Ep.12 How to: Properly Cycle Your Worm Bin & Pre-Compost Your Bedding!

A very Happy 2022 to you all! I realize it has been some time since I made an actual garden video for my channel, so I decided it was time. Though still centered very much on my main focus at the moment (Vermiculture) we look at a topic of concern regarding worm bins (specifically new worm bins) that frankly is not talked enough nearly enough. I am honored to be teaming up with 'Tee', as she was kind enough to allow me permission to use some of her own content for this subject. Please see the links below to her original content, and enjoy!
LINKS:
The Tee Zone Worm Farming Vermiculture & Worm Bins
/ @theteezonewormfarming...
Pre-Composting Part 1
• PreComposting -Optimiz...
Pre-Composting Part 2
• Pre Compost Trial PT 2...
Pre-Composting Part 3
• Pre Composting Trial P...
Finished results 42 days later no additional foods added!
• HARVEST from PreCompos...
****COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER****
This video features materials provided with full consent and permission by the original creator (The Tee Zone Worm Farming Vermiculture & Worm Bins). All rights reserved to the copyright owners.

[@Vermicompost]

Very cool collaboration and detailed explanation of the different cycles! What a great quick way to get the worm bedding prepared with loads of microbes!! I'll check out Tee's channel as well. Excellent video!!🪱🪱🪱

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

It's such an important step for indoor bins, but I think a lot of other things along with cycling the bins / pre-composting the bedding are just not spoken about enough (like what bedding to use, what not to use and why...). I've been away for too long and am going to be binge watching you and some others here today! :)

[@connecticutwormsgardens]

Very good information and definitely a way to get a Good bacterial bloom. For those who don't have the vegetables available or who can't afford to expend the vegetables to make the slurry, there are other ways to achieve the same bacterial bloom or I should say a adequate bacterial bloom that will support the worms equally well without having to puree expensive vegetables. My process is to always have my bedding pre-made. I make it in large batches and as I use it up I add more material. Sort of like feeding a sourdough starter to keep it constantly available and active. I mix my bedding ingredients, which includes some castings and leaves from outdoors in a giant 45 gallon sterilite brand container and just let it do its thing. Whenever I need worm bedding, I draw from it and simply add more raw materials to replace it. The worm castings and bacteria in the leaves and twigs brought in from the outside result in an amazing bacterial population in the material and the worms go crazy over the bedding. Nothing is more friendly to worms than the bacteria from their own castings. Think about any of the wild worms including the red wigglers we all know so well, there is no one in nature feeding them a vegetable slurry and then rice. They wouldn't mind I'm sure 🥰🥰, But there are other ways to achieve a very bacterial friendly highly hospitable environment 👍

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I definitely agree, and appreciate your input on this. My initial attempt to get the cycle done was interrupted by an early delivery of my worms back last year. Had that not been the case, it was set up with the cardboard bedding you saw me use and Black Leaf mold. Only needed a few more days, but that's how it goes. I like the idea of my own veg being used though. I can get high quality microbes in my bins quickly, and do not need to keep bedding in a separate bin that might attract fungus gnats and other undesirables.

[@evelynwoolston7]

That's a great suggestion!

[@theteezonewormfarmingvermi9800]

NTGG I am so impressed with how you’ve done this!! I like the way you’ve organized this better than the originals😁 There are so many benefits to PreComposting bedding… 1 is that when you’ve got an extra ‘bin’ your carbons sitting in the shredder can be working (while, the biology can establish & work hard) as well as managing extra kitchen & garden waste. The carbons become so soft & the plethora of micro life is fabulous food for the worms to easily work them into castings pdq (pretty darn quick)💚 I have since made a Continuous PreComposting Tub which gives me enough material to reset all my systems. This is a game changer!! Great video Ntgg❣️❌⭕️ Stacie Tee⭕️❌❣️

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I can't thank you enough for allowing me to incorporate your AWESOME content in this video! Here's to hoping we both monetize soon! :D Thank you again Tee!

[@theteezonewormfarmingvermi9800]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy 💚 The pleasure is all mine😆 I can't wait to explore more together‼️ I'll share some 'never been seen' footage❣️ Fabulous work you're doing NTGG🤓

[@pawelkapica5363]

I think the bloom is fungal mycellium rather than bacteria.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Definitely could have been. Hard to say without having looked at them under a microscope. I will say this though - I tried to take it Thermophilic and it was a failure. About 2 weeks after the failed cycle, I had Mushrooms galore!

[@ontherocksinthesoilmichael6739]

I don't have (anymore) enough food scraps anymore. So I use coffee and alfalfa and garden molasses to go through thermophilic. It shortens my composting by half I call it composted manure substitute. 😆

[@evelynwoolston7]

We made metaphylic bedding though we forgot about the step of adding starch and added a second lot of slurry instead but it got to the required temp anyway. We used half of the bedding to top up our worm bin. For the other half, we mixed in more fresh cardboard. in a blender we added bruised plums, apples and courgettes. We put a slice of torn up stale bread on top of the fruit & veg and blended. We mixed it into the bedding and covered. It reached 133 F after 2 days. Our bin is only 13cm deep, 35 long, 25cm wide so the starter made a huge difference. We were glad it didn't get any hotter as our bin is plastic.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

That is great news and shows that there is definitely more than one way to go with this process. I use Rice because I live here in Asia, but you can use whatever will get things going. My friend T also achieved similar results, but you definitely went higher! You have an awesome set of microbes to get things started and help your worms along as they begin to feed in their new home!

[@jenn1ferschonberger]

Given all the information about how to start a worm bin on KZbin, this process is (unfortunately) overlooked. The drama and pace, suspense, then the pay off-excellent video!! This is my third year with vermiculture. Perfect timing to learn a new approach because I’m in the process of moving farm indoors for the winter. Thanks again 🍁❄ 🍉🍅🍓🍌 => happy bedding

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thanks you, and yes - it sadly is overlooked a lot. Happy you enjoyed it and happy Worm Farming! :)

[@jenn1ferschonberger]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole with Tee’s videos, oh my 🥰

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@@jenn1ferschonberger 😆😆😆

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@@jenn1ferschonberger Yes her stuff is very underappreciated and quite awesome. Glad you are enjoying and learning. 🙂

[@CatCrazyFamily]

Excellent! Best bin starting I’ve seen! Thanks for sharing❤

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thank you! Happy you enjoyed! 🙏

[@alonacayanan8500]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

👍👍

[@TheWormLady2]

Excellent video ☺️☺️

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thanks for watching. 😊

[@TheWormLady2]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy glad I found your channel through Rockinworms I’ll subscribe from my other channel also ☺️

[@troydunn6228]

I've just started using LAB in my compost and worm bins. I made some JADAM and treated my precompost worm bin piles. Heated up fast. Fungi grew right away in my compost leaf piles

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I'm sure you probably already know this, but be careful with LAB in your worm bin (it's really low pH and very acidic). Worms like a more balanced pH if possible. The JADAM sounds great and I am getting ready to release a new video of my compost tea regime (hopefully before the end of the day today). Thanks for stopping in!

[@troydunn6228]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy yes sir thank you. I understand it is supposed to help with ammonia. Sounds like it would be good in helping prevent protein poisoning. In theory anyways

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@@troydunn6228 What kind of worms do you keep, and do you have an indoor or an outdoor bin? What sorts of foods do you feed them?

[@troydunn6228]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy I have outdoor bins mostly. European Nightcrawlers and red wigglers.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

You should check out the channel 'Vermicompost Learn By Doing'. He has outdoor bins, your species of worms, and a lot of different setups. He is down in FL back there in the US if I'm not mistaken. He needs someone like you with the Natural Farming background to share info with. I try but I am so lame with my ANCs right now that I am having to start over again! LOL!

[@wormweirdo340]

Excellent advice. I’ve also been pre-composting for a while now and love the results. I use a 30 gallon bin and the center gets quite warm. I’ve never taken a temperature reading though. I just inherited the old kitchen thermometer after my partner upgraded to a more accurate device. I’ll have to take a reading the next time I make a batch.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I am going to use Bin 1 as a test bin, and will do both Mesophilic and Thermophilic testing with it.

[@TrapperBV]

This is amazing. I've watched this process happen but while the worms were already in. Great content and editing. Subbed.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thank you! Yeah the heating up is a bit rough on the worms so it is always best to do it first before adding them in. Happy Vermicomposting!

[@Amuserr]

I have started a new worm bin recently for my terrace garden in thermocol box/ice box (2ft x 1.5ft x 1ft). I collected all the kitchen scraps and garden waste and dumped into it a 9 inch high layer with amazon boxes. After 4 days, I urinated over it at night. The next day temp. went 65 degree C and stay around that for 4 days. After it cooled down, I waited for 4 days and dumped my worms in it today. I killed 400 worms in summer because a smaller bin went thermophilic 😅

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Yeah human urine really isn't a good thing in your worm bin. A lot of sodium gets released. Sorry to hear this happened.

[@evelynwoolston7]

This is really informative

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thank you! I hope it helps you avoid the mistakes I made!

[@SkyeRiv]

Great Video!!!!

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Thank you!

[@alfonzograzadaushka3470]

Garden Like a Viking 's you tube channel has a good video on making LABS serum,(Lacto Bacillius Bacteria) concentrate...Easy to make, Rice, Water, Milk, Molasses... Its essentially making Curds and Whey.. The curds float to the top with the whey under it.. You could eat the curds(Like cottage Cheese), and the Whey is the LABS..

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I do Natural Farming and LAB is my most favorite input, but the serum is too acidic for a worm bin.

[@erdenebilegpurevsuren3277]

Wormbin or manbin? Man's doing all the work 😂

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Very true in artificial systems. But the payoffs are worth it. 😊

[@theunskoch4256]

I just stumbled on your video, this is something im going to try

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Give either method a roll and let me know if you have any questions along the way. Good luck!

[@theunskoch4256]

Besides cardboard what other material can i add

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Shred the cardboard up into micro cuts or small 1/8 inch pieces if possible, and then what I do is I wet it and mix it with sifted cardboard. But I have ANCs so they love carbons. Other worms eat other foods as well as carbons. Which are you going with?

[@theunskoch4256]

I usually add dry shredded news paper or cardboard wich usually is toilet paper rolls, i have a standard shredder, im thinking of mixing coco peat and leaves with shredded paper and cardboard and either slurry from foodscraps or like one person mentioned adding some castings

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

All sounds good, but I would stay away from the Coco Coir or Peat. Coir can be salty and Peat is not a really sustainable product. In my past experiences the worms typically don't like either of them much as well. It's an old trick that some who sell castings would use (Coir or Peat) mixed with their castings to create greater amounts. Dirty trick at that. The rest sounds fine to me after a cycle or pre-composting addition. I go with straight browns to avoid inks that may be GMO based, but the glue in the cardboard is also, so it may be a fools errand of sorts for me in that effort.

[@victorm7274]

I’m sure that works just fine but that a lot of work thats not really need it. A spoon of molasses with water add it to the Shredded card board plus a few hand full of compost. Add your worms and you’re done. All done in one day. Been doing this for at least 10 years. The worms eat bacteria and the bacteria eats the sugar. Now you can add you food scraps. No need to make it complicated. I have a 4ft X 24ft worm bin plus around 18 small totes. I reset my small totes every month or so.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Whatever works for you you should go with. So long as you cycle your bin it will be easier on the worms. I choose the methods shown here for the quality of castings achieved in a short amount of time.

[@tanyacollins9003]

Victorm7274 how does one reset the bins? I’ve never done that and think I should

[@victorm7274]

@@tanyacollins9003 you will want to reset your bin if you want more castings or more worms. Every month or so I sift the worms out and leave the cocoons to hatch out or I use the worm casting with cocoons. I then place the adult worms in a new bin with compost(bacteria) / very small amount of cardboard and peat moss. I then wet it with sugar water (molasses). Worms eat bacteria and bacteria eats sugar. That's why it looks like worm love to ripe bananas but it's actually the sugar in the ripe banana that they're eating. I don't wait days and days and days. As long as you add a few hand full of compost(bacteria) for your worm to eat from the start. Worms will not eat food scrape until it has a chance to accumulate bacteria on it. It usually takes about 3 days or so. I've heard tons of reasons why people use light to keep their worms in their new bin. I do not. Your worms have no reason to leave if you have proper moisture, temperature, food and darkness.

[@sly2kusa]

Brother that was excellent. You know I follow Worm Bin Weekends regularly. Do you regret not stopping after 7 days and trying to take Bin 1 Thermophilic?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I don't regret it, but I am going to redo it once I get it emptied out back to that point, and then also a Thermophilic example.

[@scruffynerfhearder8915]

Love this! Would Kimuchi work as a fermented food to boost microbial activity?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Sorry to sound like a n00b, but what is Kimuchi? Do you mean Kimchi?

[@scruffynerfhearder8915]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy Haha, yes. I spelled it like it's basically spelled here in Japan, lol, but yes, kimchi.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@@scruffynerfhearder8915 I think you want to avoid it because of the salt involved. Salt and worms do not mix. Will kill them.

[@scruffynerfhearder8915]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy Yep, that's what I thought. Thanks!

[@evelynwoolston7]

We don't have left over rice: we eat it. Can you use potato peel or mouldy bread in the starch adding stage?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Mind you I have never done this, but if I was to choose between the 2 I would probably go with the Potato. I'd bake it without any seasoning (skin and all), allow it to cool overnight, and then crumbled it into the pockets as I did the Rice. Form it together as tightly as possible in those pockets (as you saw me do with the Rice) and then let it go the additional days. Cannot guarantee it will work, but give it a shot and let us know. Thanks for this question.

[@danielsteyn9202]

Do you use this as bedding and still add food scraps as good later, or is this the extent of what you feed them?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

You definitely could go a full month with nothing but the cycled bedding (as shown in the last half of the video), but I do add food scraps and sifted compost to mine. I have found that with ANC's the faster you get their castings out of the bin the better off they are (both size and health-wise). They are not like Reds or Euros where they can stay and not have any issues living in their castings. You need to get those out or they will shrink and die off more quickly.

[@ReneePatillo]

Can you add scoby to your pre-compost? I’ve been wondering about that because it’s fermented, and the bacteria may help to accelerate the decomposition. Your thoughts?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Kombucha SCOBY? It might be a little too acidic, but I don't believe a small amount would hurt. Definitely add crushed up, powderized eggshell with it if you do.

[@ReneePatillo]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy makes sense. Thank you.

[@roncatlin7271]

greetings from the heartland, u.s.a. is there something special about rice to get to thermophilic or was it just a handy nitrogen source ??? i have been searching like a crazy person since i saw this video and can't find any information. i did notice that tee used lactobacillus, is that why you used rice ??? i don't compost my worm bedding but i do use my finished compost in my worm bedding mix and due to hoa i am forced to compost in trash cans and getting hot can be real challenge but i do manage.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@roncatlin7271The rice for me is just an easy source of starch, and actually it did not help me to achieve thermophilic heat levels and bacteria types. That is why I included Tee's video in with this for the collab to show you how she does it. Try it with a slurry of veg and lacto in one of your cans and see if you don't end up with similar results.

[@roncatlin7271]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy i thought there might be something magical about rice that i wasn't aware of. i have become a worshiper & firm believer of drunk compost. i will definitely be adding rice to my kitchen scrap mixins. we always have leftover rice from chinese takeout. i always fill up my vitamix container with just enough liquid to be full without making a mess then let the material for compost settle then add the liquid to my rain barrel. i use a solar powered pond pump in my rain barrel to prevent it from becoming anaerobic.

[@HildeAzul]

I am most confused. If thermophilic takes a month or so how does this work. I trusted the process and tried this last night used shredded cardboard added shell, mixed in a slurry mixed and added other browns then added another vegetable and fruit slurry and then Keiffer drink lacto-fermented also) topped it with a natural fine mesh and then covered with cardboard.. but nothing happened the first couple hours like in the video. Please explain how the heck she gets this thermophilic in a week when it is a normal one to two month process .. if you could be so kind????

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I am out of town the next couple of days, but if you can tell me a couple of things I will pick this back up with you when I get home. What size container are you pre-composting in and what is the ambient temp in the area you are doing this in?

[@HildeAzul]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy I totally thought this was done in one night but I rewatched the video and now I see it was six days. I rewatched it, and then again took notes and until the end and narration really made it seem like T’s process was all done within a few hours. We have “one hour later than she… “ or three hours later..” then I do hear/see 15 hours in the last slurry and cardboard mix..and the end is the only place I hear 6 days. How long should we wait between each step? If she is getting up to a specific temp after an hour, why not then move on? Thanks!

[@hossamhassan1310]

لا يوجد اكسجين كافى للتنفس برجاء ارفع عنهم الغطاء

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Had I been doing this during Summer I would agree with you, but it was back during our cold season (thus why the lid was on).

[@kromsnavelfun]

Why not just throw a bit vermicompost in the bedding?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

Absolutely! But what if you are brand new and have nothing? You want to start the bin off with a strong population of microbes, and these methods do the trick.

[@kromsnavelfun]

@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy Just some biological compost or leaves and a few days a small piece of banana. Some people may like to play endless and that's fine. But you should scare me (and some others) with all that. And I can't even smell rice🤢 🤣 Have fun with your 🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

@@kromsnavelfun I would say for outdoor bins, that's fine. Indoor bins you may want to be a little more careful in the initial going on the things you bring in. I in fact did what you just described initially when I set mine up, but didn't have enough time before my worms arrived and it was a mess.

[@zebiklawi-hf1dr]

why dont use manure?

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

You can with an outdoor bin, but I have my setup indoors. Animal manures may also contain forever chemicals and things you do not want in your worm bin so always be careful.

[@timcoates3821]

Only got to th e rice . Way too much work. Run the mower over some nice brown leaves, wet in bin and whatever the worms come with has enough bacteria in it. Mother nature doesn't cook rice, keep it simple. Been worm farming for 25 years in all sorts of bins in Melbourne Australia. Never had to go to thus much trouble

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

You can definitely do that, but if you would have watch all the way through you would have seen the end results in a small amount of time.

[@timcoates3821]

I will go back and watch the rest of the vid

[@___Aaron___]

This makes sense. But not everyone wants to have theyre worms sitting on the side for 10plus days waiting for this all to break down.. all these bacteria all do the same thing if you just start the bin vs taking this long road of days of waiting . To me this seems like a giant waste of time when the worms can be doin all this while working the new bedding.

[@NorthernThaiGardenGuy]

I agree, and definitely recommend it when you are either waiting on your worms to initially arrive or already have them in another cycled bin (as in my case).