Making 1 Ton of Worm Castings as Simple as Possible

[@katipohl2431]

Hi as a graduated biologist and professional gardener from Germany who researched and published about vermicomposting I found that this is the very best channel about vermicomposting. Wish I could learn directly from you.

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hi Kati... so good to hear from you. I am just a simple farmer that listens to the land and the worms. They have taught me (along with some wise mentors). Ecosystems and living things in general are so so beautiful and complex and they invite us into relationship with them - rather than to stand at a distance poking, prodding, and dissecting with science alone. I love that you as a biologist are also a gardener. We should have a conversation - drop me an email at [e-mail].

[@Vermicompost]

Great job Jude & Capt Matt (and behind the scenes camera man)!! Thanks for showing us how you build up the 1 Ton bags, it will be fun to see the progress as they get filled over time!!🪱🪱🪱

[@floyddargatz5369]

This is a great idea. Some potential to be a game changer at an entry level. Congratulations!

[@kathmandu1575]

Just subscribed to the newsletter. Worm people are good people.

[@connecticutwormsgardens]

@5:33 "I'm just going to flatten it and level it out a little bit because I want the worms to be happy". 😀😀 That made me laugh. If there is food and proper conditions I don't think the worms could care less if it's flat or lumpy or on a hill or in a pit LOL

[@A-V]

I've been anxiously waiting for the start of this experiment. I love the idea of the vermicompost already being in the 1-ton bag once everything is complete. I suppose the last step will be to starve the worms a bit towards the end to increase the motivation for them to get lured into some kind of collection / haul-out vessel. Have you decided how many worms will be used to populate this system? It would also be interesting to see at the end what the difference in the starting & finishing population sizes are. Keep up the great work!

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey AV... populating with worms soon - still deciding. I'd love to chat with a scientific minded guy like you about measurement strategies.

[@A-V]

Hey Captain Matt! I already started crunching some of your numbers to try getting my head around your current starting situation with your 1-ton bag endeavor in order to arrive at some realistic starting worm count with which the system might get populated 1-ton bag & initial load of bedding • The volume, per each inch of depth, in the 36” by 36” base of the bag is: 36 x 36 x 1 = 1296 cubic inches • The volume of a US gallon is 231 cubic inches - and you started with an initial load of 13 gallons: 231 x 13 = 3003 cubic inches • The depth of those 3003 cubic inches of bedding placed into the 1-ton bag is: 3003 / 1296 = 2.32 inches Starting a worm composting bin with bedding approximately that deep sounds about right to me. Since my bus boxes are typically also started with about that much material, perhaps we can imagine that your situation is basically the same as starting with some “X” number of bus boxes… where a typical bus box’s dimensions are roughly 17” by 13” - with a surface area of: 17 x 13 = 221 square inches. So if we take the surface area of your bag and divide it by the surface area of a bus box, we can determine how many times larger your starting point is to that of the starting point of a typical bus box: 1296 / 221 = 5.86 In this exercise, I think it is safe to round this up to simply 6. If I were to launch a new bus box that I wanted to be a very productive & a really fast composting system, then I’d probably want to do so with around 2000 or maybe even 3000 worms - or maybe even more. Since I assume that you are interested in seeing the castings in the bag pile up quickly, then you might also want to consider a similar ratio of worm count to bedding - ie. somewhere between 2000 x 6, or maybe 3000 x 6 worms… or perhaps even more! But then again, that’s just me - I get a kick out of sometimes launching systems with what some might consider to be too many worms :) Anyhow, I have a funny feeling that for you coming up with that many worms should be pretty easy Link to my scribble & scratch spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tHlHg3wNiGn0X2S_YzwrGjY6nYWq16UUFmrKSb5HU0s/edit?usp=sharing

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

​@@A-V Amazing. Thanks so much... I'm going to have to ponder these numbers a bit more. I like to overload bins with worms on occasion as well to find the limits of productivity increasing in relationship to worm count.

[@EricSteinborn]

Worms are cool.

[@bridgethegap5082]

When does the newsletter come out? I signed up a while ago and haven't seen one yet.

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

This week!

[@larryhobbs8769]

Hey Matt. You might want to put a thin piece of plywood or some cardboard on that pallet before you put the bag on it. If you have to much space in between your boards the weight of the bag might droop thru the boards and make it hard to get your pallet Jack under it. Or a forklift can puncture the bottom of the bag if it drooping thru the boards. I work for a freight company and have seen the happen more than once. It can get messy. Thanks for the videos

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Great tip, Larry!

[@connecticutwormsgardens]

Without a doubt the results will be good. Starting with pre-screened compost could only result in high quality castings. The reason it wouldn't be something I would adopt is that I want to be able to take entire clumps of weeds from my yard or large plant trimmings or other debris either from my yard or kitchen and throw it into my worms and allow them to do the work. The pre composting and pre-sifting simply puts the work at the front of the process rather than at the end. I don't sell my castings. I use them for my own yard so I don't even bother to sift at the end. If there is some unfinished paper or food that ends up around my plants that serves as additional food for the uncaptured worms that I'm certain are in the castings. Also I think it will be very difficult to extract the worms once it's finished. You can definitely lure a lot of them to the top with food but the ones that are happy at the bottom are going to remain there

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey Connecticut Worms & Gardens thanks for all the insights - as always. I'd love to pick your brain about a few things over email... would you be willing to drop me a note to [e-mail]?

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

Greetings, Captain Matt and Jude, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 Great video. I can see where your Worm Business is going to really Wiggle up in volume 👍💪👍

[@ChristopherBuscher]

I’m in the Orlando area and just starting 😊

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

@@ChristopherBuscher Hi Chris, I just popped over to your channel and I think your wife did a great job on your hair! Wear it proudly 👍 I've been a gardener for over 50 years and a Vermiculturalist since 2009. Captain Matt is a good guy and has a wonderful channel and family. God Bless and I hope you have a great Sunday 👍 👩‍🌾🪱💓🪱

[@ChristopherBuscher]

@@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920 I’ll let her know. I think she did a great job too 😄 I’ve greatly enjoyed watching Captain Matt’s videos and learning as much as I can. He’s so passionate about worms. I love it!

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

@@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920 So glad you met Chris - he's doing such a wonderful job starting a vermicomposting program for the folks in his addiction recovery program. I can't wait to hear about them selling worms and castings in the Sanford, FL area.

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

@@CaptainMattsWorms Sanford, you say! That's about an hour north of Windermere, where I live. I hope he can turns lives around with Worms 🪱 👍🪱

[@karlagriffiths454]

Hi mat. What an interesting method. Do you think the casting will become compacted.

[@HoosierQuail]

Hey so I live in Indiana and we have the Midwest best manure bags. Is that good for bedding for the worms?

[@blainejones6857]

Hi Captain Matt. How do you drain the leachate?

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Any excess moisture comes out the bottom of the bag

[@terrieholloway9066]

Thanks!

[@ericcarve4476]

Hey Captain! Lots of people interested in these results this winter, me included. You once said this room gets cold over the winter, how cold does it snap to? Was thinking that if you used some greens and browns in the bin, they could heat up the bin some and offset the cold, which would make the worms make more castings.

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey Eric. My worm barn has 6" walls with spray foam insulation - so extra heat is not needed.... I've seen some folks try that method - but to me in introduces too much risk. I prefer to keep composting as a separate step. Now... a composting system that outputs heat to the room in general- that would be a brilliant idea.

[@Visnerlin]

What make and model is your moisture tester

[@aylawickham330]

Hey Matt! You think this process would work with shredded cardboard and paper?

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey Ayla, If it’s for your own garden, yes… but there would likely still be remnants of cardboard. Sifted compost is much more ready for worm consumption and can result in much purer castings.

[@lauren4622]

Love this! More castings, less work! I’ve been wondering, do you ever have mites in your bins? Or did you have them when first starting? I’m a new farmer and overfed and got mites immediately 🤦🏼‍♀️ I know they’re not bad, but they’re definitely not my favorite.

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hi Lauren... I tend to top feed with blended scraps only in amounts that get eaten quickly. Keep an eye (or chime in) on this discussion to get perspectives from other Worm People on mites discuss.wormpeople.com/post/350912752?space=821819695

[@rocketman3534]

Do you have a link to sign up to newsletter?

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey Rocket Man! Here’s the link to subscribe to the Worm People Newsletter wormpeople.com/subscribe/

[@rocketman3534]

@@CaptainMattsWorms Thank you Sir

[@melvingarcia5952]

What kind of wood chips can I use for worm bins

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

Hey Melvin... wood chips from most trees should work - but test in small quantities to be sure.

[@melvingarcia5952]

@@CaptainMattsWorms I’m in Los Angeles and we don’t have much trees here

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

@@melvingarcia5952 Perhaps stop over and ask some other Worm People from similar climates what they use for bedding at discuss.wormpeople.com/space/821819695

[@joshream3164]

Is there a max amount of worms you can put in a bag like that? Could 100lbs be put in one bag if they are fed 50 lbs a day to produce a full bag faster?

[@CaptainMattsWorms]

You can "overload" a bin as long as you supply steady food - likely there are decreasing returns at some point.

[@666bruv]

Not bad, and it can be cft

[@connecticutwormsgardens]

This is exactly what my friend and fellow vermicomposter mark @kzbin.info/door/gODZDVB8ckgd65JcCXAQSQ just began doing. He is doing it in 55 gallon barrels. I don't think he's put up any videos showing it yet, but they will be coming soon #evegrowing