I have one, and it works ok. The worms don't really migrate up to the next level as advertised, and I believe that is one comment Kelly had about them. Some of them will move to a new food source, sure, but you still have to separate the ones that don't from the castings. Unless you don't mind losing some worms each time you harvest.

Also, it has vents that clog with castings/bedding and it takes a strong spray of the hose and a scrub brush to keep them open and venting. I only do that when I'm harvesting, but it's still time-consuming.

For the money I spent (new, about $100 including 2 lbs of worms), or even for $65, I'd rather have a nice dinner out and a rubbermaid bin. My 2 cents.

(I probably have Kelly's plans for a rubbermaid bin if you want me to look for them.)

No - thanks, though. I just kind of want bells and whistles and it already done for me. You're right though, it is a lot of money.

Thanks for the great review!

I've got 2 (purchased before I found this forum and saw Kelly's neat and cheap solution). But I've had no problems with mine. The worms go between all three levels and move up to the food no worries. But on the downside if they like the level they are on there they stay (and that counts for the drainage section too). So when you are harvesting you do have to sort them out if you don't want to lose a worm to the outside world. However I've had the odd occassion where I can't be bothered and just emptied the bottom tray without sorting. The worm population doesn't seem to be too badly affected by this and recovers with no problems.

I don't have the issue with the vents clogging up but I do find the levels quite heavy to lift when the worm castings are ready to harvest.

Overall I find them great. On the plus side - I have no problems with moisture variations - the drainage spigot is great - I leave it open with a tin can hanging from it to collect the drips and occassionally tip the moisture back into the bin when the tin gets full. The worms seem to really like it and they are hugely convenient as I can just keep adding food for six months without having to harvest until summer rolls around and I can "play with my worms in the sun" (my husbands description not mine!)

I love my can o worms. I used a rubbermaid bin for about a year, with the styrofoam in the bottom and the hardware cloth etc. It worked fine but I found it a real hassle to harvest the casings. I've thought for a long time about buying can o worms but the price put me off, until my sister (who started me on this whole worming thing) said, "That's not too much to pay for a hobby!"

I moved my worms there a month ago. The population just exploded, and the compost has a much better texture than it did in my rubbermaid bin - seems like more air is getting in, and the compost is compacting less. I'm sure I was doing something wrong with the bin but the bottom line is that for me, I like the can better.

Also, one vermicomposter said that the worms really don't migrate upward, so what he does when he's ready to harvest is put that layer on the very top, take off the lid, and expose it to bright light for a few hours. The worms will migrate downward into the next feeding level and there you go.

I think bins and can o worms both work well - just for me, I liked the pre-made organization of the can o worms, and like my sister said, when I think of this as a hobby, it's really not too much to spend.

Good luck with whatever you decide! :-)

~Lynneth

I've just started with my Can O'Worms. Just one month now but I like it. It sits quietly in my kitchen and is handy for putting in food and checking occasionally on the worms. Visitors are amazed when I tell them I have worms in there. LOL!

I've noticed that it really retains the moisture too. In fact, I just had an inch or so of newspaper to the top every few days so the worms can move if it gets too moist.

They are eating the food like crazy and I'm pretty pleased. I will probably build a bin when my worm population gets bigger because I want to be able to handle a lot of kitchen waste but so far I really like the Can.

I appreciate the hint from the earlier poster about putting the harvesting tray on top with a bright light. I may use that when it comes time to harvest.

Thank you *very* much, everyone. I finally made a decision, thanks to you!

Two of these bins have been donated to my lunchroom recycling project. I presently use the rubbermaid bins at home but can't refuse a donation. Will anyone who has used the Can-O-Worms please offer suggestions to get this started, please? How much newspaper did you start with? How many pounds of worms? What level? I want this to be a positive experience for my students.

Thanks so much. :)

I am not crazy about only-newspaper bedding. The CanOWorms might have different moisture characteristics, but I like a mix (after suffering 2 pretty bad batches of anoxic goo!)

I am currently using paper shreds, toilet paper rolls, half-rotted straw, and some leaves. Nothing scientific about the mixture proportions. Just enough to be really heterogeneous.

(I recently brought about 1-2 handfulls of worms back up to thriving with this mix)

ogsteacher...4 years ago I wrote and received a grant from our county's Solid Waste Management. The proposal was to compost our cafeteria food waste and office/classroom scrap paper with red worms in bins. I started with 6 COWs and we also built tote type bins with K-1 for them to study in their classrooms. From my experience the students are not the ones you should be most interested in having it be a good experience. It's the staff(adults)you should be romancing. The kids are much more enthusiastic and forgiving when problems arise. The adult enthusiasm is short lived if things get one tiny bit messy. Bin temps (too hot)were also a big problem. If you would like to email me directly, I would be happy to talk more about this.
Part of the grant was to show how this program could be replicated, and I created a vermicomposting page on the school website. Take a look and especially the "Just for Fun" page. This page took an enormous amount of time to put together but the kids and teachers loved it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermicomposting at Conn

SQH1- that is awesome. Its so great and inspiring to see what good stuff comitted individuals and groups are doing! I dont have kids yet. But, im joining a progressive church that is involved with a community garden and a CSA, im going to see if theyll consider wormcomposting!

take care all!

Ok, I guess I get to be the wet blanket to some degree. I am not a fan of the Can O Worms. In fact, I dislike the system very much. Of all the commercial worm bins on the market it is the most difficult to learn to manage and does not process the volume of food suggested by the manufacturer and has the highest rate of failure. It is prone to air-flow problems is not terribly stable (tips rather easily) and, in more than 15 years working with worms, I have never seen one that worked as suggested (damned worms never read the instructions and migrate into the top layer as the manufacturer says they will).

Now, having dissed the unit, SQH1 seems to have had a lot of experience with it and sounds like an outstanding resource for how to make the COW work. Because you have the units it certainly seems wise to learn how to effectively use them. If the goal of your project is to process a significant volume of waste, however, then the COW is more likely to work against an efficient program than with it. I would strongly encourage you to stick with box-type bins (though something larger than the small storage tote bins) for processing significant volumes of cafeteria waste!

We, too, have set up multiple cafeteria waste processing projects, and SQH1's suggestion of courting the adult staff is absolutely essential to success. In our experience it is the cafeteria staff who are the most important allies, but the custodial staff are also excellent aids to making on-site vermicomposting a success. Most projects need a teacher sponsor, but the support staff are going to have their hands on this project as much as will the teachers and students.

Were I you I would email SQH1 and pick his (her?) brain, but I would also be more than happy to help if you need!

Kelly S

I set up a Rubbermaid bin at my school for 3rd graders as it fits with their science curriculum. It sits adjacent to the lunch court so the kids can put in their lunch scraps. Some kids are fascinated and participate, others don't.

I'm only there part-time and don't think I would be able to set up a bigger system, although that sounds like a wonderful idea. The kids sure throw away a lot of food.

I love my can-o-worms! I have had it for almost a year. I did have a worm drowning once when I left for vacation with the spigot closed...but that is the only major problem so far.

I have found that shredded paper from my business is a great top cover. Torn paper is too heavy and takes ages to be digested. Btw, can-o-worms originally comes with a coir bedding that you buy separately, but I personally wouldn't spend the money on that.

Here is a post on the various problems you can have with a can-o-worms and this helped me a this spring with prempting a mite explosion easily by raising the ph with my wood stove ash and some dry materials.

Here is a link that might be useful: can-o-worms tips faq blog post

I really like my Can O' Worms system. I have 2 of them and would purchase them all over again, given the chance. All worm bins are going to be some degree of work.

However, I think they work best in a climate controlled environment. I had them in my house for many months, which is air conditioned during hot weather, but then I moved them into a garage because we have our house on the market. They never smelled or anything, I just thought the house would be prettier without them inside. Well.....

I am going to totally clean them up and bring them back into the house. Even with fans going and ice bottles inside the bins, the worms are NOT happy in the garage. I am also starting to get some small flying insects escaping when I take the lid off of one. The food also got mushy and smelly in one spot, in one of my bins. Obviously we are too hot and humid already to keep my worms happy in that environment. I'd hate to see things in July here!

I never had a problem with them in the house, am happy with my systems, and am bringing them back inside to a spare bedroom within the next couple of days, after I sort my poor little guys and get them set up in brand new bedding. My realtor can just put a fancy cloth over the bins if they offend her. We're not in a hurry to move anyway, we just want to move back out in the country eventually.

For questions on setting up your bin, give "Our Vital Earth" a call. (407-814-9218) Wonderful people. They'll help you out.

Sandy

hi sandy...

i wonder if rain is getting into your bin when it is outside. that can make the bin too wet and cause anerobic fermenting mush and then the ph to goes down. then, among other things, worms eat less, even die, and the food is more likely to icky/smelly. the whole bin can cycle downhill from there. overfeeding can cause this too.

the little flies do get in but they won't harm anything. the can get in thru the holes in the top of where the legs meet the bottom. or the spigot...if that is open. they bother you more than the worms. except if they get soldier flies...those can become aggressive. keep the top of the pile covered with a layer of shredded paper or coir to help stop flies from living happily.

did you actually put ice bottles in the bins?! that is really trying your best! :) and this makes me think second thoughts...actually i don't have a lot of experience if you live in a super hot place. we are in the midatlantic here. i have had my bin out-for-summer and in-for-winter for 6 seasons now...with hot d.c. summers with no problem.

good luck!

A nice report there. Thanks.

"Vermicompost on, however you want to. There is no wrong way, just find the method that works for you."

AMEN!

Paul

COW or Jims worm farm - which is better?

Never had the can o worms but do have the factory 360 and I found mine on sale for about $75 more than I wanted to pay too but as it turns out it is worth it for what they are doing. The procreation and production are both very strong maybe too strong. As far as not all worms move up I find that to be the norm no matter what you do, sometimes its better than others. Basically I can take a harvest every month if I wish from the 360 but usually wait longer. But the volume of castings is not as great as in my homemade which takes longer.

We've had a Can O Worms for more than five years and are still satisfied with it. We don't really do much to maintain it but still the worms thrive, multiply and do a fine job of eating all the plant based refuse we put in there. We've used coir as a base but I love the idea of putting paper from the shredder in there. We keep it on the front porch and cover it when the temperature drops below 40. They've lived through many winters now. It has more than paid for itself in worm tea, which is like steroids for plants. My only complaint is the leachate because it sticks like white on rice when it dries. It's a huge pain to scrub off. I've been looking for a large round tray to put under it, like a flowerpot saucer, for instance, but have not found anything suitable. I'm open to suggestions, but not interested in wrapping the legs in plastic.

Not at present. As is not unusual, the design is excellent and the construction is terrible. The "very thin legs" buckled under the normal weight of the contents. It was not overloaded, the legs were just poorly designed and collapsed. I have no idea of where to get new or better legs for this unit. Guess it was $65 wasted. Such is life ... it happens. I wouldn't buy this unit again if they don't reinforce the flimsy legs.