WORM TALK- 55 GALLON BIN- DOES 1LB WORMS = 1LB FOOD?

[@A-V]

This was an excellent video.. chock full of insightful info for the beginner worm farmer. Amazing how quickly the 25 minutes went by. Keep up the great work!

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you. You probably see the same kind of comments for cries for help from worried new worm people. I would love to say here is the equation..do this.

[@deewormsvermicomposting]

I completely agree 👍 a wonderful video with lots of useful information 🙂

[@A-V]

Yes, you are right - I get the same kinds of questions all the time.... and I reply in a very similar fashion as you did :)

[@deewormsvermicomposting]

Excellent video. The 25 minutes just flew by so fast 🤗 it was a pleasure to watch. The level has dropped so much with you sifting out a little bit of castings at a time.

[@PlantObsessed]

I was shocked too that the level was dropping too.

[@marlenen6130]

@@PlantObsessed I have been doing partial harvests and advancing the material much quicker and with less issues. It has also made a great difference with starting with aged bedding. Have you used humachar or mycorrhiza fungi amendments in your bedding? I think it’s working so well in the aged bedding that the worms are breaking it down super fast. I’ve been adding a sprinkle of pulverized wild bird feed and whatever is expired grains to the top of the bedding and my European Nightcrawlers are definitely increasing in size. I know I am not giving them very much, cuz I worry about it heating up, but it is great to use if the bin is too damp and I want to skip wet food. Great video.

[@PlantObsessed]

@@marlenen6130 you may notice hard wood mulch in my bins. I keep the fungal population up by inporting it from my oak tree. I'm not sure it maintains due to the constant disturbance.

[@chriskelly1825]

Good video love the bin

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you for watching.

[@chriskelly1825]

How do you get subscribers I have 1

[@PlantObsessed]

@@chriskelly1825 now you have 2. Look into vidiq. It is a self help channel to help us grow. They have good ideas.

[@chriskelly1825]

Thanks a bunch you have made my day

[@sandyjoao4489]

Great info Anne. U really took d time. And what u say is very 👍true. Rules don't apply here. Just need to observe n act accordingly.

[@PlantObsessed]

It hard to learn to be observant. I am the type of person that will read a book on everything. Living things have to have attention.

[@ale-iensbrewery8871]

Love this bin, love this channel. Practical and sound advice and great content.

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you 😃

[@dogindiabeast]

I'm so grateful for your help

[@PlantObsessed]

you are most welcome.

[@josephpalarca4566]

watching you flip through the bedding and bring up the worms is so satisfying.

[@PlantObsessed]

That bin is alot of fun for sure. Thanks for watching.

[@tracitekancic4529]

I saw that watermelon sitting in the background and I was wondering if that's their meal. I'm looking forward to see how they do with all that. Nice video...I like your longer ones

[@PlantObsessed]

Ahhh I knew someone would see the spoiler in the background. 😃

[@dogindiabeast]

Thanks. I bet that is it. I was gone and the mice were running the house. They had been digging in the plants and so I don't see any trails from the box I would guess almost anything for those worms to be so cleaned out I'm going to try to put something around the box to keep them out not sure how yet what to do about it but I did see one rather limp fellow and put a little food in so it's probably not the non-feeding although that could be it also most of the paper bedding the the cardboard shredded bedding is completely gone and it's all completely black material I'll add more bedding and probably try to get some more worms or keep an eye anyway you are so amazingly helpful

[@Vermicompost]

Loving your videos! So much good info and camera angles. Outstanding channel!!! 🪱🪱🪱

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you!

[@cherylhowker1792]

Silly question; Have you tried using a dehumidifier down in the basement? You maybe have or don’t think it’s worth it. We have found it works really well when drying washing in my lounge- saves money compared to using the tumble dryer in the winter and also I can manage the noise but not the dryer noise. And we have found it stops any mold in the house……. We move it around if need it in different rooms. I have found it helpful with the worm bins. You want a £150-£200 one tho… not just a cheap one. And my one you can empty it 2-3 times a day about 6-8 hourly . I then use the water from that as not chlorinated and it’s filtered already I use that for the worm bedding etc when needed - or add to the garden xx

[@PlantObsessed]

I have a small one in the basement I run a drain to a 5 gallon bucket and use the water for plants or worms. In the winter I need the opposite lol 🪱👍🏼😃

[@guitarguyjoefry]

EXCELLENT!

[@PlantObsessed]

Many thanks!

[@texaspatty4697]

Pretty awesome bin!

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you.

[@jeffhogan7991]

Thanks from Southern Ca. Top notch video!

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you. Take care out there.

[@cherylhowker1792]

Also if you have expired grains or cereal- they love it and fattens them up xxx

[@PlantObsessed]

As an empty nester I don't have much leftovers lol. I do make them Worm chow in the winter.to fill the gap when there are no garden scraps.😃👍🏼🪱

[@cherylhowker1792]

@@PlantObsessed only a suggestion. I don’t eat cereal but brought some for them as not expensive to make- think my chow was like £5 for about 4kg worth so lots and that was cereal lol

[@peterjames2580]

Great info!

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you!!

[@surfcitybusybee]

Awesome video! Thanks so much for sharing! New sub!

[@PlantObsessed]

Thanks for the sub! Welcome to my worm family 🪱😀👍🏼

[@franceswatts4001]

Outstanding video - so many interesting tips and facts. Can we have a tour of your bonsai at some point, please? I had over 50 at one point, until I moved from South Africa to the UK 21 years ago and sold them all, along with all my tools and equipment.

[@PlantObsessed]

Yes, I'll be doing a garden tour soon. That is terrible, that would be like giving up a loved pet.

[@emilyc8815]

OMG I've got mites. Call the National Guard. haha I love this!

[@PlantObsessed]

Some people have strong feelings about mites. For me it's springtails.

[@robbinturpin9029]

What did you use to seal off where the 2 sections of barrel are joined together ? Thanks Robbin

[@PlantObsessed]

I didn't actually seal the joint. The 2 ends are just overlapped and screwed together. Thank you for watching 😃

[@vickibee8451]

Do you use shredded cardboard for bedding?if so what kind of cross cut shredder do you use and where can i get one?

[@PlantObsessed]

My Amazon links should work. Let me know if they are not working. Thank you for watching 😃

[@dogindiabeast]

I'm going to have him look more closely at them at the full bin to see if he can find any It's hard to get people not used to worms to to deal with them Thank

[@PlantObsessed]

Agree, start there before freaking out.

[@chriskelly1825]

Hi again do you have your compost graded to see how good it is

[@PlantObsessed]

No I don't but I just use it for myself.

[@nayemmir1338]

can you tell me what should be the ideal moisture of the bin.i don't have any tech to monitor that.so is there any way tell that. plz make a video about that

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you for the idea. I don't use a monitor either it is by fell and experience.

[@nayemmir1338]

@@PlantObsessed how can I feel it too

[@PlantObsessed]

@@nayemmir1338 I will do a new video and focus on that. For now I would say if you hold a handful and squeeze gently a little drip should come out.

[@randaposey7817]

Do you think it would hurt the worms if you didn’t rinse the coco choir? I bought that same kind and I really don’t want to rinse it tbh.

[@PlantObsessed]

I have stuck with the mother earth brand.. if I used anything else I would rinse.

[@TechieVenkateshhTamil]

Do we need to turn on light in night? Otherwise it may crawl down right?

[@PlantObsessed]

I only leave it on for a few hours after feeding. After that they will stay in on their own.,🪱👍🏼😃

[@TechieVenkateshhTamil]

@@PlantObsessed good, I am living on apartment, limited sun light, but interested to raise red wigglers. I guess if we maintain good moisture level and sufficient food, they wont come out.

[@PaulSmith-tf9bn]

How do you rence your coconut core

[@PlantObsessed]

I put the brick in a big tote and add 10 gallon of water. When it is all wet I squeeze out the extra water and then store it in another tote. The brand I get from Amazon has not had any problems with salt. So I only rinse once.

[@ikke.gernoasje]

What shredder do you use? I started a bin and am schredding all paper and cardboard manually now so I looked for a schredder, but there are so many types of them. So I thought maybe ask a pro what they are using... Lol. Thanks for your reply.

[@PlantObsessed]

In my pinned comment I have a link to the one I use. It eats Amazon boxes no problem and runs for an hour without slowing down.

[@marypieroni9141]

Where can I get the 1/4 inch sifter that you are using?

[@PlantObsessed]

There is a link in the pinned comment to my Amazon store.

[@marypieroni9141]

@@PlantObsessed thanks again!

[@cookie761]

I just ran upon your video today. I've had worms for a little bit over a year. You are very informative and I really like that, I will watch you again and I Will probably subscribe. Can you tell us a little bit more about blue? Since it's my 1st time I don't know the story, and it sounds interesting Thank you so much.... and God-bless you.

[@PlantObsessed]

Blues back story.. I should make that a video. Cliff note version is rain barrel were outlawed at some point here due to mosquito disease so I used one for a worm barrel. That ended up to be a bad idea as it was vertical. I saw a video about the wedge system. The thought was to do the same by cutting the barrel in half and putting the 2 ends together.

[@spiceycognac]

How to you handle maggots in the bin? Is that a sign of food not being buried deep enough?

[@PlantObsessed]

Yes not buried deep enough, also maybe too much food at once. Good luck 👍

[@gregbutler9873]

Shake and wake those worms! They need to quit being so lazy just because it is Summer😂

[@PlantObsessed]

Well how zippy would you be after eating a whole watermelon. 🤔

[@cherylhowker1792]

Yea I buy a big one and it makes 75L!! Need a wheelchair to do it- or use a saw to cut it up lol

[@PlantObsessed]

I wouldn't try using hand tools to take one apart. That would be for a much younger stronger person than me. Lol. 😃👍🏼🪱

[@charlesdillon6155]

I hate the paper wads! My bin got a little moist and it took for ever to get all that paper unballed so it can dry

[@PlantObsessed]

Yeah.. I was out of coco coir for 3 months. I have quit a few to manage.

[@waynetadlock9719]

💚❗

[@PlantObsessed]

Thank you for watching 😀

[@charlesdillon6155]

Where do you think is the best place to buy bulk worms like 10lbs ?

[@PlantObsessed]

I did an unboxing for Northeast Worms. They were good worms. Price is on part with others as well. They are in New York.

[@charlesdillon6155]

@@PlantObsessed thank you very much

[@janecarver9672]

I'm curious, do you use all your castings, or sell them? I use mine in my garden and indoor plants, and there is never too much.

[@PlantObsessed]

I give some away to friends and family but mostly I use them.

[@northeastworms]

I have the same sifter 1/8 inches and is great to catches all the cocoons

[@PlantObsessed]

Yep I use the 1/12 if I try to catch all cocoons. The blue worm cocoons are so tiny. Like half the size of ENC.

[@jerrycallison6125]

What is the purpose of the sticks you put into the end of the bin? BTW, I'm finding your videos very helpful. Total newbie, here. Started with a pound of red wigglers about three weeks ago. I mixed in a container of Euros sold as fish bait. Got another pound last week that I split between a tote and a 5 gallon bucket, hoping to stimulate reproduction. I'm doing my best to not overfeed. So far, they are all doing well. Still trying to learn. :-) My goals: Get rid of food scraps and keep them out of the landfill, harvest worm castings for my tomatoes, giant pumpkins, and flower beds. Long term, I would like to get big enough to sell castings and worms for a little pocket change. I don't want to get too big. Just big enough. Thanks! i wish you the best with this channel and with your wormery.

[@PlantObsessed]

The sticks are actually the remnants of over wintering hot peppers that didn't make it. Circle of life. They have a play list. Some of my pepper plants are 5 years old.

[@juanitanoble3190]

Please tell me about attracting "bin critters," because as far as I can tell, I have none (other than the worms). I'm assuming that might be why many of the little bits of food I've nervously added seem to just sit there. (I believe I need to start freezing the food beforehand, something I was unaware would maybe help.) The worms are surviving, but other than some banana and part of a mushy apple, I'm not sure what they've been eating since they arrived (ENCs last of Aug, red wigglers mid-Oct). I know they'll eat the bedding, but... I'm mystified!

[@PlantObsessed]

It takes a good six months to start seeing the ecosystem develop. Hang in there. By summer you won't have anything to worry about. If the food is still there hold off feeding.and you and the worms will be fine.

[@juanitanoble3190]

@@PlantObsessed It is warm enough outside today that I was able to hunt for pillbugs to add to the bins. Also found a very small millipede. 😊

[@dogindiabeast]

Hi plant. I just back after 2 months. My helper Said them and in fact there was a slightly eaten carrot but no worms it's not a very big bin and it was a new bin there's also no not much bedding left it's all just but and some long strings of what looks like roots I have no idea not one worm I found Could it be mice getting in there we've got a lot of mice who are constantly digging in the plants and so forth maybe they went in they ate them I'm really surprised also he may not have fed them very much and in two months there's none to be found and I'm not sure what the problem is maybe you have some ideas

[@PlantObsessed]

If the worms are missing I'm afraid they either ran away from home or were taken. I had the same thing happen last winter. A rat got into my basement and almost cleaned out my worms. It took me 2 months to get rid of the damn thing.

[@ahmadhasif979]

Salam from Malaysia. There's none that i know here that sells worm. So i just 'capture' worm under my sorta compost pit. Small small buckets now they in a Tub. I'm going to split them into a new Tub. I'm struggling to what fill in the new tub. I think it's called bedding. Does fill the tub with shred Cardboard then pit the worm on top of it okay? How bout leaves? I've got halfway compost but,, they got slugs egg and millipede eggs lol, are those guy bad?

[@PlantObsessed]

The paper and leaves is the bedding. The slugs are bad for plants I don't think they hurt the worms. The centipedes I hear can sometimes eat small worms. I pick them out when I see them.

[@ahmadhasif979]

@@PlantObsessed awesome thank You!!

[@dogindiabeast]

It's me again. I found some babies. Will try to keep mice out. One more question. Do worms come to new food fairly quickly. Smell bring them?

[@PlantObsessed]

I would say soft food like over ripe banana in a central location should draw them in a few days. If they are little they move slow.

[@dogindiabeast]

@@PlantObsessed I am amazed at how beautiful the compost is I've never seen anything is flaky and I'm lovely and black and ready to go into the pots So as I said before the big the big bin had what I thought was very few worms but they devoured the the bedding which was extensive and in 2 months none can be found but when I'm going to do now is add more bedding and watch and carefully watch what happens feed them see what happens and order some more worms Also find some kind of cover that the mice can't get in now that I'm back they're not as present they were probably running around in my unused apartment for for all they wanted My assistant said that they had been digging in the the plant pots and it may have been that they were traipsing through the bins as well and he just thought it was the plant soil What an adventure

[@dogindiabeast]

@@PlantObsessed I am amazed at how beautiful the compost is I've never seen anything is flaky and I'm lovely and black and ready to go into the pots So as I said before the big the big bin had what I thought was very few worms but they devoured the the bedding which was extensive and in 2 months none can be found but when I'm going to do now is add more bedding and watch and carefully watch what happens feed them see what happens and order some more worms Also find some kind of cover that the mice can't get in now that I'm back they're not as present they were probably running around in my unused apartment for for all they wanted My assistant said that they had been digging in the the plant pots and it may have been that they were traipsing through the bins as well and he just thought it was the plant soil What an adventure

[@PlantObsessed]

@@dogindiabeast good luck.

[@dogindiabeast]

I have a quick question I have been away from my worm been my early worm been for about 2 months because of a number of work issues being being doing a project and not being able to get back to it but I've had somebody feeding them but I'm worried that he hasn't been feeding them enough because when he looked at them yesterday he didn't find any and I'm wondering in your extensive knowledge of worms if they weren't being fed enough would they just start dying off

[@PlantObsessed]

2 months.. I bet they may have shrunk but that is not enough for a die off. Maybe dig deeper really go through it. If they are gone I would be surprised.

[@shivtandav7269]

Why is there plastic shreds in your worm bin

[@PlantObsessed]

Sometimes they come in on share waste. The most common is on envelopes windows that are shredded. They get pulled ot at some point.

[@dogindiabeast]

It's me again with my 2 month away red wiggler with no worms. The bedding had turned to black compost. All the food is gone. I don't know how much my assistant put in maybe not much but needless to say they were kept alive long enough to turn the bedding into into compost. My question to you is if the worms run out of food and they've eaten through all the bedding will they start dying off I'm not sure that the mice have been doing it but they could but and I will get more worms and start again but just the the main question I have for you is if there's not enough food and bedding will they die

[@PlantObsessed]

I firmly believe there would still be worms in 2 months. They might be little. They will physically shrink if there is not enough food. Even if there was a die off the cocoon would have hatched and there would be babies.

[@dogindiabeast]

So another bin which had also shredded cardboard. May had only a few worms in it but when I looked at it today the whole center section of the bedding was compost and one of the ends was pretty intact with the bedding and the other was not so they've been in there somebody's been there eating but when I look around for them none are found except one little guy This is such a mystery Nice to know if it is the mice or die off from lack of food

[@PlantObsessed]

@@dogindiabeast I bought a trail camera for 30$ to see what was messing with my worms.

[@kromsnavelfun]

If yoy cate about the landfill...than you can know that you should stay far away from Amazon.

[@PlantObsessed]

All my amazon boxes and packaging go in the worm bin.

[@kromsnavelfun]

@@PlantObsessed I mean what Amazon does to the environment themselves.... I'll never buy from them. But nice videos I found of your worms👌