WORM UPDATE & EXPANSION - SOOOO MANY RED WIGGLERS! 

Kendra my dear those are not eggs on your lid. They are mites that help break down things but because your bins are wet you are getting an excessive amount of them. I would wash them down the sink with hot water as you probably have plenty in the castings also. You bins are too wet if you are getting leachate. You should be adding more shredded cardboard or paper or coco coir or all three. Because it is an enclosed bin it will always get wet if you don’t stay on top of the moisture. When you feed wet food put some shredded cardboard or a piece of egg carton underneath the food. Worm eggs are yellow, then turn light brown then they go to amber and are not laid on lids but in the castings. Make these few changes and your bins will be healthier. Too many mites can cause problems. Might need a bit more powdered eggshells or some oyster flour for grit and as a buffer. As always Sourdough Cathy. Happy worming.

Hey great video, just noticed that I think all the eggs are red spider mites eggs not red wiggler eggs. just keep the red mite pop. low you be fine. you don't want a lot of them though. red wiggler eggs are several times that size and yellowish orange🍊

Thanks so much for the demo! I’m waiting on delivery of my composter and worms. Can’t wait to get started. Your video has been very helpful!

Kendra mites are very common in worm bins. They help break down things that the worms don’t. They were probably with the worms you got. We all have them. The only time they become a problem is when they become excessive. The castings are fine there just add some dry shredded cardboard or paper. If you have no shredded just use larger pieces and they will be easy to remove when you want those castings. Try to keep it no wetter than a wrung out sponge or piece of clothing from the washing machine. As the bin drys up and you continue to wash the mites off, your bin will become healthier. I’m glad to see you listened to me about tossing that leachate. Try to get your bin to the point where you have none at all. Hence keeping your bin dryer. When you put new food in, try to put it on top of some dry cardboard or paper. One problem is that you put far too much food in one tray at a time. If you have that much food you need to freeze it until they finish off what they have. You should never put more in than they can eat in a few days or a week. The worms will eat that cardboard and actually love it and will use it when you need to be away for a while. Good luck Kiddo. Don’t be afraid to ask any other questions.

Holy mites! Those are not worm cocoons/eggs! Like Catherine said, excessive mites indicate overly moist environment.

I bought a worm composter to grow fishing worms. I'm running hortensis worms.

Very good thanks

Thank you !!!

I haven't grown worms for a while but are used to grow them in my Rubbermaid tubs under my house I think the bottom is all warranty don't get rid of it it can go on your grass indoor outdoor plants yes you have to delete it but that stuff is gold too

Thanks for sharing.

I have a compact composting bin, I'm not sure why I thought that was a great idea... I now need a bigger one 😳 ( we are plant based and have alot of scraps). I knew that red worms produced fast... But I didn't realize just HOW fast. Thanks for these videos ❤️ I love them!

keep the worm juice to fertilize the lawn. some use it on plant, but with all that compost having free lawn fertilizer in the process is a plus

Thanks for sharing. I just subscribed to your channel. Have a great day.😎🌱

red wigglers will double in number every 90 days under the right conditions

I use a 2mm holed sieve. It was purchased on Amazon in a four piece set by a Bonsai company which come with 3 different sized screens and the thing to put them in. I also like it because it is lightweight. You do not have to go this small but I like it because it catches all the junk that isn’t finished such as cardboard, paper and pieces of food that are not yet broken down as well as all the cocoons. Unfortunately your castings have to be just right as far as dampness is concerned to go this small. Most people use a 1/8 in sieve. With this you may have to pick out all wisps (newborns) and eggs or bait them out. When I first started I picked the cocoons and wisps out. It was relaxing to me and kind of fun to find them. The cocoons when new look like a tiny lemon in shape and color. They then begin to turn brown and then amber before birth. My son that lives with me used to help me when I did it by hand. We kind of had a game going to see who could find the most. He was real good at it. If you can get those castings to a much dryer place you should have no problem sieving. There is a great way to dry them out some when the time comes. I take a cheap mortar tray purchased at Home Depot put some sheets of newspaper or cardboard in the bottom. Put some castings on top of that then more paper and more castings like a lasagna. The next day take all the wet paper or cardboard (sheets not shredded) and do it again until they are just moist. As they dry you will see the cocoons and any worms you may have missed and can put them back in the bin. Just keep doing this until you get the castings where you like them. Being a perfectionist I like mine very fine and pure but that’s me. I have been selling mine for $10 a gallon so they have to be nice. Stuff for my garden doesn’t have to be as perfect but I try to catch all wisps and cocoons as I live in Alaska and they won’t survive the winter in my above ground gardens. Hope this helps and keep up the good work. Just a note, coir is ok to use but cardboard is free and the worms love to eat it. If you have the ability to shred it it breaks down pretty fast. Don’t forget you can use those great egg cartons in there also. They really like them. Give me a holler if you need more help.

I just ordered my worm bin today. One of of the only things I was afraid of is that they can excape. But with that being said if I do get overpopulation I can use them in my yard. I did watch bofield tutorials and it was very helpful

sweet

Love your video …so helpful Thankyou

So nice!

Worms usually migrate up, not down

"My husband is super grossed out by it. He thinks it's super weird." HAHAHA!!!

Great job! I'm planning to do a worm bin too. You inspired me. Thanks. I have a kitten name Pickles. She chews my electrical cords and knocks everything off the counter.

This is helpful. Thanks for the video😊

Hi Kendra, I watched this from my television and didn't know how to comment. since I've come across it again I'm glad to see other people corrected you. I have a suggestion for you. There are lots of warm updates on RU-vid. watch Emily the crazy worm lady and after observing your personality, I think you would enjoy Lilia kogan. You seem to be super sweet and headed in the right direction for worm composting. Good luck!

When you put so much compostable nitrogen material in at once you'll get a pretty strong thermophilic reaction that can harm the worms. Better you give them half or at least a third of the space with finished compost only (you could add a very thin layer of vegetables and bedding on top), so the worms always have a cool place to escape the heat.

Just grab a wet rag and white the dirt off I have the same one and mine looks like brand new after I'm in it I wipe the dirt

So cool, love your worm update!!! Now if they would make nut butter instead of compost your hubby would love them too 😁 Merry Christmas!

Apart from being overly wet, having a lot of mites also means you might be overfeeding. Try to hold off feeding for a good couple of weeks and only add bedding, worms can live off just bedding but mites don’t do well without juicy food scraps.

you are tossing out some good organic fertilizer

Try to add some coffee grounds as well or corn meal it adds a grit that worms love !

Thank you I will keep you updated. We have about 6 Acres that we could guard it we also work with a CSA so we can do a big compost pile and have a couple of them. If I hear any more from the friend of mine I will let you know.

Love this video, There are people that sell worm pee/tea for hundreds of dollars a bottle. May be something worth looking into!

Why you suggest to use worm just just for plant that you don't use?

Worm poop tea (that you’ve been throwing away from the bottom of your trays) sells quite expensive... if you’re raising worms to have a beautiful garden, why would you dump the poop tea? Save it, give it to someone that can use it, donate to growers at the local farmers market. Don’t just dump liquid gold... that’s extremely wasteful...

Dolomitic lime will also help with mites. Plus give your worms the grit they need to digest the compost. When you get other things in your bin its usually a sign its going acidic. The lime will help. Also make sure its NOT garden lime. That has chemicals in it. Powdered limestone is what you want

What is your worm box called. The brand? Looks cool

So she thinks the mites are worm eggs? Dear you have so many mites because you are running those bins so wet and the mites love that. Typically you add the new bins to the top, so the worms have to move out of the old trays. That bottom tray is gonna heat up so much, I’m fairly certain the worms will leave it for several days (only while it’s heating up). I love worm composting and get such a kick out of them. I have a Hungry Bin, a Worm factory 360 (tower system similar to yours), a repurposed ice cooler that I cut a giant 10”x18” hole n the double lid and put bug screen over it, two deep Rubbermaid containers and several bus-bin that I use. I think I probably have 20K worms at least in my systems. I’ve been composting for a while now and have learned a lot. I recommend the worm-composter primer “Worms eat my garbage” for the most down to earth info on worms, what each type likes to eat, what to avoid, how to correct problems. When my bins get too wet, I put in large pieces of thick double corrugated cardboard, which will quickly help to absorb the excess moisture and gives air pockets so the bin doesn’t get anaerobic. If you usually add amendments like humachar, Azomite, mycorrhiza fungi to your potting soil, you can add it to your compost bin now and the worms will utilize it. Also worms need grit to help them macerate the food, they have gizzards like chickens, so if there isn’t much, then the baby worms have trouble ingesting the food. The worms also feast on the bacteria, molds, fungi and nematodes, so they don’t eat the stuff that’s fresh you put in the bins. I’ve been pre-composting with coco-coir, shredded paper and cardboard, ripped cardboard, coffee, the humachar, Azomite, Neem cake, pulverized egg shell, dried leaves, a little grass clippings and then add any large pieces of food or bedding taken from bins that I’m going to harvest soon. I make a wheelbarrow full, store in buckets and wait at least a week. I just put some on top of the bins every week and the worms go crazy for it cuz all that bacteria is ready to eat-no waiting. It’s also easier for me to grab and go feed when I’m pressed for time or if something is going wrong in a bin, I have ready to go bedding to start them off in a new system. Hope any of that helps.

When we add fresh food scraps won't the worm bin get heated?? Can you please let me know??

Hi Kendra. Your white kitty with the patches, looks like ours, paw paws. He's a snowshoe. :-) The liquid from your worms? If it stinks don't use it, yet. It's not finished cycling. The small amount that you get, put it in a 5 gallon bucket with an equal amount of water, plus a tablespoon spoon or two of blackstrap molasses or raw sugar. Stir until dissolved. Give this a healthy stir a couple, three times a day. To speed things up, add a strong aquarium bubbler to it. The key is to keep the oxygen high to promote the growth of healthy bacteria. Once the smell has gone to a earthy or neutral smell, it can be safely used on your plants and they will thank you abundantly! ;-) Same concept for making compost or casting tea. But you must let it finish it's fermentation cycle first or it could damage your plants. Kind of like putting compost on your garden that hasn't finished composting yet. It can kill the good bacteria in the soil, and thru the fermentation process burn the roots of plants or make them weak and more prone to disease and pests. Don't worry if it foams on you, that's quite normal. ;-) I love the crazy worm lady. She's great! That particular worm composter doesn't have any ventilation in the lid at all. I would cut or drill multiple holes through out that lid to improve the airflow. If your worried about the worms escaping or the kitties getting into it, just hot glue some screening on the underside of the lid over the holes. Besides improved airflow, another plus, if you choose to do this, is it will make it easier to bait the worms out of the top level by just adding a small mix of food and shredded paper in a lower level, then put a light above the lid to shine threw the holes to chase them down. ;-)

you shoud put the new trays to the top so the worms travel up tothe food leaveing the lower trays for you to havest

Eggs don't move! You have tons of mites.

Try draining your compost more often to keep it dryer

Wow that’s like sacrilegious to throw all that leachate out.

Hi Kendra I have watched your two videos on worm composting. I also think that composted looks really slick. Could you comment on your experience harvesting your compost and removing the worms from you compost please? Thanks!!! 😊

Mites arent a problem you could try to mince the food before you put it into the composter... generally a farm would have a Large bin so the worms can eat what they like, though they mostly like their foood to be like baby food consistency to eat 1kgs each day for every 1kg of worms you have. Mites are part of the good bio that you want to ad to the soil. Commercial worm growers don't like them coz it means they have given them food that will be uneaten by the worms and that's a problem..

is it flow throught compost?

Hello Kendra I saw one of your recent videos and I thought you did a nice job. Some of the dried berries that you get such as the Mulberry we have about four or five mulberry trees on our property and we used to go out and harvest them. We also are connected to a organic Berry farmer not too far from where we live. It would be awesome if you could meet my sister she has also done classes on foraging and herbs for teas I think you would get along with her great. Great video keep up the good work

You just toss the best stuff whate the hell! 🤨 The liquid is the best fertilizer

Hi Kendra, thank you for your sharing. I just started to do worm composting weeks ago, I’m curious that if you ever had problems with mites? I already found some mites in my worm bin😣

Crazy!! You throw away the worm tea ????? Wtf .

Thanks for your video have you ever given them a half of a watermelon it's amazing to hear them eat without mouths.Have any worms escaped and is it mess?

How do you use it in the garden? Do you take handfuls of the goop and worms and just put it in the soil?

THE WORMS THINK YOUR HOT....!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please help more i am unedjucated for this. German skin specialist thanks

Thank you for sharing info, I have a question, so when you use that compost and spread it around the plant, you could not separate worm and they themselves go under the ground? Am I right?

Hi Kendra Please let me know where did you get that worm bin? Thank you so much.

Kendra Lee Hi! I just saw in the comments that you lived in California and France. I’m from the first and am watching this from the second, where I now live. I’ve been thinking about getting one of these and can’t believe all the gréât info I’ve learned from your video and the comments. Just wondering, Does the plastic stain? I’m thinking about getting the off-white one, but if it stains I’ll just go for the brown...

Do you have any issues with fruit flies?

Worm cocoons dont move.... I agree with other comments you need to wipe off your lid and around the edges of the bin.... Then add a lot of paper to the top ....all of what they already said. Check out the crazy worm ladys CHANNEL she has video of cocoons and how to combat mites and pests....

What is the name of your composter? It’s very attractive, i’m looking for a cute one to put in my kitchen also

Beg? Are you from Michigan? Lol

Worms go up mostly not down.

Wrong setup sorry. Worm travel up not down

Thank you for the video very informational, I have four worm bins going now in totes and I'm looking for more of a vertical composter. It has been a while since you have made the video are you still using it and how is it working for you? Your video was very well done

Did u just drain the worm tea? 😭😭😭 That's one of the best thing for plants

New video coming soon?

That’s not worm eggs?!

🥰

Do you have any patterns to feeding them? Like how much are you feeding them and how often or is just based on the eating patterns of your household? I just started worm composting and it's been like 2 to 3 weeks. And its like they eaten through almost everything I've given them. I'm worried that I will have then living in their "poo" for too long. So I'm wondering when to harvest. How have you harvested your bins so far?

Update?

I bought the same composter after watching your videos, but I keep getting fruit flies! Do you have any advice to get rid of the fruit flies in my tray? I do bury my veggies & they’re covered with cardboard in the tray, so I’m not sure what else to do!

Hello Kendra Lee If you don't mind be asking. Can I get some of your worms? I am trying to start a garden and the soil is bad a nd I heard that thermocouple is great but I do t want to spend 40 dollars on worms I am 13 and a bad saver. Sorry for asking.

Def. hold onto the worm tea that’s in the bottom and keep it in the fridge. If you have house plants or friends that do feed them that stuff and watch them thrive! Works best if you let tap water air out for a couple days first before adding the worm tea to it!

How n where do I get that??

OK but how are you getting the castings out if all the trays are full of worms and they're not migrating out?

where are you from

does it work to put meal and bones in it?

If you do wash the bins find a way to collect the water!!! You are creating compost tea!! Maybe use a spatula and get every last drop of that “black stuff” and make some highly potent tea!!!!!

cabbage is not good for worms ,

I am sorry but these brown bugs are called mites. Red worm have yellow/orange egs. Egs of the worms are not moving. Mites are not harmful to the worms unless there is many of them. If you have milions of mites you should check the ph of the environment. And try to reduce the population of mites.

I want to reproduce with you! Lol, really I have 275 acres of blueberries producing, trying something new... love to pick your brain!

Too dry.

Such a odd hobby for a woman... Playing with worms. And that is a ton of feed you added 😐 I think you are over feeding.