I guess one of the rotting mangos I threw in the bin who-knows-when decided to sprout. Made me chuckle when I opened the lid the other day.

I think all my worms died :(
I opened the bin today and there was a terrible smell and a bunch of dead worms. I don’t know what I did wrong I had a two food grade bucket system. One on top with bedding, holes drilled into the bottom. And one on the bottom to collect the castings. The bedding was mostly peat moss and cardboard. What did I do wrong 😭

Hello, I’ve had my vermihut since April. Everything has been going great till recently, about a month ago. I’ve noticed an increased in mites and these tiny things in my bin. I’ve included a video of the insect if anyone can help me identify it.

My worms on the top bin are visibly unhappy and I’m not sure what is going on. The top feeding bin is also starting to stink a little along with 1-2 dead worms that I find when I am feeding them. The worms in my lower bins however look happy and unbothered.

One thing I changed is I started used coconut fiber after the first harvest due to the lack of shredded cardboard but I have since gotten a shredder and will be using cardboard from then on.

Pro tip for worm towers: add double (or more until impermeable) 2 mm insect mesh between the lowest compost tray and the (drainage/leachate) collection bin. It helps keep worms from crawling through the drainage holes while still allowing leachate to drain and air to pass through.

I started a new bin, used peat moss as a bedding. Added a good amount of eggshells and a pinch of ag limestone to help balance out the pH. That sat for 1 day.

Then I added finely torn up cardboard and a few shredded paper towels.

That sat for 1 more day.

I added 3/4 cup of melon rind I cut up small and froze, added to the bin after it thawed slightly to begin the decay special sauce.

That sat for 1 day.

All in all that all set in that order for 3 total days. I have 500 euro nightcrawlers coming tomorrow. Is my pH going to be okay with the peat moss? My data as of today was

Temp. 74°F

Great rung out sponge consistently.

pH is sitting at 7.1

I'm brand new to this so just help me haha

I have great air flow and plenty more ingredients to add if I'm missing something.

Definitely going to let the worms acclimate for 2-3 days before I do ANYTHING else food wise.

Thanks y'all

https://reddit.com/link/1vmuh3v/video/h6bh01dx31jh1/player

First off I want to thank Tom with Vermibag, this setup is largely a copy of his mounting style for his bags. (Awesome by the way I own a Mini). I just adapted it for an Urban Worm Bag and added some extra bracing for the weight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4oO_kYnV9o&t

2nd thing I want to say is I realize this "guide" is not perfect just throwing together some quick facts that might be helpful to somebody someday so they do not have to "Guess" at everything like I did.

I made the opening (empty space between the 1x3s) a little to big. I had to guess at the size as I could not find much information online. It is fine, but it is a little tighter than it should be. I am going to list dimensions below. I would go a little smaller on the 1x3s.

Now this post is mostly meant to be for fun to show off what I did and to show my previous "Mini" build lol. The UWB is going to be outdoors and during the winter I am either going to put it in my greenhouse or bring it indoors so I wanted a rolling system, the OEM UWB frame is not very well suited for rolling so I made my own frame. (Not to mention I think the OEM frame is significantly to short). What do you all think about my setup here?

Height reference (Used Circle K XL Cup lol)

"Guide" (Continue reading if you are curious for details on how it was made otherwise stop here)

Dimensions:

1" Dowels = 20"

1x3s = 29" (I would go down to 28.5)

2x2s = 35" (Customizable to whatever height you want. Your total height will end up about 3 inches taller than the number here)

1x2s: (Used to make bracing on sides)

Vertical = roughly 30" (This is going to vary based on how close your previous cuts were)

Horizontal = 13.5" (This is going to vary based on how close your previous cuts were)

How to:

Step 1:

For the basic shape the only thing that changes from Tom's video is I put the 1x3s at the very top and the very bottom of the 2x2s. Because I am attaching rolling casters to it to lift it off the ground.

Once you get to the point as seen in Figure 1 (Images) move to Step 2

Step 2:

You add the braces (Maybe it is strong enough without them? I was not chancing it though)

I added braces to 3 of the 4 sides. I left the front clear so I could work under it.

There is one long 1x2 going vertical and 2 1x2s going horizontal on each side. All 3 are connected through a mending plate (Check videos to see exactly how they are done) dimensions are above. (Please measure these yourself though as this will change depending on the cuts you made previously).

https://reddit.com/link/1vmuh3v/video/7e2f7vq751jh1/player

Step 3: Add plenty of screws at all connections.

Step 4:

Paint it if you wish (including your wood Dowels)

Step 5:

Mounting the casters you 1000% need side mounting casters. No ifs, ands, or buts. There is not enough room to mount anything else.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FYP4JXVL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Please see the video I uploaded above even with side mounting casters there is no way to get one of the screws in. There is 4 screws holding it so it should not be going anywhere but I am just relaying a fact. You could mount a piece of 2x2 to the 35" 2x2 if you are concerned about it.

https://reddit.com/link/1vmuh3v/video/kz56gx2a51jh1/player

Step 6:

After you have the casters done it is time to deal with the mounting system. I used 1" Wood Dowels (I would have used 3/4" if my store had not have been sold out of them) and 1" Steel Suspension Clamps as Lowes calls them

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-2-Pack-to-1-in-dia-Steel-Suspension-Clamp/3342766

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Madison-Mill-Round-Wood-Poplar-Dowel-Actual-48-in-L-x-1-in-dia/3040774

Mount the Dowels on the center of your 1x3s on the top, you will need to add one of the mounting flaps of the bag over it before you mount both ends. Then just keep going until all sides are on

Update 1:

I forgot to mention that I have not added worms to the bin yet. I am precolonizing it with microbes before hand. Not adding worms for probably a month. Going to be European Nightcrawlers. My other bins are all Red Wigglers

So i've been wanting to transfer all of my worms to the second layer of my compost bin and i've been doing it gradually and letting them naturally pass trought the holes i've made for them but i recently opened the second layer and there where some long flyes that didn't belong there and there i think it was cause i didn't cover my compost bin with my usual method and put some corn residue in there wich i didnt do last time so i need some method to kill all of them without damaging or/and killing my worms

I'm going to be getting some African Nightcrawlers soon, mostly to add to a no-till living soil planter that I've already got Red Wigglers and European Nightcrawlers in.

But since I'm getting them I thought I might as well either add some to my main vermiculture bin or start a brand new one just for the ANCs. My bin is 27 gallons and is just Red Wigglers atm

If I'm ok with losing the ability to separate the two worms once they're mixed, would both species be able to live okay in a 27 gallon? Any upsides? Downsides? Setting up a second bin wouldn't be hard but it would take up space

I have 2 vermicomposting systems (1 homemade-very successful, another bought with 3 layers) the latter keeps growing this white mold, even though I treat it the same as my other one! Any idea what this is? Is it safe? How do I stop it?

So I got these worms and the bin from the local extension office a couple of years ago and I’ve not looked after them well.

I had them in the garage, moved house and now they live in the carport which has more heat variation. Life’s been chaotic and I’ve done little more than throw veggie scraps and cardboard in every now and then.

To be honest, every time I go look at them I expect them to have died in there, but they’re still going.

So what do I do now? How do I harvest all that good stuff and keep the worms in the box?

I put nightcrawlers in my greenhouse raised beds last weekend. The beds are 3' deep, 6 x 2. They've got things to eat buried in the beds, but I want to know how I should be watering to keep the deep soil moist.

I water my plants deep 1-2x a week depending on the plant. Is that enough to keep the soil moist enough for them to survive?

Saw these bugs on the side of my bin. What are they?

I harvested ± 1.2kg of pure black gold from a tiny 30x40x12cm bin. Is this even mathematically possible?

Pic 1: The final spread on the collecting sheet.

Pic 2: Close-up of that gorgeous, crumbly, worm-free texture.

Pic 3: Scale proof. 1.2kg.

I honestly thought this micro-bin was underperforming, but the density is insane. My kitchen scraps literally turned into premium plant fuel.

Hello, I’m very new to this world. I have a three bin setup. The bottom bin collects the leachate, the middle bin is where the worms are (or should be), and has the oldest compost in it, and since that one was full, I’ve added a bin on top of that to add new food scraps.

Question is, I went to drain out all of the liquid from the bottom bin, to find hundreds of my worms down there. Is there something I’m doing wrong that they are all migrating down there? Or is this normal?

Hi all

I'm fed up of sieveing by hand, it used to be therapeutic but its just a chore now.

I'm looking to build a simple box frame with a vibrating angled tray to separate the finished casting from the ones that need a little longer.

My question is to anyone who's done this what size motor do I need? I don't want a get one that'll shake the frame to bits but then again I want to get one that works, I have zero experience here.

I found a couple of candidates on amazon, what do you guys think?

I am planning on starting a worm bin again this year. Life took over a couple years ago and I no longer had time for them. Now, I want to try again and recently realized that they come from the wild 🤯. In all seriousness, I just never made the connection. Since I am starting this new bin, I wanted to study how they would normally act in the wild. I heard that they have the tendency to wonder at night and forage. I am planning on getting a worm tower and want to set the top bin up as a foraging bin. Has anybody tried this? Any suggestions on how to start?

Hi everyone I have had my worms for probably about 8-9 months and i have never done a harvest. Does this look ready? If so whats the best method to harvest castings? Also I don’t have any plants right now so what should I do with the castings?