First, I think it is too soon to start a second bin. The time to start a second bin is when the first bin becomes crowded enough that the worms will start laying fewer eggs. You couldn't possibly be there in less than 3 months.

My worms try to escape through the holes in the bottom. Holes around the sides of the bottom won't be any different.

My bin does not have holes drilled in the lid. I don't see any reason to as long as there are holes on the sides above the top of the bedding.

If your worms are happy, it is unlikely they will try to escape. Happy worms don't try to get away;unhappy worms will find a way out of almost any bin wheather it has holes in it or not. That's just the way it is. I don't blame you for wanting to start a new bin and I dont think it would hurt, although you probably wont increase the consumption much by doing so. But hey, I always think two bins is better than one in case something happens along the way that slows down or stops one of the bin. If you have had them since nov. you may have a lot more worms than when you started. Hang in there steve

Sandra, can you remind us how many pounds of worms you started with and the size of your first bin? The standard (and debatable) rules of thumb are 1 lb. per sq. ft. and 1/2 lb. food per 1 lb. worms *each day* (really not realistic unless your bin is well established and has near perfect temps, moisture, aeration).

So if you started out with 1 lb. worms in an 18 gal. bin, your squirm is probably better off where they are. A spinoff bin right now will not accelerate food consumption and may slow down reproduction.

If you have holes on the top of the bin, is the bin sheltered from the rain?

Andrew

Guess you guys are right. I should just leave them alone since they seem to be settling down okay. To date I have yet to find one single worm trying to escape. It's just so hard to just leave them alone, you just want to mess with them all the time. lol

My first bin is huge (something like twice the size on an 18gl bin) and I started with a quart of worms someone gave me and added a pound of worms a couple of weeks later which I purchased on line.

The bin is located on the side of the house but not covered and we're having really bad weather for the next couple of weeks or so here in SoCal. When the rain stops I will be covering the bin with a trash bag to minimize the rain in the bin. AND, I will leave it alone until they start to get crowded. :(

Thanks guys!

Sandra

So you have at least three pounds of worms. Depending on the temperature. Say mid to upper 70s they should be eating a pound and a half a day. In the 60's the worms eating slows way down and nearly stops in the 40's. In the 80's they eat like pigs.

I try not to judge the worms eating habits in cold weather. Wait for it to warm up before deciding what to do. You may find you don't have enough to feed them in hot weather.

I think it's a good idea to mix up the contents of your bin, particularly in cool weather. Stir the brown stuff (paper, cardboard, leaves, etc.) around with the green stuff (most fruit and veg waste). This speeds up microbial decomposition and makes more food available to the worms.

Sandra, I sympathize with the itch to check on the worms. A small observational bin might help. The link below shows one I just set up. Here's what I posted in another discussion earlier today:

"If you want to experiment with a small worm bin, get a CLEAR container (1 gal. or less) and fill it halfway with torn cardboard (soaked overnight first) and some decaying leaves. Poke some air holes and throw in a handful of compost with worms & cocoons from your main bin. Put the whole container in a cardboard box. Take a peek when you get the itch to dig around in your main worm bin. Feed very small amounts of already rotting food. The bedding will feed the small colony for a very long time, so you don't really need to feed them for some time."

Andrew

Here is a link that might be useful:

Wow! From a pound to 3 in 3 months? Is that possible? I would be very impressed if that's the case. Awesome!!! :)

In any case, I'll have a new bin set up when the time comes for me to split the wormies.

Thanks, you guys are great!!!

Btw, is anyone here from SoCal? The storm today blew our fence down. Tomorrow is supposed to worst than today and Friday the worst of the week. Take care.

Sandra
Dana Point, CA

A pound to 3 in 3 months? probably not. A pound to 2 in three months is very likely, if the conditions are favorable. A pound to 3 in 3 months would require almost ideal conditions, but I suppose it is theoretically possible.

My guess was that fosteem was assuming Sandra's "I started with a quart of worms someone gave me" as being the first pound + the pound she bought from an online source. So that original 2 lbs. grew into 3 lbs. I don't remember exactly, but my impression was the "quart of worms" included compost & bedding with much less than a pound of worms.

I'm in NoCal and the worst storm is forecast for tomorrow. Sounds like you guys got it much worse for a change - a tornado?!? Unreal! Stay home if you can and spend some quality time with your worms. :-)

Andrew

"I think it's a good idea to mix up the contents of your bin"

If you mix your bin- alwways leave a safe area (somewhere the worms are happy at the moment) unmixed because mixing will start a whole load of new reactions, may cause heating up and a change in environment. The worms will need somewhere to escape to if things get tough for them. Otherwise, just lifting the contents and letting them fall through your fingers can aerate contents without too much disturbance. If you have something in one part of your bin that the worms are avoiding you don't want to spread it everywhere!

"If you mix your bin- alwways leave a safe area . . . "

I have a 3-bin stackable composter, so if they don't like what I'm doing in one bin, they can always go to another one. I can't even imagine trying to manage everything in a single bin.