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celbrise

how long to keep light on bin?

Celbrise
11 years ago

i just set up my first worm bin and well i thought they were doing good until i just now found a single worm dried up. so i was worried mainly because i don't have much worms to begin with i had about idk 20 worms only. guy i bought it from told me half a pound -.-"

anyways it's been 3 days since they were in the bin for 2 nights i left the light off but now im leaving it on. just wondering for how long do i leave the light on until they are settled in? and also for how much of the day? i live in a hot area to begin. Hawaii to be exact and the light on 24/7 will surely dry the bedding within 12 hours

Comments (6)

  • GreenIvy
    11 years ago

    I had one escapee today too. Worms! Get yer ganglia on straight and stay IN the BIN!

    If it's just one worm I don't think I'd panic. He may have been a maverick. Do you have a mesh on the bin top?

    Half a pound was 20 worms? I hope they're huge. All my worms together weigh about that, and there are roughly 800 of 'em. Maybe you got a lot of coccoons or they were hiding in the bedding?

    Hawaii, sigh, lucky you. :)

  • Celbrise
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    yea i would not panic if i had more worms -.-" but like i said i feel the guy ripped me off and i know he did. seemed nice i just think he was money hungry and didn't have the supply to sell at that time. and no they are not big they seem mature i think i just saw them mating tonight. but like i said he gave me about 10-20 worms only. all small not even full grown but some have the clitellum produced already.

    and no their were not a lot of cocoons from what i saw yet alone any. the worm actually escaped last night i believe read somewhere that dead worms smell fishy and i smelled something fishy thought it was my neightbor guess it was just the worm dying.

    and no it has no mesh. from what i read they can escape through the mesh. tomorrow i will be putting in a mesh though. the worms don't really seem to be escaping in general but then again i don't want to have to buy more worms i want to populate my bin with what i have

  • mendopete
    11 years ago

    Use a small wattage or LED light at night only. Keep it far enough above the bin so as not to cause drying. Worms hate light and will stay down, be it daylight or a bulb at nite. I heard that 2 weeks should be enough.

    Good luck, Pete

  • Celbrise
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    thanks for the info. i actually decided to take the light out and let the worms do w.e. they want if they escaped fudge it. i'll just buy more from a different supplier but they seem to be doing good besides that 1 escapee not even sure how it got out to begin with

  • mendopete
    11 years ago

    BTW a pound of worms is equal to 2 cups. 1/2 pound = 1 cup of JUST worm mass. Sometimes they will shrink loosing weight during transit in hot weather. Maybe die even.

    sierrawormsolutions.com is a great info resource. They have a video of a pound of worms being weighed out. You may also want to consider building an outside bin similar to the kind they use. Reno climate is more harsh than yours and the worms do fine outside.

  • Celbrise
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    i know it definetly was not a pound of worms as he gave me it in a yogurt cup container and showed me the worms which were all at the bottom. as of now i mean it does not matter i just found it cheap of him to do something like that. he gave me enough to start my own population within a few months.

    atm i cannot do an outdoor bin mainly because i just don't have the amount of worms to do that size. like i said i got about 20 worms only majority of them are able to breed. i got 2 worm bins indoor 1 is basically for millipedes though i will have to remove that when my red worms reproduce and fill that bin up and as they produce more worms that is when i will make an outdoor bin. but then again chances are the heat will bake my worms i live in the city so their is not a lot of yards here or peoples yards are small. our yard is big but divided into sections all around the house and their is no shading besides the garage which is filled with a lot of junk and power tools and what not they are not mine so i cannot just throw it away but when my population grows i do plan on moving it outside somehow we got some long old coolers i can use that are white this can probably hold thousands

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