Strange But Effective Way to Rotate & Harvest Your Worm Tower | Vermicompost Worm Farm
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2024
- Use the least effort to get the most out of your worm tower by rotating your trays in this odd way!! I'll give you a step by step demo of how I rotate my VermiHut worm tower trays that enables you to inoculate your bedding while feeding your worms & harvesting 10 pounds of worm castings every 60 days!! Once you start running your worm tower like this you'll never go back to the old way of doing it!!
In this video I'll also look for any remaining pieces of the potato or citrus from our Wurban Legend experiments and I'll show you the most efficient was to harvest a system like this to separate your worms from your worm castings!
Epigeic worms or composting worms are fascinating natural composters & fertilizers that are in most homesteaders bag of tricks to make free organic fertilizer & soil amendments as well as fishing bait. If you've ever thought about vermicomposting or composting with worms to make organic fertilizer & natural soil amendments with your plant based kitchen scraps or food waste, this is the channel for you. I have 3 worm composing bins which you can watch from start to finished worm castings on the 3 playlists following each worm bin. If you haven't started yet, get started now and vermicompost with me!🪱🪱🪱 Visit my Channel at / vermicompostlearnbydoing
Happy Vermicomposting Everyone!!!🪱🪱🪱
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel's videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) amzn.to/3gwEzb4
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
GoPro HERO11 amzn.to/3jkRpLa
Flexible Tripod amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
#Vermicompost #wormfarm #outdoorwormbin #redwigglers #selfsufficiency #homesteading #vermiculture #wormcastings #baitworms #wormbin #compostworms #compost
00:00 | Intro
00:55 | Bottom level-Inoculating Tray
02:26 | Middle level-Pre Harvest Tray
04:13 | Top level-Top Feeding Tray
05:31 | Cocoon sighting!
06:23 | 1st Feeding of new Top Feeding Tray
08:26 | How to harvest worms from castings
10:47 | Adding castings to cocoon nursery
11:47 | Final look after worms harvested
12:21 | Wrap up
Below are some of the items I use for vermicomposting & my channel's videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you if you use these links. Thank you for supporting this channel!
Worm Bins I use:
Vermihut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin amzn.to/3Xs1eGe
Urban Worm Bag V2 amzn.to/3XE9QsT
20 Gallon Fabric Grow Pots amzn.to/3EBYhdr
3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tote amzn.to/3eKDLhO
Other Worm Bins:
Worm Factory 360 3-Tray Version amzn.to/3AHnjqK
Worm Factory 360 5-Tray Version amzn.to/3tYfWY4
Bus bins amzn.to/3fd8AvP
Equipment I use:
12 Sheet Cross Cut Micro Shredder (I use it to shred cardboard) amzn.to/3xYZKYu
Magic Bullet Small Blender (to pulverize egg shells) amzn.to/3gwEzb4
Indoor Outdoor Wireless Thermometer for worm bin amzn.to/3wIdXbO
Additional thermometer sensors 433 MHz amzn.to/41juD7v Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Additional thermometer sensors 915MHz amzn.to/3WTFgua Please make sure Thermometer & sensor are the same MHz
Kitchen scale to weigh worms & food: amzn.to/3HnOQjg
Blue gloves amzn.to/3XsBg5n
Spray bottles to mist bedding amzn.to/3Fq23rN
Digital handheld Thermometer amzn.to/3EWfC2j
Compost Tea Bags amzn.to/3fCb5o1
Solar powered light amzn.to/3nOucAq
Reusable Keurig Coffee K-cups amzn.to/3FNXvt6
Other useful equipment for worm farming:
5 stackable sifter with different sized mesh: amzn.to/3S2k184
Cameras & camera equipment I use:
GoPro HERO11 amzn.to/3jkRpLa
Flexible Tripod amzn.to/3CGTjcF
Insta360 GO 2 camera amzn.to/3oxCc80
Insta360 One X2 camera amzn.to/3nqV6hp
iPhone 13 Max Pro amzn.to/3nq52aU
Canon EOS Rebel T8i amzn.to/3HcBuX6
4 Ocean bracelets I wear
Multiple colors to chose from bracelets amzn.to/3HMbHEx
Books on worms & worm farming
Worms Eat My Garbage amzn.to/3L4FXN2
Where to buy worms: www.TheGardenAndWormLady.com
I used to have some DIY totes and picked up a Vermihut and two extra trays thanks to your videos and the way you manage your bin. I transferred all my worms to the Vermihut in January and I really like it. I think your system makes a lot more sense than the way they market these towers. However, I expanded on it a little - the plan is that once the Active tray becomes the Pre-Harvest tray, I move it down a spot every two weeks. Once that tray reaches the very bottom, it is harvested and filled with new moist bedding and put again at the very bottom. The idea is that the Pre-Harvest tray will have a higher population of worms than the other trays, and by moving it down every couple of weeks, you help spread those worms throughout the entire system while letting the castings dry out when that tray is not directly underneath the Active feeding tray.
That sounds like a fun idea to manage the pre harvest tray!! I may have to give it a try!! Please keep me updated on the progress!! I’m so glad you & your worms are enjoying the VermiHut as much as I am!! I love hearing how other folks are perfecting their systems to get the best performance!! Thanks so much for watching and letting us know about the unique way to run the pre harvest tray!!🪱🪱🪱
Your inoculating tray method was an 'aha' moment awhile back. It so works! I even use it now on my worm cafes. One thing I do different is have an additional inoculation tray, yes 3 inoculation trays total, and I put the 3rd one over the feeding tray. Its dry and keeps the worms from going up to the lid (so far), plus helps reduce smells if there are any (like cabbage, etc.). And it too is being inoculated for future bedding or to add with the feedings. 👍🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱
Forgot to mention, my hope is also that the top inoculating tray reduces any unwanted bugs too. We shall see.
Oh wow!! That is a great idea!! Please keep us updated on it's progress as it graduates to each of the new levels!! Thanks for sharing this!! And of course thanks so much for watching Ann!!🪱🪱🪱
@@annsalty5615 👍👍👍
@Ann Salty I had the same reaction Ann. Could I be doing this harder, all of these year versus Smarter! A HA!
Great idea but not really a inoculating tray
Oh my goodness all that goodness in just 5 feedings?!? AMAZING!!! I think the way you cycle the trays works brilliantly, makes sense to me 🙌🏼🙌🏼 it looks super moist already, it’s off to a perfect start!! I’ve been getting a stack of coffee grinds from a cafe that sells my flowers and I’m adding it to the worms and the compost! It’s awesome stuff 👍🙌🏼☕️ that’s a great way to harvest Patrick, and look at those gorgeous castings 👍🙌🏼 hope you guys are having a brilliant weekend guys 💐🌷💞🌻
Helloooo Anta!! The inoculating trays really prep the trays to help the worms get right to it!! I love using our coffee shops used coffee grounds!! I just picked up a 30 pound back today for my compost pile!! Using the agitation method really is the simplest way for me to harvest worm castings! Less work for sure than plucking them out individually as I count!! Thanks so much for the awesome comments and all the support you've given us!! Have a wonderful week ahead!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost you too guys!! Cheers to coffee shops!! 👍😂☕️🙌🏼
☕️🍻😀
After watching this video I have changed the way I do my indoor worm compost tower. I used your casting harvest technique and it worked perfectly. Your setup and care looks perfect.
That's fantastic!! I just did another rotation (I haven't finished editing the video yet) and I love how the old inoculating tray is prepped and ready to go on top and get fed without me having to dampen the bedding or somehow mix in some castings to get a microbe boost. Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and leave a nice comment Brian!!🪱🪱🪱
The one thing I've never seen talked about with the stacking tray systems is how the different C:N ratios in each level balance each other out. As the cardboard gets consumed, the C level drops and the N rises, but there's an adjacent tray with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio! Fascinating!
~ Sandra
So true!! I hadn't even thought about it, as a whole system the worms can get what they need/want which is probably why the roam so much!! I love to hear your take on things Sandra!! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch & comment!!🪱🪱🪱
Love the way you use your tower. I got into worms because my eldest daughter wanted to raise them. She lost interest after about a year, but I loved having the castings for my garden and the peace of mind not sending my organic wastes to the landfill. She had one of these. I used it for about 3 years then didn't want to move it oh. . . 10 years ago? and gave it to the next door neighbors who had expressed interest. From then on I was just using large totes, until I got my urban worm bags. The worm bags are by far my favorite systems, but maybe I would have liked my tower more if I had done it the way you do.
Your daughter is so lucky to have you as a mom!! I would have loved a worm tower when I was a kid!! And lucky neighbor as well!! I'm loving my new Urban Worm Bag...my wife wants me to put one of the whole frozen pumpkins I've been storing in our freezer in it soon...I'm just not sure if I have enough worms built up in it yet??!? Thanks so much for stopping by to watch and let us know about your old worm tower adventures!!🪱🪱🪱
I also wonder if you have enough worms in there yet. You could end up with a soupy, wet, smelly mess if there aren't enough worms to make good on a whole pumpkin. I've put a whole one in mine, but not until I had enough worms to be putting a dent in a giant tub of frozen food; roughly 1-2lbs daily. It sounds like a lot, but yes, those bags can achieve that level of production. Another bad scenario you might get yourself into moving too fast is the bag heating up and killing off your worms.
@@Vermicompost I am the lucky one. I have two brilliant and beautiful daughters that make me proud daily. The world does a good enough job stealing wonder and installing fear, so when my daughters expressed a sense of wonder at something it became a project to explore. Period.
That is incredible!! I can’t wait to get up to that level of production & consumption!!!!!
So awesome!!! We’ll said!!
How about having the pre-harvest tray on top and the feeding tray just below it? That way the pre-harvest tray does not get additional moisture from the fresh food. Worms will migrate because the bin is running low on food and water.
That is a very intriguing idea!! I am a bit of a lazy worm farmer so I'd have to get used to the idea of having to take off the tray every time I feed...The pre-harvest tray is not quite ready to harvest when it starts so I do want worms still in there but with the lid on it would still stay pretty moist so they wouldn't necessarily flee...But it would be less damp when it is time to harvest...Just thinking out loud here...You've definitely got me thinking!!! Thanks for the idea, I always love a good experiment or tweak to see what works best!! And of course thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
❤👍 always enjoy looking at , you and your gals work. Great stuff always.....Thank you!
Thank you!! Autumn, my wife, is a great partner in making these videos!! It's not always easy to think in front of the camera so her input is so vital from behind the camera!! Thanks so much for recognizing this!! We really appreciate your support!!🪱🪱🪱
Wow the preharvest tray looks great.
Thanks Ann!! I'm looking forward to using those castings!! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch & comment!!🪱🪱🪱
Looks like you were playing the shell game. Great video. 😎
Pretty much!! But I almost confused myself as well!!! Thanks for watching AJ!!!🪱🪱🪱
Great way to manage bins. The took care of the potato.
I was very surprised there was no potato left!! They really obliterated it!! Congrats on 7K Subscribers!!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Man, the "pool tabling" on the second level is awesome.
The power of pre-inoculating is real.
Fantastic system brother !!
Cheers J&C 🌱🪱🌱👍🤜🤛
Thanks J&C!! The inoculating trays really make a big difference when if comes time to feed them!! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch & comment!!🪱🪱🪱🤜🤛
This was such a great explanation of using a worm tower. I’m just beginning my adventures with worms, so this was REALLY HELPFUL!
Thank you for the kind words and great feedback!! I'm so glad you found it helpful! We have four very different types of worm bins if you want to check the out other videos on our channel; lots of videos on how to get started and feed from start to harvest!! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment!!🪱🪱🪱
Thanks for the quick reply
Great video full of very useful information.
Thank so much dirty Joe!! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by & watch!!!🪱🪱🪱
I’m going to try this
I think you'll like this technique! It really has done so well for me for the past 2+ years! Here is my latest video where I rotated and started a food experiment on the top level: czcams.com/video/XNG4i8iXc_g/video.html Thanks os much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Here for that tower of power!
I like it!! The Worm Tower of Power!!! Thanks so much for dropping by!!🪱🪱🪱 🇨🇦
I just got to the point of your video where you mentioned my Amazon tape experiment. Jason has great hopes that the heat of the hot compost will pick up where the worms left off. Other people think the bag will dissolve first
~ Sandra
If 160°F for 2 - 4 weeks in a row doesn't do it, nothing will lol
I haven't even looked at this tray in 67 days so when I saw all that blue stuff and uneaten bedding particles I immediately though of your awesome experiment!! I had a little while there where I was being lazy and just shredding away Amazon tape & all!! Thanks for all your awesome videos & experiments!!!🪱🪱🪱
👍🔥🤜🤛🪱
Loving your video’s guys
Why do you not have worm wee in the bottom tray I’m confused 😐? 😊
Thank you!! I specifically run my worm tower so any liquid that might drain goes right into a tray filled with dry bedding inoculating that bedding with microbes. So the bottom two trays of my VermiHut worm tower are always put on dry and eventually get moistened by the worm wee, before they move up to the top to get fed food scraps. I hope that helps!! Sorry it took me so long to get to all your comments! We really appreciate you taking the time to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Awesome thanks so much guys
Got it! Thanks 😊
👍👍👍 Thanks for dropping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
I also do trays the same as you i also worked out this way much better . I always puting tray for harvest on the top and get dry o bit .
That is fantastic that the rotation is working for you as well!! That is a good idea to put the harvest tray on top to dry out a bit! Thanks for sharing how you do it! And of course, thanks for watching our videos!!🪱🪱🪱
As always, I love watching your process.
I need to harvest my Can-O-Worms again soon and I love your method. 👍🪱👍
Awesome 👌
❤Peggy❤
Thank you Peggy!! I always appreciate your feedback & learning from you as you have fun managing your various worm bins and especially the Can O' Worms!! Thanks so much for all your support!!🪱🪱🪱
I use all my trays. I don’t add food to used trays. I put new bedding and lots of food in my top bin and cover with bedding and water to moisten it and in a week or so I add another on top and clean the bottom one. Rotate the bins that way
Very cool!! How long does it take for a tray to make it all the way down to the bottom ready for harvest? Sounds like a very hands off time saving method for this VermiHut system!! Thanks so much for watching & for letting us know how you run your tower!!🪱🪱🪱
The inoculated bedding seems to make an immense difference... pretty much turning all that paper & cardboard into _(probably)_ their uber-favorite stuff. Kinda makes me feel like I've got a totally wasted opportunity going on here with two buckets full of bone dry shredded paper & cardboard. Seems like I should come up with some way of making my prepared bedding more appetizing for the wormies somehow... perhaps by running my two perforated bins atop batches of prepared bedding material. Hmmmm... I like that idea - I'm gonna have to chew on that a bit :)
It is pretty amazing hoo quickly they can turn the inoculating trays into pure castings after they've been moved up to the feeding tray! I like how they trays are like a conveyor belt that just keeps producing! That would be a cool set up!! It's always fun to experiment and try to make less work for ourselves...the inoculating trays make things so easy...just throw on dry and kinda store them on the bottom until you're ready to feed!! Thanks for dropping by AV!!!🪱🪱🪱
Thanks for the harvest method. I wonder if just fluffing and leaving on top to dry (no lid) would make them siftable through the holes?
I have started using the innoculating tray idea, and it seems to be working here as well!
That is a really good idea!! I think leaving the lid off would definitely dry the castings and after a few days you could sift easily!! Then just return the lid back on to the top feeding tray when done! Thanks for the suggestion for all of us worm tower owners!! And of course thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Nice I have a inoculation tray but when I get all 5 trays on the bin I do not think I will use them but it looks like it works for you
I typically have 4 trays on the bin most of the time, three occasionally when I rotate, then I put another dry inoculating tray on the bottom a couple of weeks later. I do like having the 5th spare tray to use as a sifter for my Outdoor Worm Bin, but I'm always interested to learn how folks run their worm towers & especially VermiHuts like you have!! Thanks so much for tuning in!!🪱🪱🪱
I was wondering why bother them in the avocado shell? It seems to me they are using it as a love hut. It is amazing how many worms are in there.
I know I'm a big meany when it comes to interrupting them in their love shack Avo-Condos! It is just amazing how they love to hide out in there! I only bother them about once every 10 to 14 days so much less than how often they are harassed in the wild...I'm just checking for pockets of anaerobic activity or overfeeding in general when I plow through the bins. Thanks so much for watching Debbie!!🪱🪱🪱
A question for you…I am fixing to start my Vermihut trays soon so am I supposed to start 2 inoculation trays the same time and have the 3rd tray be my feeding tray as the top tray then that middle inoculation tray be my new feeding tray when it is moist enough after a couple of months of feeding that tip tray I watched your video and wanted to make sure I am understanding your technique
You are exactly right!! We just started my son & daughter-in-law's VerminHut and that is exactly how we started it. You may want to keep the top feeding tray up for 2 1/2 to 3 months depending on how fast the worms transform the coco coir that comes with it. We mixed in some cardboard shreds as bedding each time we fed. Once you get through the initial set up and first couple of trays, then it is like clock work, every 50-60 days pulling off about 10 pounds of castings! Thanks for asking a great question and of course thanks so much for watching Donna!!🪱🪱🪱
Hello! Newbie here and wondering if the harvest is more of a worm compost vs just castings? Reason I ask is because I've seen other videos where the castings are sifted out.
Hello!! Yes, you are correct! Worm compost or vermicompost is basically what you get when you decide to harvest the material. There are still bits and pieces of bedding and long term food in there etc but it is not pure worm castings...Really nothing can absolutely be 100% worm casting because no mater how small you screen it some bits of undigested food and bedding will end up in the castings. So you'll see a lot of folks use worm castings and vermicompost interchangeably since there is no way to get absolutely pure 100% worm castings. I screen my Outdoor Worm Bin almost every time I feed the bin and the castings are pretty pure like in this video: czcams.com/video/tI--M5E-oKg/video.html When I store my vermicompost the few worms that are left in it, continue to eat the bits of food and bedding so it becomes more and more pure worm castings by the time I use it. I hope this helps!! Thanks so much for watching!! Good luck on your worm farming journey, if you haven't seen it yet this will help you get started and know what things should look like after that first week: czcams.com/video/UsH3k92KhYg/video.html 🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost Very helpful, thank you!
What do you do with the cocoon tray?
The cocoon nursery sits for about 60 days and I bait it out the last 30 as I show/explain in this video: czcams.com/video/is8L5-t05-U/video.html I add the babies back to the VermiHut and put my castings into storage container: czcams.com/video/WCevZRPuYug/video.html Another great question! I should probably do another up to date video on it!🪱🪱🪱
So when you only put organic food leftover on top feeding, the worms will slither up? What if every layer i put organic leftover?
Yes! The worms will go to where the food is, but some will also explore the other trays to continue to process the bits of food scraps left. You can definitely add some food to every layer if you want to see how the worms go for it, but I like just putting it on top so my trays get progressively turned into vermicompost on a regular schedule...Give both techniques a try and see which you like best!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
i've watched several of ur vids. I'm so excited to start my new worm tower. Would you say I should start off with just 2 trays or 3. I've been saying shredded mail in a 5 gallon garbage bag. Or does it need to be cardboard?
Thank you so much for watching! You're going to absolutely love starting a new worm tower! Shredded mail is fine however, I like to use cardboard mixed in because sometimes plain paper can get matted down. When the bedding gets matted down, it is hard for the worms to get in between those pieces that are stuck together. Cardboard just let it get a bit more airy. If your tower comes with five trays, I would start with three trays. The first tray is where all the magic is going to happen; you're going to feed it, etc. The bottom two trays you're just gonna put in dried shredded bedding. In about 90 days you're gonna swap the top two trays and add one to the bottom. This will now give you the set up that I have in this video; a feeding tray, below it a pre-harvest tray below it, an old inoculating tray and below it your new inoculating tray. 90 days later, you can have your first harvest and then from there on out you'll be on a 60 day cycle. I hope this helps! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost Thank you so much for responding.... I just got my shredder... OMG it ripped thru the amazon boxes like nothing. Tomorrow I should receive my bins & worms, I only ordered 500 because I didn't know how much to start with. As far as feeding, do you think the pulp from my juicing is sufficient to feed to start off with?
If you haven't seen this video already, it will give you an idea of how much to feed: czcams.com/video/UsH3k92KhYg/video.html some of the pulp from your juicing is great, but remember less is more at the beginning!! That shredder is amazing. Mine is five years old now and still going strong!
I love your videos. This was very informative! Curious what type of bin you like the most out of the Vermihut, UWB, or tote. I’ve been using a tote for the past year which has been working well, and am considering getting either a stacking tray or worm bag for easier harvesting as-needed. What’s your preference?
Thank you!!! That is a tough one!! The Urban Worm Bag is still kind of new to me as I got it for Christmas this past year. I love it because it can take a lot of food & bedding and has the biggest capacity of all my worm bins. But as of right now I'd have to say my VermiHut Worm Tower is my favorite. The set up is so easy and it comes with coco coir and everything you need to run a worm bin except the worms. The moisture level is always perfect because it drains (I definitely like worm bins that drain) so I'm never worried about wetting down bedding as I add it or worry about putting in too much watery foods like watermelon etc. It has a great lid, and it has a relatively small footprint because it goes up vertical with each tray filled with vermicompost, Where as a tote is really only every filled 50% or the way up. Worm towers are great for beginners all the way up to experts. I hope this helps, but honestly I don't think you can go wrong with either one!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Excellent information! Thank you!
I have the old “Worm Inn” bag. I stopped using it at one time because I couldn’t keep the moisture level up. I have just started using it again and it’s outside in an old root cellar. I’ll see how that goes. I have a Worm Factory 360 and have had it for years. I like it the best. I am using your inoculating tray idea now and I love this idea, great work. I have always used a dry tray on top to keep gnats out and store some extra cardboard if I need it fast. I started using the one on top when I go on vacation for extra food without putting extra food in it. Now with the two trays under and one on top they will be fine. My husband and I are gone for a month usually. The tray on top does get damp and I put it on dry and there are a few worms in it too, just not many. Great videos! Thanks so much.
Just saw this comment Debbie...I love the dry tray on top when you're on vacation idea!🪱🪱🪱
You explain 2 inoculating trays and the feeding tray and rotating new feeding tray and moving old feeding tray to pre harvest tray position, but you don't explain how the first pre harvest tray is developed? Is it bottom to top: two inoculating trays with dry bedding; an empty tray to catch castings; and then top feeding tray?
Great question! I need to make a video where I start with three trays and explain things. Here is a video where I started with one tray czcams.com/video/g5Sag75OAXY/video.html but you can adopt it to what I'll explain here. To start a VermiHut I would put down two trays of dry bedding (inoculating trays) on the bottom and one tray of moist bedding, a very little bit of food, and your worms (your top feeding tray). Run this by feeding and adding fresh bedding to the top feeding tray weekly for 90 days without rotating it. After 90 days, put one of those original inoculating trays of dry bedding on top of your feeding tray and add a new dry bedding inoculating tray on the very bottom. Now your old top feeding tray has become your very first pre-harvest tray. After another 60-90 days repeat, but take off the pre-harvest tray & harvest it. Each tray takes a new position and a new one gets inserted at the bottom as a new inoculating tray. You will have 10lbs of castings every 60 days with this method. I hope this helps!! Thanks so much for watching and asking a great question I haven't addressed with my videos yet!🪱🪱🪱
Tower is looking great Patrick. Once I get enough worms in my system I will try to run mine very similar to yours. Inoculating the bedding to me is a very important step. My tower is 7 weeks old and tomorrow will be it’s 6th feeding. 😁🪱🪱
I have a question from the technical category, how and with what do you maintain the cutting knives of the paper shredder so as not to harm earthworms, what agent do you use?
Great question! I use vegetable oil to occasionally (maybe once every 2 months) maintain the cutting surfaces. I just spread a little across a sheet of paper and run it through the shredder, then I run a bunch of clean paper through it again, before I shred cardboard again. I hope this helps!! Thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost It seems to me that the use of vegetable oil causes its drying, a greasy crust is formed on the surface, quite difficult to remove.
Oh, no!! I haven't experienced that with mine! Sorry so late with the reply I just say this comment.
Do you just add dry bedding to your bottom tray and don’t add any worms to that bottom tray
Correct! I just add dry shredded cardboard and put that tray on the very bottom. Liquid from condensation and the food I feed drips down inoculating it with microbes and by the time it is time to move them up to the top feeding tray it is completely damp and ready to go for the worms! Great question! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
i tried to mimic your setup but its fairly new. so i have a top feeding tray with two inoculation trays. the trouble i'm having is my worms are moving down to the second tray instead of stay up top and eating.
When the bin is new and has fewer worms it’s easier to see the worms wander about (they like to explore their bins!!) As long as you are not overfeeding (which I’m sure you are not) they are just exploring not ignoring the top feeding tray. At the 60-75 day point for that top feeding tray rotate the oldest inoculating tray on top of it even if you think it’s not full or not done. The worms will continue to work it over as you feed a new tray above it. I’m so excited for your new bin!! It’s always fun to learn the “personality” of a new bin and everyone is a little different!! I hope this helps!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Newbie here. I bought 500 ENCs and put them in a large tote. I want to add 500 more to this already established bin. Is that okay to do? My tote is a 27 gal square tote.
The more the merrier!! That size bin could probably get up to 5000-6000 worms by the end of the year, so giving them a jump start will help get your worm castings and reproduction up!! Compost worms are not territorial so the newcomers will be welcome!! In fact I have been adding more worms to my Urban Worm Bag from my other bins to try to increase it's production levels as well!! Great question!! Welcome to the worm farming community!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost thank you!!
My pleasure!
I wonder if there's a downside to this rotation system. Does the inoculating trays cause worms to travel down into those trays resulting in more worms being present in your harvesting tray?
Great question!! I actually counted out the number of worms in one of my pre harvest tray just before I harvested it a few months back and I counted 804 worms. Here is the video where I did that czcams.com/video/TfQgUwdMPrY/video.html and I talk about how many worms to expect in each level. I never did count out worms in my harvest trays when I was doing it the other way so I'm not sure which has more...but it is not something I noticed outright so it probably isn't much of a difference. Compared to the way the instructions show us, I found this way to be the least amount of effort on my part and a clear stopping point for each tray as I feed it...60 days. Additionally the mess I would get in the basin and that white board was pretty substantial. I'm sure through experimentation we can find an even better way to run this system, and I'm a firm believe there is no one right way to do it!! So hopefully we keep getting great comments like your to help us rethink things and make it even better!! Thanks so much for watching and for the great question!!🪱🪱🪱
Kunt u misschien heel duidelijk weergeven wat nu uw volgorde is? Door het vertalen begrijp ik het niet altijd goed. U zet de bak met de oudste compost bovenop? de 1 na oudste bak als tweede van boven? En als onderste bak een bak met papiersnippers? En u houd een cyclus aan van ongeveer 3 maanden? Alvast bedankt!
Het bakje dat ik erbovenop heb, is het bakje dat ik voer en het is niet het oudste. Het is het op een na oudste dienblad. De bak eronder is de oudste en degene die ik over 60 dagen zal oogsten. Dus nadat ik de bovenste bak 60 dagen heb gevoed, gaat deze naar de tweede bak van boven en wordt deze de vooroogstbak. De onderste 2 trays zijn precies zoals je zei. Helemaal onderaan is een nieuw dienblad met droog beddengoed en het tweede van onderen is een dienblad dat 60 dagen geleden op de grond is gezet en één vak naar boven is geschoven. Na nog eens 60 dagen wordt het de bovenste voerbak. Mijn rotatieschema is dus elke 60 dagen. Het onderste dienblad is het jongste dienblad, het dienblad daarboven is het op één na jongste, het dienblad daarboven is het vierde jongste (of oudste) en het bovenste dienblad is het derde jongste (of het tweede oudste). Ik hoop dat dit helpt!! Heel erg bedankt voor de geweldige vraag!! Deze andere video kan helpen om het beter uit te leggen: czcams.com/video/_uRRpwZcMXM/video.html Heel erg bedankt voor het kijken!!🪱🪱🪱
Hartelijk dank voor je antwoord. Duidelijk!!@@Vermicompost
@@user-ev3ic2hd7c 👍
PS: Hey - at @08:58 , @09:34 , @09:43 , @11:03 & @11:29 you forgot to include the *aerate-fluff* caption when you used the word 'agitating' / 'agitate(d)' / 'agitation' _(or perhaps here you really meant to agitate?, while earlier you did not??)_
😂🤣😂 So it's agitate if you want the worms to go down....but it's aerate and fluff if you want the worms to stay where they are!! They can read my mind when I'm doing it!! 😂🤣😂 The Executive Producer made me make those on screen word edits!!!🪱🪱🪱
I knew there was a distinction to me made in terms of the desired response from the worms - although to watch the two processes & compare them, they sure look similar. Hey - if the exec producer says jump, your job is only to ask how high & comply. Right?! :)
@@A-V Exactly!! x 2!!
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🪱🪱🪱🌮🌮🌮👍👍👍Thank so much for watching and supporting us for so long!!🪱🪱🪱
oh my god so complicated..... been watching various videos for an hour. No one can tell me simply how to start with a four tray bin system.... everyone making it over complicated.
No problem, here is the video to get started with one tray: czcams.com/video/g5Sag75OAXY/video.html you don't need to figure out what to do with the other trays until later...just get your system up and running with one tray!! You can just keep adding a tray on top every 60 days until you get 4 trays on...by then you will have lots of worms and lots of curiosity about how to make it super efficient!! I hope this helps!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱