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How To Add More Levels To Your Worm Tower From The Bottom Up | Vermicompost Worm Farm
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2024
- Building up your worm tower gives more room for your compost worms to turn your food scraps & cardboard waste into natural fertilizer & soil amendments in the form of worm castings!! I use a VermiHut worm tower but this will work for any worm farm in a stacked configuration!
In this video I start from the bottom basin & work my way up showing you how to get more trays on your worm tower & what it looks like at each level. I also review their last feeding, go over some w-urban legends or worm bin legends and add the top trays last feeding before we harvest from this worm bin next week.
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 #wormtower #redwigglers #selfsufficiency #homesteading #vermiculture #wormcastings #baitworms #vermihut
Here is the link to the @A-V tine lapse: • Time-lapse Fun!
00:00 | Intro Basin of VermiHut
01:11 | Adding a new bottom inoculating tray
01:57 | Adding old inoculating tray
03:29 | Adding pre harvest tray
04:56 | Tray review
05:16 | Adding active feeding tray
06:15 | Worms!!! + review of last feeding
07:39 | W-urban Legend review
08:14 | Do worms eat food?
09:22 | Observations from The Executive Producer!!
10:00 | Adding more bedding
10:29 | Adding food scraps
11:00 | Adding new W-urban Legend food & how much to feed
12:14 | Wrap up & adding the lid
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
Your videos have been so helpful to me in starting vermicomposting
That's fantastic to hear!! I'm so glad our videos have been so helpful!! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to let us know!!🪱🪱🪱
This has got to be the most excellent presentation I have ever seen on how to run these types of systems.
Have a great Day!👍👍
Wow, thank you!! I really appreciate your kind words!! Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave such a nice comment!!🪱🪱🪱
My Vermihut arrived today! I love it already. The design of trays, I like the most. Compared to the Worm Cafe which has the stops on the inside, the Vermihut design with the stops on the outside are a better idea. It was a pain harvesting the WC due to the worms hiding in all those nooks and crannies. Now to start innoculating......thanks for the link to this video 👍
Yay!!! I'm so excited for you!!! It is so much fun to start a new bin...especially this one!! If you notice the trays are ever so slightly tapered and they do not lock in, so when one is full the next one almost seems to rest on top with some space in between on all sides. I found this odd at first but then I realized it allows for the trays to adapt to the volume and the worms do not escape up the sides (due to the instant dry air they run into compared to being inside the VermiHut). I also left my lid off for the first couple of days with a light on overhead just so they knew where there new home was. I can't wait to hear how you like it compared to the WC after a few months!! The harvest really is the best with this and each tray is it's own sifter!!! Good luck and thanks for watching again!!🪱🪱🪱
Great presentation Patrick. You’ve definitely mastered the science of vermicomposting.
Thank you Joe!! I appreciate the good feedback & support you've given me on my journey!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
I've always been impressed with your worm record keeping. Because of the amount of bins that I maintain, keeping consistent records is quite a challenge. I do add worm legend foods to my worm bin but in small amountto prevent the bin from becoming acidic. In some of my earlier videos, I advocated that worms only eat the microbes but I later learned that they eat food scraps as well.
Yes!! Three bins is way easier to keep track of then your ton of bins!!! I think most of the W-Urban Legends come from good intentions of people trying the help new worm farms out from over feeding but then it gets lost in translation to don't feed this or that ever. Either way the worms are happy eating most everything we give them!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Waiting to c the harvesting of the bin. A treat for the eyes. He he.
Thank you for stopping by Sandy!! The harvest should be the next VermiHut video...and we get to empty a cocoon nursery and start a new one!! I really appreciate your support!! Thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Hello my wonderful wormie friend!!!! 🪱🪱🪱 This is such a cool rotation system!! It all happens pretty quickly too! Really interesting to see how compact the ore harvest tray was before you aerated it!! And they’re nice and chunky to 🙌🏼🙌🏼😂😂
Wow that last feeding did not last at all!! So many worms! Yeah I can tell that’s ready to be the pre harvest tray.
Awesome job Exec producer, you’re on the ball 🙌🏼👍 Yes the WUrban legend totally got busted!! 🤣
Great info about the wormies actually ingesting your the food too NOT just microbes…. Very interesting 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Great information in this video guys, it’s abit of a process but you explain it so well!!! I think the wormies will miss those oats once they’re gone!!
Hope you’re having a really awesome week guys! Take care 🌻😊🌻💐🪱🐝
Helloooo Anita!! It is so nice to follow your instagram and YT channel to see the Work shops/Master classes you've been doing!!! Spreading that awesome knowledge & experience far & wide!! I'm so glad this video wasn't too confusing...sometimes I try to figure out how to present it and I confuse myself, that's where the editing comes in😂 This bin really is ready for the big rotation and harvest. It seems like 60 days in each position works well and once you get 3-4 trays on, you get about 10 pounds of castings every 2 months!! Lots of W-Urban Legends out there about worm farming, It's good to dispel them with actual evidence from the worms themselves!! Autumn is such a great Executive Producer...Always calm with me but lets me know when I miss something🥰 Thanks so much for watching & for your thoughtful, wonderful comments!! Have a great week ahead!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost thanks so much Patrick , that’s just awesome😊🌻🐝💝
Nice updated video
I would love to watch them. Informative video too
Thank you very much!! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and watch my friend!!🪱🪱🪱
This is the most actually helpful work video I’ve seen on the internet!! I have felt pretty lost how to set up a tower. This has been so great!!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words!! I love my worm tower!! Here is a video of me and my neighbor restarting his VermiHut with the first tray: ua-cam.com/video/g5Sag75OAXY/v-deo.html If I had to do it all over again I would also put a dry inoculating tray on the bottom at the same time as I put this first tray on. Thanks so much for stopping by my channel to watch!🪱🪱🪱
Good educational video for the new folks, well done
I appreciate it!! It’s always fun to give a peak under the different trays for anyone new to worm towers! Thanks so much for taking the time to watch & comment!!🪱🪱🪱
This is a fantastic guide, thank you!
I really appreciate the visuals and text, along with your explanations.
Thank you!! I appreciate the kind words!! I'm so glad you found it helpful!! I never know if the diagrams or explanations help out unless someone takes the time to let me know, so thank you, thank you, thank you!!🪱🪱🪱
very very nice video, good job my friend
Thank you!! I really appreciate that coming from one of my favorite channels and commercial worm farmers!!!🪱🪱🪱
Ok, where do I start !!!
First,double gloves, let's go,!!!
Secondly, mind=blown, Colleen was asking me about the vertical bin today and I actually guessed most of it right !!
I've heard that the worm castings you buy in stores have modest amounts of NPK in them but because the castings are so old that the beneficial microbiology (protazoa, Rhizobia, Mycorrhizae, Azospirillum, Bacillus,) are actually long gone ???? Wu-ban legend ?
Can't wait to get that tower Brother!!
Cheers Jason and Colleen 🌱🪱🌱
😂🤣😂 First...burn/cut on one of the the left hand's fingers so double gloves temporarily😂 You are the first to mention it!!
Second I'm so glad you liked the video!! I'm trying to get better at explaining the semi-complicated way I run my worm tower!
Now, I am no expert on commercial fertilizers and commercially sold worm castings so hopefully someone smarter can chime in...but here is a really smart person (and fellow pilot!) explaining it way better than I can: ua-cam.com/video/d2CNzRHwroA/v-deo.html
Seriously watch the whole thing, it is excellent especially past the crab legs, macaroni and pie bit. (4 minutes if you watch it at 2x speed) He helps dispel the w-urban legends both for and against worm castings as fertilizer.
You'll love a worm tower!! Thanks so much for watching and for always inquiring & entertaining!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost what do people pay attention to, I mean it was so obvious 🧤🤣
K on it, I'll watch it now !!
Cheers my friend 💪💪💪
@@Vermicompost thanks for the referral!! Wicked smrt dude. Still have more questions than answers but I think the "Coles Notes" are:
Store bought castings are ok but lack nutrients and if store for long time lack microbes, so IMHO there are better ways to spend your money.
Your own casting also have a modest amount of NPK but the magic is in the billions of microbes, protazoas, fungi. When combined with other nutrients and minerals they facilitate the plants ability to take up the nutrients through root interception, mass flow, and diffusion. Combined with the fungel nature and mineral availability in the casts its a powerful component to achieving a well balanced soil texture. The worms in the ground will help with structure over time.
That being said as a "nube" I'm starting to understand that's there's no "silver bullet". Merely components that put together with some objective research, observation, especially trial and error, and a little perspective we can make quantifiable improvements. Again I know enough that I know I don't no Jack, but, this is so freaking fun !!!
Cheers Brother 🪱🤔🤯
@@clivesconundrumgarden Very well put!! Steve is wicked smart and smart enough to get info and research from soil scientists!! Your thirst for knowledge is incredible you should have a PhD if you don't have one already!! I mix in bone meal (which I make myself) and dried pulverized banana peal along with some aloe plant extract (which I grow) into my worm casting teas. That's where I love to experiment!! And yes this is fun...but even more fun since I found your channel!! Keep up the good work!!🪱🪱🪱
Thank you for your video! Thanks for always saying how many worms you have in there! That would have saved me a lot of trouble when I started my 1st worm bin last February. But I do want to say that I am finally rid of all the the fungus gnats!! The thing that worked was the yellow traps. I will keep yellow sticky traps in all of my bins forever more! Lol!! I tried all of the other stuff and all of them worked...slightly. The yellow traps are so good. Normally, I just lay one on top of the paper or cardboard or plastic that I have on top of it. They get drawn to it, I hear, because of the color....but I don't know why it works. I don't even care! Lol! Happy vermacomposting, everyone! I just got my 2nd Vermihut worm tower.....I'm so excited!! I love how those work. I'll have to admit, I get a little bit confused because they are used in a couple different ways, as far as getting the casting separated from the worms goes, but I'm gonna take it one day at a time.
Well that is some fantastic news right there!! I know so many people struggle with fungus gnats and fruit flys but you seemed to have found the sure fire solution!! I actually have some of those yellow sticky traps but because we have so many lizards around the garden and even in our screened in pool deck, I can't use them...the lizards stick to them as well. But inside a worm bin they are perfect!! (I assume you haven't had any issues with worms sticking to them!) I haven't had any flying insect issues in any of my bins but if/when I do I'll know what to use!!
That's so exciting you have another VermiHut!! I really do love how easy my worm tower is to use!! My next video on my VermiHut will show how I separate my worms from the castings. Someone suggested the technique in one of my video's comments and it has been my go to way to separate worms in my VermiHut ever since!
Thanks so much for watching and especially for passing on that great info about how well the yellow sticky traps worked for your fungus gnat issue!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost I only have one (bus bin) that's open, so I just lay it on the dry top cardboard. No worms get stuck in it because it's 3 layers above dampness....just above a white plastic bubble envelooe. Under that is cardboard that's wet. Babies love that...right inbetween the envelooe and the wet corrugated cardboard!! Keep up the great videos! God bless you!
👍 Thank you!!!
Love the video mate
Your worms are looking as happy as ever
Sorry I'm way behind on watching all my mates videos
Thank you!! No worries!! I know the feeling 😀I just appreciate anytime you watch!!🪱🪱🪱
Hii.. Nice explanation 💙 keep it up my friend 😍 VALUABLE
Love from srilanka 🇱🇰 ❤️
Thank you!! Welcome from SriLanka!! You have an amazing channel!! I loved the puffer fish video & seeing it shrink down and take off at the end!! Thanks so much for watching & taking the time to comment!!🪱🪱🪱
great video
Thank you!! I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by to watch & leave a nice comment!!🪱🪱🪱
Thanks for all your videos, I bought a worm tower a month ago, I added Bokashi on its first feed then started another bin on top with fruit and veg, they've mostly migrated to the top, I'm going to try entice them back into the original tray, I think with a lot of the fruits like apples it depends on how sweet they are, I've been putting frozen blackberries off the hedges here, they really seem to like them.
That's awesome!! It is so fun to experiment with different foods to find out what motivates them!!! I've never tried Bokashi; I'm sure they enjoyed all that goodness in there!! Although there are lots of worm explorers all throughout the different levels of my trays, the majority seem to like to be in the top tray. Those blackberries off your hedges are a great snack for them!! I'm sure if you put a good mix of apples, other fruits and leafy greens, maybe along with a little bedding, they will go right back down there and finish things off!! Thanks for letting us know about the Bokashi and how your worm tower is going!! I love to hear about other folks experiences with them!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost I watched a lot of videos on worm bins before I took the plunge, since I've got it I'm fascinated by them, I bought a microscope a few months ago to look at soil biology as vermicompost is called black gold in the gardening community, I put some below a microscope a few days ago, boy I was blown away by the good biology in it and my bin 8s only started, look on UA-cam Shooting the Soil, you'll be hooked after 20 mins. Thanks for all your videos they really are gold to people that have worm bins.
Thank you for all the kind words!! I really need to get some of my vermicompost under a microscope as well!! That is so cool that you were able to see all the microbiota under there!! I really am fascinated by my compost worms and I love every time I get to get into their bins!! I will check out shooting the soil. Thanks so much again!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost I bought an Omax microscope it's a Chinese one but as most stuff these days is made there there's good and bad, I watch a UA-cam channel called K TheGuy and Chris Trump KNF, Ks channel is where I got the tip on the microscope, it's about $200 and he shows you what one to buy, its impressive for the money, Dr Elaine Ingham has great videos on soil and how to use a microscope, get yourself one it's a whole new world in there and its fascinating when you get to know what you're looking at, lots of WOW moments as you start to examine what's really going on in there.
@@graemedevine9651 👍👍👍😀
Thank you so much for your videos!! I’ve learned so much. Just started my Vermihut and picking up my worms 🪱 tomorrow!! So I have to ask, why only the one glove???
Awesome!! I'm so excited for you!! You may have seen this video of me restarting my neighbors VermiHut ua-cam.com/video/g5Sag75OAXY/v-deo.html It might be good to leave the lid off for the first couple days in a room where the light is on 24/7 for 2-3 days to help the worms get acclimated. As for the one glove...that is great question! There is a method to my madness😂 I just use a glove on my right hand because that’s the hand that typically digs into the bin & my dirty finger nails don’t look very good on camera to me. I usually only hold things or pick up things with my left hand so no need for a glove as the finger nails stay clean on that hand. I just figured I'd save more gloves that way! I have no issues getting my bare hands into the worm bin when I'm not filming, it is just for aesthetics on videos!! Great question, I know it looks odd to wear just one when I get my left hand gets dirty anyway😂 Thanks so much for watching & good luck with the VermiHut!! You're gonna love it!!🪱🪱🪱
When you busted the Wurban legend about worms eating only microbes, I was going to make reference to some of my time-lapses... but you beat me to it 👍🏻 Thanks for the mention :) For anyone interested, here's the link to my time-lapse playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLMXQWDlzK6p82BlI_uK0xs2locpu7L7xp.html
Yes!! Your time-lapses are proof positive & the first thing I think of when I see stray comments erroneously mentioning worms only eat microbes! Thanks so much for putting the link in your comment! I was eventually gonna look one of them up & throw it in the description but now I can just copy & paste!! Thanks for stopping by to watch & pass on the link!!🪱🪱🪱
👍🏻
Looking forward to the harvest. This is a great setup Patrick. I don’t need another project, but I really like the worm tower 😁🪱
😂🤣😂 I felt the same way when I saw you build those awesome raised beds...I don't need another project but I sure do like them!!! The castings in the pre-harvest tray are looking pretty good so it should be a good harvest!! Thanks so much for watching!!!🪱🪱🪱
I call my pre-harvest tray my curing tray. Same idea different name.
That is a great name for it, actually describes it by its action...I may have to start using that interchangeably to help describe what is going on!! Thanks so much for for stopping by to watch and adding a new word to my worm farming vernacular!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost verm-nacular
@@ontherocksinthesoilmichael6739 😂🤣😂That made my day!!
By using an Inoculation tray does that mean you will get less worm juice for liquid fertilizer in the garden? If so what is the advantage of an inoculation tray?
Great question!! The "worm juice" that collects down below is leachate that is great to use in the garden if it is less than 24-48 hours old. After that amount of time, anaerobic microbes take over and now it is very bad for your garden. If it smells bad don't put it on your garden. Some folks purposefully poor water over their worm towers and collect the liquid from the bottom right away, and that works well. I however can never really tell how old the liquid is down below or if it is safe to put on my garden so I try to prevent liquid from collecting down there. Instead I allow that liquid to get absorbed by the very airy dry bedding in the inoculating trays and it allows the good aerobic microbes to grow and thrive making the tray super charged and ready for the worms when it goes to the top as the top feeding tray. I make worm casting tea every couple of days with a worm castings filled mesh bag and a fish tank bubbler in about 5 gallons of water with a little unsulphured molasses. This keeps the water aerated and helps to multiply the good microbes from the worm castings and I spread this over my garden every few days. It is a wonderful natural fertilizer and soil amendment!! I hope this helps!! Thanks for the great question I'm sure others have and thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost OK got it, thanks for clearing that up.
What happened to tray bin #5? Did you not use it because you did not have that many worms? Sorry if you answered it in the video
Great question! I use the 5th tray as a sifter for my other worm bins like in this video: ua-cam.com/video/tI--M5E-oKg/v-deo.html I've also found that the 4 trays/bins rotated every 60 days works well for a great well processed vermicompost harvest. I could rotate every 45 days and get a 5th tray on top, but I haven't tried yet because I'm enjoying the spare! I hope this helps! Thanks so much for watching and asking a great question I'm sure other folks have as well!!🪱🪱🪱
Please explain what an inoculating bin is and its purpose.
An Inoculating tray is just a tray full of dry bedding that I put on the bottom of the stack in my worm tower. It absorbs any liquid that drips down due to gravity and that liquid brings lots of beneficial microbes with it. So as time goes on it gets inoculated with microbes and moisture and it is ready to be devoured by the worms once I put it on top and feed it food scraps! I've found that running my worm tower with inoculating trays on bottom really speeds up the vermicomposting process. This video might help to explain it better: ua-cam.com/video/XNG4i8iXc_g/v-deo.html Thanks so much for watching our videos!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost thanks for answering my questions. It truly is an excellent channel. I learned everything about worm farming from UA-cam videos.
Here's a trivia thing: Charles Darwin wrote an excellent book...on worms. Go figure.
Yes!! I actually read his book! I believe it was his last book he wrote before he died. Thanks so much for the kind words!!
I love my VermiHut, I am surprised to see you keep the inoculating tray just above the bottom dry inoculating tray. I have been moving mine to the top to make it the feeding tray. Also, I would like to ask how long your pre harvest tray has been on the tower, I have trays that have been on a couple months and they still have a fair amount of visible cardboard/paper shreds in them, not nice compost like yours. I have actually have been going through and moving un-composed bedding from older trays to newer trays to try to progress them to harvest. I use the shredder I bought through your link although my shreds seem to be longer than yours.
That is so great to hear!! I love my VermiHut as well!! I think we probably run it in almost the same way. My oldest inoculating tray is the tray that goes on top as the new feeding tray, in fact I'll be doing that on my next Worm Tower video! I typically have 3 trays on my VermiHut at once. Inoculating on bottom, preharvest in the middle and feeding tray on top. About 2 weeks before harvest I put on a 2nd dry inoculating tray (so 4 total trays) and then when I harvest the tower goes back down to 3 trays. The pre harvest tray you see in this video spent 57 days as the pre harvest tray, 63 days as the top feeding tray and a total of 65 days as an inoculating tray, so it has been on the system for 185 days. it seems like 60-70 days at each position is works out well for me!
I'll check on the shredder link, I think mine is an older model and they may have added shredders to the link or discontinued the model I have. How frustrating...I hope it is still working well for you & shredding cardboard!?!? Thanks for bringing it to my attention and thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
You have said that the first lv has been inoculated but you do not say with what or how so im asking inoculating with what and how??
Great question!! Here is how I inoculate them. I add dry shredded cardboard to an empty tray and I put it on the very bottom. Over the next 45-70 days gravity pulls the liquids from the food scraps down into that tray and inoculates the shredded cardboard with all the microbe filled drippings. After about the 30 day point, it gets to the point where a few worms start to explore down there further inoculating the cardboard shreds with microbes. By the time I bring it from the bottom of the tower to be the top active feeding tray, the cardboard shreds are completely moist, full of microbes and the worms absolutely devour the cardboard bedding as I feed food scraps over the next 60 days. Here is a video where I explain it a little better: ua-cam.com/video/GQ_Isrwi5YE/v-deo.html & ua-cam.com/video/7HEsu_2VhHA/v-deo.html
I hope this helps!! It is a really easy way to inoculate your trays with all the terrific microbes that are already in your worm tower!! Thanks so much for watching and asking a great question!!🪱🪱🪱
Love all of your vermicomposting video. been learning about it as I plan to start one myself. Just a question, will any cardboards do or is there any certain cardboard can't be used? since sometimes I see laminated or varnished surface on the cardboards I found.
Thank you so much!! That is a great question! For the most part I just use plain corrugated cardboard with the stickers ripped off and toilet paper/paper towel rolls. You can use cereal boxes and other cardboards with "shiny ink" but it is typically more dense and it takes longer for the worms to totally turn them into castings. The shiny or laminated/varnished looking surface is typically a type of clay so it won't hurt anything in your garden. Out of my three bins, my Outdoor Worm Bin with over 6000 worms very occasionally will get a shredded cereal box but my VermiHut & Tiny Worm Bin only get the non shiny cardboard. I hope this helps!! Good luck starting your worm farm....you're gonna love it!! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
@@Vermicompost thank you so much for answering my question. 👍👍👍👍 for all of the amazing videos
@@JH-xk4gr 👍👍👍
Was the VermiHut your first system, Patrick? I started with two tower systems because I didn’t know about other options. Then I added totes and sandboxes! Each type of system has its pros and cons.
~ Sandra
Hi Sandra!! The Vermihut was not my first system but it was my first commercially bought system...and boy did my population take off with this worm tower! I was having problems (go figure) with moisture control (indoors) & overfeeding until I got this VermiHut. I think because it drains and the lid keeps the humidity constant no matter what it is like outside the bin, it worked well for my unique air conditioning humidity situation here in the lower sub tropics of Florida. You are absolutely correct, each system has its pros & cons depending on time, space, indoor, outdoor, humidity levels, temperature levels etc....which is why I love having different kinds of worm farms!! They are kinda like couches...we all have them but everyone's is unique!! Thanks so much for watching and for all your great worm farming videos & experiments!!🪱🪱🪱
I think your heat and humidity in Florida really make your worm farming experiences different from mine. Although our gardening zones are the same (how could that be?), my climate is normally moderate and dry through the summer. If I want to feel like it is in Florida, I head into my greenhouse for a visit to the tropics!
Nice video, Patrick 🪱🪱🪱
I love the way you are doing this. I need to try using the tray I just cleaned as a bottom tray to catch the worms heading south.
Thank you!! That might be fun to try this method with your Can O' Worms...but you have such an amazing track record, I don't know if I'd switch it up!!🪱🪱🪱
How often do you aerate the non- feeding trays in your vermihut?
Great question! I only aerate them when I rotate them and move positions. Typically when it goes from the new inoculating tray to the old inoculating tray it is not too moist, but the when it goes from the old inoculating to the top feeding tray it is super moist. If you wanted to you could certainly aerate them every couple weeks or so, but it is not necessary. Thanks for the great question & thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱 .
@@Vermicompost Thanks! My worm ranch is thriving largely because of what I’ve learned from watching your tutorials! Happy vermicomposting!
I just started an outdoor worm bin modeled after yours. Do you keep yours in a shady area? I heard we would have a very hot summer. I guess I’m kind of worried that I don’t want my worms to “cook” if they are outside on near 100 degree days.
I do keep my 20 gallon fabric pot outdoor worm bin mostly shaded but there are parts of the day where parts of it get some direct sunlight. I also keep a white basin on the top to weigh the flaps down and provide another layer of shade. The more volume of bedding and castings it has the better it will able to avoid big swings in temperature. It typically only gets into the mid 90's here and it rains a lot so the bin stays relatively cool compared to some mid western states I have lived in where 100+ degrees is a regular occurrence. To ease your mind you can take the temperature of the bin with a regular kitchen thermometer to see if it is heating up too much. The worms are pretty good at finding the best temperature within the bin. I find mine is usually in the 70's to low 80's. I hope this helps!! Thanks so much for watching and please let us know how your bin is working outside this summer!!🪱🪱🪱
How long have you been doing vermicomposting?
This time around about 2 1/2 years. I started and stopped several times as a I moved around with the Air Force. Long time fascination since I was a kid!!! Thanks so much for stopping by to watch!!🪱🪱🪱
How often do you turn your worm trays
I try to rotate every 60 days. I could probably go to 45-50 and get the 5th tray on there as well but I like to use it as a sifter for my other bins! Great question! Thanks so much for watching!!🪱🪱🪱
Thank you for your time.
My pleasure!!
put something like a plastic thing on the spot where u fed, zo is easy to know where u put it, i use a pen XD
That is a good idea!! A lot of times I feed in the same place but I get turned around sometimes when I move the trays to different levels. Something long which shows direction would be helpful!! Thanks so much for passing your tip and thanks for watching!!🪱🪱🪱