How to Start a Cocoon Bin
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- Опубліковано 11 гру 2023
- Hello!
Do you have lots of cocoons from your breeder bins? Did you buy lovely red wiggler cocoons from me?
Awesome! Now you need to get these little cocoons set up so you get lots and lots of wisps 👍❤️.
Follow along to see what factors you need to take into consideration in order to have the best cocoon hatching results.
Thanks for watching! Please give a thumbs up and subscribe!
My website:
rockinworms.com/products
Yours in the dirt,
Jayne
#redwigglers #vermicompost #worms #composting #wormcastings #wormfarm #breederbin #breeders
Hi Jayne. Another great video,Very informative and interesting. Putting baby sitters in with the cocoons definitely help in the hatching.
I think so too. Often now (🙄) I already have hatches when I pull the breeders and therefore have an in progress cocoon/hatching bin and don’t really need the nanny worms. But on the occasions I’m on schedule I do add a handful of juveniles.
Thanks for watching Bev! ❤️🪱❤️
I notice that you are very diligent in keeping the different worm stages separate… can you explain the reasoning?
Hello! Thank you for joining the Castings Crew!
I keep the worm growth stages mainly separate for 2 main reasons and several lesser reasons. First, the breeder worms breed more if they are in their own space. I have some videos/playlist that talk about breeders specifically and how to set up breeder bins for success. I was building my clew and wanted maximum growth.
Secondly, I’m now selling worms and cocoons. Having them in separate bins allows me to track what I have better. I can also manage bins with certain ages in them to achieve specific results easier.
A lesser reason is if I have juvenile bins and I need to sift castings out, I don’t have to ‘worry’ about cocoons. They’re too young to be making cocoons. Another reason is more of a side effect. Since I do have breeder bins and reset them every 3 weeks (usually! I’ve fallen off that schedule lately 😡), I have lots of cocoons that go into several shared bins. Once they hatch there’s no room for any other worms anyway. In face I have to split those bins to keep growth optimal. So as a result I get lots of bins that contain same aged worms. 😊
If I wasn’t selling worms I wouldn’t be so diligent (that sounds so much nicer than xxx retentive! 🤣) about size specific bins although the ‘side effect’ bins would still happen frequently.
All that said, I absolutely have bins with mixed ages. They are perfectly fine and the worms do great! Thanks for asking a great question! 👍❤️🪱
Nanny worms help… they look after them.
Hi Jayne! Great video as always! I did the shoebox method with the cacoons I ordered from you and they are hatching great!
Hi Marva! Oooh! How exciting! They’ll be fine in the shoe box for a month, maybe a bit longer. Watch the newspaper covering - that’ll be your indicator to start feeding them a little worm chow 👍❤️🪱
Thank you for a very informative video, I’ve just started my 1st cocoon bin & am eagerly awaiting wisps to appear👍
Hi AJ! Welcome! How exciting! Are they red wigglers? I hope you’ll keep us up to date on your cocoon bin progress 👍❤️🪱
They are Eisenia fetida and Dendrobena veneta, I’m not sure what they are called in America. I have only stated this (rather addictive)‘worm thing’ in late June this year.
I started with 500grams of worms - when they arrived, they were many & very small now they are very big, long, chubby & have already produced many babies!
I now have bins for nearly 900 original adults, they appear to be happily mating away.
A bin with handfuls of (uncounted) babies, I’m waiting till they are bigger & stronger to separate & count them. And now I have a bin of the newest cocoons - I used your excellent video for making the pre compost to keep the cocoons in, I shall also follow your suggestion to put some of the babies in with the cocoons.
Thank you & your cameraman very much for making informative, interesting & easy to follow videos. @@RockinWorms
Got cocoons from you. The cocoons were great and I had many wisps
The new in the video was choosing the container.
I would have chosen to isolate and watch as a separate bin
Oh excellent! I can’t tell who you are from your id on here 😊. I simply don’t have the brain power to remember all the ids 😝.
I’m glad they’re working out for you ❤️. While you didn’t get a chance to do a cocoon bin with the cocoons from me you can certainly set one up in the future when you have cocoons from your own worms. Maybe do a small breeder bin once you have a handful of adults and start that way …? Could be fun! 👍🪱🪱
Hi Jane... Let me know if i missed anything .... Oh, and thank you for this video!!!
I've separated my worm cocoons from the rest of my heard. I've brought the 2 27-gallon bins of cocoons inside where I can keep them warm. I've increased the moisture levels to about 80%. Now to wait. I counted 200 cocoons in a cup, so using that as a baseline, I have over 100,000 cocoons. With each cocoons having the potential of 3+ worms each... I have a 600 gallon bagster on the way.....
Hi! First off congratulations! Second of all, holy crap that’s a lot of cocoons! I just shipped off 9.25 pounds of concentrated cocoons in sifted bedding and I estimated 22,200 cocoons. You’ve got me beat by a mile!
You’re spot on for now.
Yes, it’s a waiting game now but not for long! You’re going to have to balance adding new fresh bedding and food once the wisps start emerging with any volume limit you have in their totes. I find this challenging! I use worm chow mainly for the first few months as I can feed a lot of worms without adding much volume. Bit after a few months I feel fresh bedding is necessary. That’s when I either split bins or combine bins into larger totes - so I have room to add fresh pre-compost. Once the wisps get big enough that I can sift out castings the management gets easier overall. 🪱🪱
Great tips. I just placed my first cocoon order. Excited to start this journey!
Hi! I see your order - thank you! I’ll be working on it this weekend 👍🤩😎🪱.
Hi again! I’ve got your cocoons counted! I’m emailing you right now so we can connect more directly and I can update you with a picture of your cocoons ❤️🤩.
Hi Jayne and crew. Nice to watch another nice video from you.
Nothing coming up on my channel any time soon. We have had setbacks with unseasonable very wet weather. So wet I've had outside compost in containers go anaerobic.
I hope I will make time to do a progress video soon.
Cheers,
Bruce
Hi Bruce! Thanks for stopping by 🤗. Ugh. The weather. It’s always something. 🙄😆. Well, the worms don’t really care what type of bacteria they’re eating. If the compost eventually dries down to a level you can use it’ll be ok for worms.
Just thinking. If you have dry materials could you mix some wet into it to get usable bedding/food? That could be a good video idea for you 😊. I particularly like making videos doing activities I need to do anyway! 😆.
Thanks for the update and I hope things get better soon! 👍❤️🪱
Thanks for remembering me
Hi! It’s not that I don’t remember who you are, it’s that I don’t know who links to JJ-yk1ks. If you’d like to share your first name or city that would help tremendously 😎. I’m happy to talk with you about your cocoons and how they’re doing! 👍🪱❤️
I had but a small container in with my regular bins.
I have just finished harvesting castings I have a large number of wisps and juniors. More than I have seen before
The grains and the veg power is great. Very easy to use. I add just a dusting then water in
Excellent Joe! That’s great news 👍. I have a customer who loves the worm chow and veggie powder as it’s so easy for her to feed her several bins. A real time saver! The variety of fruits and veggies in the veggie powder is what I like a lot so I’m not mono feeding when I have a surplus of one particular food. It’s all good! 👍🪱🪱
Hi Jayne, Another interesting and informative video. I started my first cocoon bin a few weeks ago, so far all is good, and a good many of the 200+ cocoons that I put in have already hatched. The bit about the news paper being eaten as a pointer to start feeding is a very valuable bit of information. Keep up the great work. Have fun, Mark : )
Hi Mark! Thanks! I almost forgot about mentioning the eating newspaper tip 😳. It is handy 👍. I’m so glad your cocoons are doing so well 🤗. Awesome! Have you had the opportunity to start making pre-compost? The worms will love it! 👍❤️🪱
@@RockinWorms Thank you for the reply. I haven't had a chance to start the pre-compost yet, things have been a tad hectic for me recently, but that's life, the universe, and a bag of spanners. I have had a delivery today of a second hand 6 tray Worm Factory (worm tower), which only cost me a fifth of the price of a new one 😄. I will split the contents of my existing tower with this one received today to up the population, and production of castings. I do have a third one that I purchased with my first one, but haven't used yet. My plan is to have one with red wigglers, one with european knight crawlers, and one with a mix, then I can do some experiments between the bins : )
@@madhat127 🤣Bag of spanners! Isn’t that the truth!
Good score on the worm factory! Can’t pass up the great deal 👍
You’ll get to the pre-compost. It’ll make such a difference.
Oooh! Experiments - love that. I hope you will share what you’re doing when the time comes 👍🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms I will certainly share my experiments, as you say, when the time comes. Take care, have fun, and thanks again, Mark : )
😊 thank you
Hi John! Welcome! Do you want to start a cocoon bin? 😍
@@RockinWorms Hi Jane, I have just got into Worms, and just trying to absorb as much information about them as possible . I may start one in the future. Have a great Christmas, regards from Australia.
@@johngurney7087 That’s a good idea! Both to do some research and to get prepared with set up, etc.
I hope you’ll find my content helpful! 👍❤️🪱
Good topic to cover.
I use the small shoe box size 1 per breeder bin.
Every week I empty 3 on Thursday and set up 3 on Friday.
They are in the nursery for 10-weeks.
I get an average of 2 oz of worms out of one small bin, when more cocoons go in smaller worms come out and likewise when less cocoons go in larger worms come out. To be honest, in the wintertime the weekly average is between 4.5 to 5 oz for all 3, weekly.
The small worms are separated using the light method, then weighed. After that they go into a grow out bin with 2.5 gallons of bedding (black peat) for another 10 - weeks. After 20 - weeks from cocoon the worms are 3.5" to 4" in length, weigh 16 to 18 oz, fully mature and ready to go into breeder bin themselves. Then after 4 - weeks it is time to start doing the splits to grow them to bait size.
What I have described is with just doing 3 breeder bins a week. What is happing is 16 to 18 oz of adult worms 3.5" to 4" being produced every week.
Otherwise during the growing and sizing season this same process is done along with breeder bins also being used as a nursery.
Rewinding a bit about the process. after the cocoon bins are set up on Friday, Saturday they get a light sprinkle of double ground worm chow. It takes 5 to 7 days before the chow is eaten. Then after that they are fed chow daily, always double ground for the hatchlings and small worms in the nursery.
In the grow out bins they are fed chow daily.
With the breeder/sizing bins the chow is mixed in with the bedding and the worms are left undisturbed for the breeding cycle.
Enjoy worms and have a great Day!
Hi! Again with the great info! Thanks!
So I have a few questions 😊. At what age/size does using the light method start being effective-efficient to use? I kinda dislike using the light method - seems to take forever - although infinite modifications of it - but I think I have to start using it more to get young worms out of almost 100% worm castings and move them into fresh bedding. Tiny wisps don’t cooperate as they hid in the smaller ball of castings 🙄😡.
You put all the cocoons from 3 breeder bins into one shoe box? You’re sifting the cocoons out? If so how do you get the very moist breeder bin contents dry enough to sift down to just the cocoons? For me, by the time the breeder bin contents are dry enough for that level of sifting half the cocoons have already hatched!
You’re using the grain mill with the finest sieve for the double grind? I love the grain mill!
I have more clarifying questions but I’ll give you a break 🤣. Eager to hear your answers! ❤️🪱🪱
@@RockinWorms I use the light method after 10 - weeks from the onset of putting the cocoon bins in the nursery. The worms are approximately 9 to10 weeks old. Cocoons from 3 breeder bins go into 3 shoebox size totes, the nursery is a total of 30 shoe box sized totes. I drill a 3/4" strip of 7/32" holes along the long sides under the lid. That allows me to stack them 10 high with lids on. I wait until the worms are 20 weeks old before I use the sifting machine.
When doing the light method for the small worms I make a day of it. Actually, a half day. I use cat litter boxes under light with a paint brush for the separation. It takes 3 litter pans for 1 tote. With ANCs it takes an average of 2 hrs. per box. for a total of 6 hrs. The time can be cut shorter with 2 tables and lights for separation, cutting the time down to 4 hrs. With RWs and ENCs 1 table is used, and it take approximately 4 hours for al 3 totes. The brushed off bedding goes into a bucket with 3 bait cups (3"net cups with worm casting tea leftovers) for 2 weeks to bait out the smallest worms and hatchlings that emerge from the missed cocoons. After 2 weeks on Friday the bait cups containing hatchlings are added to the cocoon shoebox sized totes. Then the castings are sifted out. The leftovers are saved for the garden.
About the sifting of cocoons out of the breeder bins, there is a lot of prep to make that happen efficiently. The most important is the use of black peat as bedding. It does not need to be more than 40% moisture for the breeding process. Ideal for ANCs is only 30% to 35% and for ENCs and RWs 35% to 40%. 45% moisture when the climate is dry will give an efficient sift after 3 weeks with an ample number of cocoons. The nice thing about reed sedge as bedding is when the steps are followed the worms convert it into 100% castings, the steps for prep are as follows.
1st step) sift through 1/8" screen.
2nd step) run the overs through a soil pulverizer.
3rd step) re-sift through the 1/8" screen. (My choice for screening bedding is a trommel)
After that amendments are added then mixed and worm chow when necessary.
With the bedding all being sifted through the 1/8" screen, when water is added to dial in the moisture there is completely even distribution of dampness.
Everything is measured, which allows one to dial in the perfect amount of water so that the bin will sift out when it comes time to separate the worms, cocoons and castings.
With my composting worms I use shredded paper as bedding and that is best at 70% moisture not only for the health of the worms but also for aiding the bacteria to help break down the paper faster for the worms to eat sooner.
For the double grinding the first time is with the grain mill using the smallest screen.
The second grind is done using a spice/coffee grinder, ground as fine or finer than expresso. A separate sifter is used just for the nursery. The sifters for feeding worm chows are containers with holes burned in the lid with a soldering iron or drilled with an 1/8" drill bit. Like a parmesan cheese container with smaller holes or a salt/pepper shaker with bigger holes.
Yes odd handle it was started in 2004. I have changed to wormer Joe from Memphis TN Thank for saying
Hi Joe! Now I know who you are 😊❤️. And what you ordered and everything! I’m glad we cleared up the confusion.
Have you started with the lightest of sprinkles of the veggie powder and grains and greens worm chow you also bought? Many of those cocoons should have hatched by now 👍. Easy does it on the food until the wisps get bigger. 😊🪱🪱
I would have liked to see this video with my purchase of cocoons. A reference to this real video would help
Hi! Welcome! I’m sorry you didn’t have the video handy to help you at that time 🥲. Where did you get your cocoons? 🪱🪱
Wow never seen somebody selling cacoons haha loved it I just bumped to your channel a fes days ago im loving your videos.
Probably going to see me here and there in the comments with a few questions hopefully i can get an answer, i know this answering everybody can be difficult so yeah.
What’s your take on giving paper with ink to the worms? I’ve seen stuff like news paper is ok but it got my attention the piece of sales article Which was kind of heavy on the ink.
Hey Abraham! Yep! I’m kinda unique in that I sell cocoons and it’s a fair part of what I do 👍😎.
Ask all the questions you want and I’ll do the best I can to answer them 😊.
The ink answer depends on where you live. In the United States newspaper companies switched to mostly soy based ink. Water based inks are also used. So even heavily inked items are safe to use in that regard. I cannot say what ink bases are used in other countries but I’d hazard the guess that what are commonly called first world countries would also have moved to non toxic inks as well. Soy based ink provides better color control, less toxic work environments for employees, less toxic exposure to customers and at some level, reduced risks of lawsuits! Even the organic food industry allows the use of newspapers in organic food production although they do not allow glossy paper usage.
So, if you’re in the USA you’re good to use it. If you’re in another country like the Canada, UK, etc you’re probably ok but should do a little checking. If you’re in other countries I’d definitely do some research to see where your country falls regarding ink composition.
Hope that helps! 😊🪱👍
@@RockinWorms Thank you so much for the insight, I’m from México so it be interesting to see what I’ll find but you definetly gave me a direction to go. Thank you for your time! And best of lucks with the business. 🙌🏼
Thank you for explaining that in detail. I get all what you said, but i have a question about the bin.... is it ok to have clear bins? Everyone ive seen always have darker bins .. what do you find is better fir the long run?
Hi Thelma! Welcome! Thanks for stopping by 😎.
I have a video where I cover my thoughts on clear bins (spoiler alert - I think they are fine to use):
A New Breeder Bin Set Up Plus Clear Bins Yea or Nay?
ua-cam.com/video/PgK_-WalRXQ/v-deo.html
Perhaps you can watch it and then come back with more questions ❤️👍🪱
The temperature here rarely reaches 80. I started my worm bin in September of 2022. I have been discourages/disappointed in the worms' progress. They don't eat much. They don't make a lot of castings. The population doesn't change. That was until August of this year (when the temperature was to their liking). My bin experienced a major population explosion, and they turn everything I put in the bin to castings in a short time.
Hi Linda! It can be discouraging when the worms don’t cooperate. I pretty much started out with the same disappointment you did. For me it was the bedding that wasn’t quite up to standard. I can’t even remember what I was using and if I had to guess it was probably due to the bin not having enough of an operational ecosystem working yet. New bins can take 6 months to settle in. UNLESS you have really great bedding like the pre-compost. That’s when things really changed for me - when I figured out how to make indoor pre-compost. Not kidding.
It sounds like your bin is doing ok now! Have you thought of making pre-compost? ❤️🪱
Xcan you name other nursery bin feeds aside from eggshell. Thank you
Hello! Welcome! I start with the cocoons in the old breeder bin bedding. This old bedding still has boots in it and well as some amount of leftover breeder feed and unprocessed bedding. The breeder feed is my worm chow, veggie powder, and grit (eggshells and/or oyster shell powder). Also there is the used newspaper cover, or if that has been eaten already, I put new newspaper on top of the cocoon bin. A plastic cover to keep moisture in is the top layer.
Once the cocoons hatch the baby wisps will start eating the leftover breeder feed and bedding. When I see they are also eating the newspaper I start to give them a light sprinkle of worm chow. I feed them worm chow for at least a month. Maybe several months! When they get to a decent size I sift the castings out and give them fresh bedding. At this point I now treat them as any other worm grow out bin 👍.
I hope this answers your question 😎🪱
Jane do I have to use a shoe box? why not a full size bin?
Hi Lou! You absolutely can use a full size bin. I should have made that clearer. I did say it in relation to adding cocoons to an existing bin but that’s not the same as in their own full sized bin. I apologize for the confusion on that. Thank you for pointing that out so others will know that a full sized cocoon bin is a good option too if you have the bin, bedding and space for it. 👍❤️🪱🪱
Is there a reason why you use transparent bins?
Hello! Welcome! The reason minis transparent bins is that they are inexpensive, easy to get and come in the size I wanted. I don’t see many opaque colored bins that are only 4-6” deep. Most I find are totes, not bins.
If you find good priced opaque bins (or totes for that matter) that you are comfortable with then excellent! And send me the info 🤣🤣🪱🪱😆😎
I’ve found my wisps like egg she’s that are dust. They go through a sprinkle in a couple of days
Tiny little bits for tiny little baby mouths 🤗
? Can you use whole white flour for food?
Hi Morgan! Welcome! Yes you can feed worms all purpose white flour. It is mostly carbohydrates and can be part of a worm chow mix. Whole wheat flour is the usual choice but white flour works if that’s what you have on hand. I’d you don’t want to make a full on worm chow (aka several different types of dry grains/cereals) then sprinkling flour over food scraps should be fine. I’d be cautious with the amount, watch for clumping which can turn pasty and anaerobic. This can happen with too much of any finely ground powdery food item fed to worms. It’s not so much the food item itself. It’s more how it’s fed, how much is fed at one time, and how it reacts in the moist worm bin ecosystem. I personally have not fed white flour at all and no flour as an individual item so can not tell you exactly what to expect. I do wonder how other bin critters will take to the flour - will there be a mite population explosion for example? I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful on what to expect if you feed all purpose flour as a single food source to worms 😞. If you do give it a try I hope you’ll report back your results so we can all learn! 👍🪱🪱
Jane how do I order cacoon's? Do you have european night crawler cacoons?
Hi Louis! Here is the link to my website for 500 cocoons:
rockinworms.com/products/ols/products/500-premium-red-wiggler-cocoons
Once on my website you can easily look at my other offerings 🤗❤️
You can also email me directly if that’s easier for you and we can work thru what you’re looking for that way as well:
RockinWFamilyFarm@gmail.com
❤️👍🪱
great topic thank you for sharing found the information very informative chuck checotah ok
Hi Chuck! How are you? Glad you found the information helpful! Do you have or are planning on having cocoon bins? 🪱
good morning sent you a email chuck@@RockinWorms
@@chuckledbetter Got it! I’m happy to chat with you 😊. Email me your phone number and a few times that are good for you. 👍❤️🪱