You could just dump tray 2 into tray 1, the worms wont mind.

I have long been frustrated by the lack of instructions Worm Factory
and Can of Worms sellers provide to their customers. It is often that vermiboards seem to be the customer problem resolution division of their for profit companies. Despite not being the original purchaser of the product feel free to pepper the manufacturer with questions specific to their product. People who manufacture and sell these items seem to not be people who would be able to identify one end of a worm from the other. If it were me I would do some sort of version of harvest the tray. Replace the material. Flip the next tray over onto the mat. If that was fun I might even flip all of the next trays just because.

I've heard of people putting dry bedding in the 'tea' area. The tea is actually leachate. The bedding will absorb the leachate, and provide refuge for wayward worms. when the bedding gets soaked you can add to a tray above, then replace with more dry bedding.

Welcome to the forum! Good luck and happy wormin'

Pete

Thanks all for the suggestions. I figured I was making it far to complicated. I think I will just flip tray 2 into the empty (and lined) tray 2.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I figured I was making it far to complicated. I think I will just flip tray 2 into the empty (and lined) tray 1.

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

I feel better now.

When You first start a worm factory it is suggested that you line the first tray and never need to do that again. Actually there may be some vc drop into the drainage tray but not a lot. I have the 360 which has a worm ladder designed so that when worm drop into the drainage tray they can climb back up into the 1st tray .

Equinoxequinox, what did you mean by this "I feel better now."?

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

Equinoxequinox, what did you mean by this "I feel better now."?

Byrdmando
Coleman Falls, Va.

That would make sense Steve, after the verd has been at work for awhile there is some stable structure to the contents to keep it from filtering down. I would flip em anyways :) ala Renais1

When I still used the Worm Factory, I cut the Weed Fabric "oversize" and I used it on the outside of tray #1.
The fabric was held in place by being jammed between tray 1 and the edges of the container below it. Need extra pair of hands when putting tray 1 in place to pull the fabric taut and minimize sagging.

mosquito net ?
burlap ?

"flip tray 2 into the empty (and lined) tray 1." I am happy with that choice. It should work well. It combines ease with simplicity. I feel comfortable that all will go well in your bin.

Hence the worm ladder which helps the worms to have a chance to crawl back up into a processing bin. Plus the fact if a little vc drops into the drainage tray worms can exist in that provided there is not standing liquid which I never seem to have.

I just started a worm factory last week. I am operating on the assumption that when tray 2 becomes tray 1, there will have already been enough activity in that tray that there will be sort of a stable foundation that the worms won't fall through.

Interestingly, my worm factory did not come with fabric (it said to use a couple sheets of wet newspaper), but it did come with a pretty good manual/composting guide, and a DVD, which I haven't watched

When the worm factory people took the next step it added something which the original factory did not have the worm ladder hence "worm factory 360" was born. The worm ladder just has 4 angled sides which allowed any worms that drop into the drainage to climb back up into the tray above it.

As for concern about instruction mine came with a dvd that I have not watched but it also came with a 65 page booklet with words , pictures diagrahms, index , and terms defined.

Proof that interest is not waning in the field of vermicomposting or worm farming is the fact the price of such worm bins does not seem to be falling if anything rising. Most places still sell it for over $100 but I got mine on ebay for $79 and you can still find it there for that price. For anyone interested in the factory style I highly suggest the 360 if only for the worm ladder. When I got mine a bonus of either a block of "coir" or an extra "tray' was offered I took the tray , dont know if thats still offered. So I presently have 5 processing trays plus the drainage tray. You can always add extra trays.

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I sort of wish I had gotten the 360 instead. Hadn't thought of the ladder, but the lid on the regular worm factory is pretty cheesy

Most of the basic info for worming is contained right on the 360 lid. Ive added a couple of closeup of the info on the lid.

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This post was edited by hummersteve on Thu, Feb 5, 15 at 15:10

hummersteve, "The worm ladder just has 4 angled sides which allowed any worms that drop into the drainage to climb back up into the tray above it." So that is what a worm ladder is. Thank you greatly because I certainly did not know what in the world a worm ladder is. The pictures of the top of the bin are also cool to see. As some point I read the difference between the original worm factory or can of worms or (a round worm factory or maybe a worm factory is a square can of worms) as a bit of space to add air between the bins and the cover was somehow more useful maybe for placing bins upon while working the system. The Complete Guide to Vermicomposting booklet photo is something I have never seen either. Does this booklet do the right thing with what drips out of a worm bin? When the world ends there is going to be me and the guy that wrote this book in the same room. Is he getting things any more correct as time goes on or do I have to have a long talk with him?

"Does this booklet do the right thing with what drips out of a worm bin? When the world ends there is going to be me and the guy that wrote this book in the same room. Is he getting things any more correct as time goes on or do I have to have a long talk with him?"

The booklet has a page on lechate vs tea and basically says of the lechate to not use it for anything if it smells bad, dilute it 10:1, aerate that, and to only use it on non-edibles

Oh good. I feel better.

EQ2 " When the world ends there is going to be me and the guy that wrote this book in the same room. Is he getting things any more correct as time goes on or do I have to have a long talk with him?"

My guess is you would have a long talk with the guy that wrote the book and get the better of him/her/they.

I had not thought about it before but someone who did not know what the worm ladder looked like might have a vision of something with two long bars and several short bars for steps and worms going up those steps or perhaps the worms linking together and letting other worms crawl over them to get to the top.

Yeah hmmrstve. Why wouldn't they call it a worm ramp? Cool idea though