.
I'd like to add, that if you want superior castings (nutrient dense) Remember, nature likes diversity. Use some barley that has been, what they call malted. It just means sprouted. Then dried. I grind mine in a blender to break it down for the worms to use. You can do your own research on why this is next level vermicomposting. Just add a little to your regular feeding. We all know organic gardening takes time. I think you'll be impressed by the results down the line.
well thanks for posting- just a newbie with worms maybe a year now but not much different from what i am doing here in the Philippines except we use anc. my bins are cement block 4x8 2 of those and building a 3rd one now- bins in an old building nice and shady. yes slope the floor for drainage. and the last one i even put an air pipe just in case i ever get too wet i can force air in ( see --Aerated static pile composting ) i will try the solid cover like you do, just have wire mesh now to keep chickens from feasting . so far i have harvested very little vermicast as i use old castings to move to new bins. i move about one half of the old bin to new bin making sure a comfort zone in the new home as well as moving eggs. but we have taken a small bit of castings for use , maybe 40 pounds in last couple of days. cheers thanks for the vid. i am always looking at what others do, well done
Wow! What a great idea! I have been wondering how I was going to afford all the organic things to get my dirt back in shape for the start of the new season I can start my own yay!
Hey Dave....I also am looking for bathtub's for a little fish pond to harvest the urine and crap for the garden.....old bathtub's have a new spin in my eyes,but.....any ideas of where to go to get em?
This makes a lot of sense! I've had several failed attempts at worm raising in Florida, and I think my problem has always been the heat. I am going to try again with a large stock tank after watching this. My only "issue" is storing 5-10 gallons of food waste for once-a-month feedings. Seems like it would turn into a stinky/toxic sludge. If I want to feed frequently (daily or almost daily, as food waste is produced by the kitchen), could I do this ---> use one side of the tank for feeding regularly, then a few days before I want to harvest start feeding them on the other end of the tank so that the worms migrate away from where they used to be feeding/pooping? Then harvest from the side they used to be fed on. Repeat the process in reverse. How often can you harvest? Any other ideas?
1. Yes, a large worm bin is easier to maintain than a small bin. The larger the mass particularly if there is high moisture content, the better the bin will maintain a temperate temperature through the heat of mid day. But, this video is wrong to put the bin completely in shade. Best is to leave one part of the bin in sunlight to ensure that end is heated as much as possible while the other end remains in shade or otherwise is not heated above 90 degrees F. That allows the worms to self regularte and migrate to wherever they prefer and they will prefer as warm temperature as possible without killing them. I also put the food in the warmest part of the worm bin to maximize bacterial activity which makes the food accessible to the worms. 2. Done correctly, you can feed your worms once or continuously or anything in between. Just keep in mind that aerobic bacteria decomposing food used up oxygen, so you shouldn't cover the surface of the worm bin which would suffocate your worms. Best practice is to put fresh food in a corner or end, allowing worms to come to the food and move away to breathe. In fact, the act of moving worms around the bin by placing food strategically is often called the "wedge" method, like moving worms from one pie wedge to another continuously.
@@tonysu8860 it is funny to me that they haven't replied to you, maybe they think you are a "know it all" who don't know much as much as you think you do! um, 1. you was wrong about putting the tank in partial sun for "heat", as you said. Maybe if you had paid more attention besides letting your little mind wonder of how toxic you was going to be in the comments you would know that heat is not their friend and they live in Florida where heat is already a issue. "In fact", they should absolutely do the very best they can to keep the tank in the shade as much as possible all day long because at peak times of the year their tank is in danger of over heating already. "In fact", if it was me, I would pick a spot that is completely shaded the entire day and then bury the tank in the ground so it would cut the heat in half. You was also wrong about the oxygen levels in the bed because all they have to do is turn the bed about twice a month to keep the oxygen levels in the bed to a completely safe level. The worms themself will turn the top portion and keep some oxygen in the bed but turning the bed would completely eliminate this issue. Let me look over your toxic comment and see what else you was wrong about little one... AH - so, feeding in the middle of the tank would be ideal because when it starts heating up the worms could migrate to the sides of the bed and cool off as needed, this is "Best Pratice", NOT in the corner or end where the worms all the way at the other end of the tank have to move across to feed or where they all end up on one side of the tank just to eat, how dum...b... Real worm farmers haven't used the "wedge" method in years because they know there is better ways now.. So, before you go writing a toxic book comment maybe you should at least know what tf you are talking about... why don't you just just try to fix yourself and maybe ban yourself off of social media until you can learn that you are just making yourself look like a fo ol to the people out here that know better. I have found that people like you are incapable of doing that and then end up alone on life and sad though. You have a nice day kid. I really do feel sorry for you and the other ones like you...
not sure, but would burying the tank keep a little heat off of the bed? may be something to look in to. hope that helped. also, when I have excess food for my bed I normally just throw it away. Can always save up more. Good luck to you friend.
Thanks for the great info! Question- Has anyone had success grinding up scrap food in Vita Mix blender so that the apples, coffee grounds, cucumbers, bananas, etc. are ground into a soupy blend? Might make for faster digestion and more worm castings? Thank you!
It seems like a good idea, but in my experience its easy to go anaerobic and its a large amount of liquid at one time. If you have a large bedding amount you can splash it around to negate these effects.
We want the worms to be able to have plenty to eat without always have to maintain/feed. I give easily digestible but mostly solid foods so I'm not feeding as often.
About how long before you harvest the castings? I did have to use a huge tub, it's under a tree. I drilled holes along the top sides and covered with fine sceen.(glue gun on outside. I covered the top layer with damp cardboard to keep any light from coming in. It's been about 3 weeks. I've checked it, I haven't disturbed the bedding, hope it's a good sign that I don't smell anything or see dead worms on top anyway! 🤞
Thank you so much .. Question: How do I know they need feeding again? Do I remove everything down to bottom of bath tub to feed again? BTW LOVE this idea .. I;m in Sarasota County. I was getting ready to do CFT, you saved me. I have 2 bathtub worm bins and 2 bathtubs getting ready to start them.
That's great. At one month when you go to feed if there are significant amounts of food scraps feed them a little less. If there isn't a scrap in sight feed them more. Most times I open it there is just a small amount of scraps here and there so I know I'm close to spot on.
I have harvested castings from 1/2 of bin #1 after 3 months. It looks like i have about 36 oz was recovered not bad for that amount of time and amount of red wigglers witch was about 500 worms.
We have a large family of 9 and we also feed many scraps to our chickens. Any recommendations for a system of how much scraps and how many pounds of worms I should start with? I really like this feeding once a month method a lot- Thank you! Also what do you know about chemicals passing through the worms in cardboard? Can i use just regular mulch from a tree service as well or composted mulch we have here on the property?
They multiply quickly so a few pounds are plenty. That first few months probably just one bucket of scraps. It varies by number of worms seasons etc so youll just have to check each month and slowly increase as you go. We dont reconmend cardboard but many folks do. Regular mulch is too course. It needs to be smaller or more broken down. So if you had a decomposed pile that would work.
I agree to the point but only that the amount of worms you start with should be somewhat consistent with your objectives how fast you want to get up to speed. Worms will propagate only as fast as they can and not faster. And, I've found that the conditions that maximize breeding is different than the conditions that maximize consuming food, I haven't found it possible to rush one objective without sacrificing the other. The comment in the video about cardboard is wrong in my experience. Corrugated cardboard specifically is worms' most favorite foods, the organic glue used is stuff the worms love. But, regarding chemicals it is always an issue so I am reluctant to use cardboard that was used to hold vegetables and fruits but use plenty that was used for packaging deliveries by Amazon, UPS,, etc. As long as you know or can reasonably assume the potential food wasn't contaminated, practically anything that's organic can be fed to worms, even inadvisable foods in small quantities.
You can use trichoderma to speed up composting... worms don't like compost that is too warm. Also if you live in a warm place African Night Crawlers are really good
Hi there thank you for the amazing idea I'm from South Africa not much worm farming done here but worms are available and I'm interested in starting was thinking of using bath tubs but doubtful after seeing your video I'm much more confident and also can I use fibreglass bath tubs because that's more available thanks for your information I've subscribed to your channel hope to see more lovely videos God bless you
People don't realize what you've discovered is that since the temperature drops well below 90 most nights that the few hours the temperature goes over 90 degrees F aren't a problem if the bin has enough mass to retain overnight temperature in some part of the bin. When the temperature goes over 90, as long as the worms have the freedom to find a place in the bin that's comfortable, they'll be happy. The bin doesn't have to be very large to have enough mass... As long as the bin is at least partly in shade, I've found that 2 cubic feet is plenty large for several pounds of worms.
I just stumbled upon your video, and it's super interesting. I also live in Florida. Where are you located? I'd love to try vermicomposting, but I just found out that my propety has Asian worms 😭💔. Any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance🙏🦋🌺
Thanks for sharing. I have a question : side hole should be sealed, how about the drainage hole at the bottom? It should be sealed or not? If yes, how could the excessive water be drained? If not, how can we prevent the entrance of rats or pests?
Great video! Thanks! I’m just starting out and I’m in Florida but I’ll be keeping the worm bin inside for now because I don’t have a shaded area in the garden. A bathtub wow! Where can I find one?! 😂 the worms come in 2-3 days and the bin was setup today just waiting for arrival. I already compost now I just have to be more mindful and perhaps put away kitchen scraps for the wormies 💚
You can find them free or very cheap on facebook marketplace or craigslist. Thats what I do too, have a whole list of what scraps go to feed which critters : )
You have to be careful with saw dust. No PT for sure, there are also other woods that are natural bug repellants which arent ideal. The cold doesnt matter as much as the heat does. The eggs survive freezing to hatch in spring even if the worms die. The worms and the ggs die if its too hot.
I lived in Central Florida for a number of years. Yeah, hot and humid. Tip-don't leave your shoes outside and forget to shake them out-having those large Roaches smooshed into your sock is not a nice feeling. The cast iron tub is a great idea as they are excellent for repelling heat. Question-where do you get your worms?
@@TheUrbanHarvest The worms did alright over the winter in the extra room, although I did not feed them, cause i didnt realize they were there. I realized I had worms when I brought them out this spring. Now I feed them. I just freeze what ever Im going to feed them first. I found them in my potted ginger and tumeric.I guess they like the plants.
I would feed them coffee grounds to produce Amino Acid based Nitrogen for my gardens. Worms need grit to digest food. I would use volcanic rock dust and sterilized and pulverized eggshells. The chitin from the eggshells produce the enzyme chitinase which digests the exoskeletons of aphids, hence no aphids. Your plants need the minerals from the volcanic rock dust and the calcium from the eggshells. I would add lots of soil biology to help digest the food into compost. You can buy soil biology or get it free by studying Korean Natural Farming. PS: From what I hear you should avoid Uncle Jim's Red Wigglers. I am till trying to organize the financing for my homestead so I have not done any of this yet.
I so want to try this for sure. I have plenty of compost for bedding. Would compost alone work? I never tried. I thought that if I start with 1 pound of worms then add 1 pound of food scraps. So it's not like that? Just don't have to feed again until all scraps are gone.
It would but compost can already be such a high quality product you might want to use before. but it would function the same yes. as for waiting yes. we use a very different approach. ours is a hands off way to compost with them.
Thank you for the great information! I just got my worms about 10 days ago. I started them with coconut coir bedding, then added about a pound of food scraps after 3 days. They are eating the coconut coir and producing castings, but they are not eating the food scraps. It's been a week and I haven't added more, since the pound of scraps seem to be untouched. Should I be concerned?
A new bin can take some time to build up (good) bacteria, which help to break down the food. Also, if you freeze fruit / veggie scraps and then put them in worm bin, they will soften / break down more quickly, and worms will eat through them a lot quicker. Putting into bin while frozen won't hurt the worms... Banana peels, squash scraps, and apple cores should attract worms better than some others. Pineapple has an enzyme that can harm worms, while some say citrus, onion, and garlic isn't ideal for bin.... You are right not to feed more, until most of food is gone, I think. If some worms try to escape, that is normal for a new bin.
You didn't mention what kind of scraps you're feeding. Either run some through a blender or slice/tear into small pieces. Worms don't have big mouths and teeth, they have to wait until the food is broken down by bacteria and other organisms before the worms can ingest the organisms and soupy nutrients.
