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borderbarb

Is there a streaming live video of worm bin?

borderbarb
13 years ago

Has some techie-verm-keeper created live streaming view of the workings of a worm bin? I understand that the red spectrum of light doesn't disturb worms, so you can watch them work....maybe with a video-cam. I'm sure it would 'go viral' on the internet in no time.I would check in often to see the verms demolish a piece of watermelon.

Comments (26)

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    "Demolish" is a relative term. Vermicomposting is a slow process. Watching live streaming of a worm bin would only be slightly more interesting than watching paint dry.

    What would be more interesting is a time-lapse video of a piece of watermelon being demolished.

  • mendopete
    13 years ago

    I would watch! I am thinking a plexiglass bin on all sides, maybe 4'x4'x12" deep. House it in a dark basement, feed well and watch the action! Tell me you would not peek sbryce?

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    Oh, sure, I'd peek. Why not. But I wouldn't expect any real action. Over time it might be interesting, but not to sit and watch in real time.

  • borderbarb
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Re: 'watching paint dry' ... I suppose, but it seems like there is a 'virtual', 'live-streaming' link to EVERYTHING else ... just didn't want our vermi-herd to miss their 15 minutes of fame. ... AND truth to tell, I'd check in once or twice a day just out of curiosity ... for EDUCATIONAL purposes ONLY. really.

  • antoniab
    13 years ago

    Doesn't the 'Digestive Table' have a live video component? I would watch. Maybe not while I eat, but then, it could be marketed as a diet aid...
    ;)

  • cheelo
    13 years ago

    Hi, here is a link of a banana being vermicomposted on a period of 15 days in a Gif animated.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lombricompostage.org - vermicomposting of baana on 15 days

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    The banana is really neat! Amazing how it is just gone eventually.

    I have several frozen brown/black bananas waiting for my worms. I froze them a year ago with the intent to thaw and make banana bread but that never happened.

    So far I have put 3 in the new worm bin (a week apart) and will get my worms this week. I am hoping they eat the bananas fast cause I have more waiting for them.

    Karen

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    The inside of the banana will go fast. The peel won't.

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    13 years ago

    And the stem you will pull out months later and wonder what it is. I sometimes split the stem or give it a hit with the knife if I have one. The stem acts sort of like I imagine coir would in the bin. Grape stems too.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    I took the stem off them...I added the peel of the first one but just the inside of the others.

    Good to know it may go fast.
    Thanks

  • antoniab
    13 years ago

    Have you seen this one?

    Here is a link that might be useful: squash being vermi-demolished.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    That is neat!! I have a lot of squash plants growing. I guess I could just feed some to the worms!

    Karen

  • alabamanicole
    13 years ago

    Karen, you eat first, worms eat second. Believe me, you will have more food scraps than the worms can keep up with, at least for a long time. Let the squash give you lots of fruit to eat or share -- give the worms the seeds and ends and bits.

    I don't bring outside trash inside to my bin, not since the spider episode. Outdoor stuff goes in the outdoor compost pile, or in the case of fruits and veggies, it gets washed and inspected before I eat it, so the worms get the leftovers.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    thanks alabamanicole!

    I thought about buying some pumnpkin or watermelon for my new worms (due to arrive today or tomorrow) But I may just eat some watermelon for lunch and give my leftovers to the new worms once it gets moldy.

    Karen

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    As someone pointed out, people eat before the worms eat. Don't spend money on food for your worms.

    Enjoy your watermelon. The worms will love the rinds. Just keep in mind that with a new bin, you can eat watermelon a lot faster than worms can eat the rinds.

    I don't know how it is when you put watermelon rinds in whole, but ground watermelon rinds stink in the bin.

  • karendee
    13 years ago

    Ok, I really need a old blender so I can grind all the stuff up before adding to the worm bin. I think it seems like it may work better (when I have time)

    Karen

  • PRO
    equinoxequinox
    13 years ago

    Do the blenderizers out there add water?
    They never say.

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    Do you mean the people who blend, grind, etc, their food scraps? Why add water? Blending the food causes it to release water into the bin faster. I think you are more likely to have moisture problems in your bin if you blend the food than if you don't.

  • randomz
    13 years ago

    I use a blender. I try to avoid adding water, but occasionally it is needed to get the scraps to chop up nicely. The problem then is, that adding a slurry to the bin usually means it goes anearobic and very smelly within a day or two.

    So if things end up too wet, I add in some coconut coir to soak up the moisture and let it sit a bit whilst stirring occasionally, until I get a thicker and crumbly consistancy.

    Actually, I prefer to use leachate rather than water, might as well get the new sraps off to a good microbially active start.

    Blending can cause a lot moisture to be released in a rush, try blending old watermelon!

  • alabamanicole
    13 years ago

    A food processor works better than a blender if you want small bits instead of goo.

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    I would be reluctant to use leachate. The leachate I get from my bins usually stinks pretty badly. I have started flushing it down the toilet.

  • 11otis
    13 years ago

    I am getting leachete in my FT lately, about 1/2 cup/day.
    It is most probably from the papaya (sans seeds) I was feeding them. I did add a lot of shredded newspaper and cardboard but still ....
    However, the leachete doesn't smell.

    The only time the leachete was smelly, was from my WF and the worms were dying because I found less and less worms in the tray. Those were my newbie days.

    sbryce: What I'm getting at, did you notice if your worm population is going down?

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    I overfed my FT with UCG and grains about a week ago. That caused heating. A lot of worms decided to escape out the bottom. I have a lot of dead worms sitting in the small amount of leachate in my FT. My RM bins have fewer escapees out the bottom, but some of them do drown, so there are dead worms in that as well. One difference I have is that much of my worm population is PEs rather than EFs. PEs are more likely to run, and more likely to drown than EFs.

    As for the density of worms in the FT bedding, it is hard to tell just yet, since things aren't quite back to normal yet.

  • 11otis
    13 years ago

    Sorry, I guess you already know that the bad smell are from dead worms.
    When you overfed with grain, was it raw (uncooked) grain? The only grain I've ever fed my worms was bad smelly cooked rice. I don't use any other grain.
    I put about 1 cup of cooked rice into my FT in winter hoping to warm up the bin a bit. It didn't heat up. I wonder what went wrong there. Am I supposed to put in raw rice grains?

  • randomz
    13 years ago

    Pretty sure what I use would be called a food procesor rather than a blender, plastic bowl with spinning flat blades at the bottom. It's just a lot easier to say I blend my scraps than to say I food process my scraps. :)

    I check the leachate for smell before using it, if it's bad, then likewise - down the drain!

    I don't thibnk a cup full of grain is going to be anough to do much warming, but I haven't been through a winter since I started worming - in Australia, so it's about to happen and I will be interested to see if I can keep the bins warm.

  • sbryce_gw
    13 years ago

    The grain in this case is the old past pull date power bars I have mentioned in other threads.

    My bin is heating again, this time with no UCG and only a little bit of stale bread. I think I need to feed less at one time.

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