Add new bedding....don't add...when to add...

16 years ago

Some might remember that I posted a question a while back asking if there was a way to make my bedding (newspaper) more attractive to the worms. I am still finding that the worms are eating up any and all food I put in, but not doing much damage to the bedding. They seem perfectly content to wait for the next banana peel, lol.

Here is my question..........From the time you set up your bin to the time you harvest, do you replace bedding at all? And if so, why? I ask because, since my bedding is disappearing so slowly, my plan is to just keep adding food until eventually everything is decomposed. I am wondering, though, if at some point I will kill my worms if all that I am adding is food and not bedding.

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Comments (9)

newoahuwormer
16 years ago
Rutgers -
The paper & cardboard in my bin break down fairly quick (warm Hawaii climate but freezing right now! (65-73)And I mix up the older paper/board scraps when I feed - maybe your bin isn't damp enough?

I add paper maybe twice a month and I feed my worms once a week . . .

In my starter mini-bins (they looked like flower pots) I added "BEDDING" at about the same pace!

Nell
jayteadesigns
16 years ago
I replace bedding sporadically usually when I think the bin has gotten a little too moist or if it appears that the level of the mix has gotten too low, and also sometimes if there is a noticeably larger amount of vermicastings than normal.

I have a big bag of shredded paper/cardboard, chopped up leaves, & a little steer manure that I have prepared so all I have to do is to throw a handful in now and then. (It's one of those things that you have to kind of experiment with).

jt
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rutgers1
Original Author
16 years ago
So, if your bedding is breaking down quickly, why not just harvest instead of adding more bedding? That sounds like a problem that I would love to have.

In my bin (It is about 2 feet long, 1 foot wide, 1 foot high), if I put in 2 banana peels and an apple, they will be gone in about a week or two. But the equivalent amount of paper is never devoured. I am going on 4 months with this bin, and it still looks like a bin of dirty newspaper. The worms are multiplying and seem to be happy, but at this pace, it looks like it will be summer before I can harvest.

I have to admit that I am getting a bit frustrated. I guess I should be happy since my worms are multiplying and food is disappearing, but at the same time, I would like to see some light at the end of the tunnel so that I can start preparing my NEXT bin.
shawnrd
16 years ago
I have a stackable worm bin. I don't replace bedding. When the worms look like they are actively involved with the newest layer I've added, I stack on the next one and fill it with bedding and add some food. It takes a few weeks to months for the worms to finish up in the older tray and move into the new one. By then there is plenty of broken down food and bedding in the top tray to catch their attention and I repeat the whole thing over again.
newoahuwormer
16 years ago
JT:
Does your bedding bag with the STEER MANURE get smelly? I'm thinking of getting HORSE MANURE, well, just a small shovelful and do a bedding mix like yours but I don't want it to knock me out whenever I open the bag. . .

Worm Nelly
squeeze
16 years ago
Nelly - horse biscuits don't smell as much as cow pies - the only thing to watch for with any manure is that additions to the bin don't cause hot composting to get rolling and over heat things - make sure it's crumbled and mixed with the other materials well

Bill
newoahuwormer
16 years ago
Squeeze:

Thanks for sharing - I could almost SMELL the difference!

Worm Nelly

Where do you folks change your text? I looked all over and even tried cut and paste but it just looks the same!
squeeze
16 years ago
you have to use HTML code, which is in brackets before and after - the 'closing' code has a / in it
a few simple ones:
italics is the words without the spaces
bold is and without spaces
underlined is and

Bill
wormnelly
14 years ago
thanx for font style and

I changed my name since I'm not NEW anymore