I've been interested in vermiculture, composting with worms, for awhile now. With our back yard currently 3 feet deep in snow, anything to avoid making a trip to the compost pile sounds like a good idea!
Although interested, I'm not ready to jump head first into a full size bin setup. So I'm starting extremely small scale. My local Walmart stocks a small fridge worth of live bait. One of the items they carry are called "trout worms", which appear to be a variety of red worm. Since i can't be sure what type of worms they are, this is to be considered just an experiment.
Most sites recommend a 1lb package of worms to start a bin. The going price seems to be in the $15-20 range. For an experiment, i wasn't interested in laying out that much (plus shipping). The bait shop price was $3 for 30 worms (I actually got a one worm bonus for what it is worth). The per worm price is not so good, but the total outlay is just right.
With such a small starting herd, it makes sense to keep the worms in close contact to promote reproduction. As a result, I built their starter bin from a 1qt yogurt container. The bottom and lid have several 1/8" holes drilled in them for air and drainage.
Following common recommendations, I put together the micro-bin with shredded newspaper bedding in the bottom half of the container. In the middle is the medium the worms came in, plus one pot worth of coffee grounds and a few apple peels for food variety. On top is more newspaper bedding. Water was added until it dripped out the bottom.
I would like to add a few tablespoons of dirt to provide the grit needed for worm digestion. But as mentioned, the yard is under a ton of snow right now, so that will have to wait.
One week later...
The worms seem very comfortable and have reduced the provided food by quite a bit. What will be interesting to see is how long it takes to start increasing the population. Once they start multiplying I'll create a larger bin. Based on discussions seen on various websites I am anticipating it would take a year or more to build the population up to the 1 lb level. We shall see.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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I will be interested to see how this experiment works out. By having them in such a small area you will be able to see the worms as they multiply. Once the population reaches a certain density they will stop multiplying,so keep an eye out for that. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point about getting over crowded. I've seen an estimate red worms doubling their population every 3-4 months. My guess is that I'll want something bigger as soon as I see a first generation appear. There's not a ton of room for food as it is.
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