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Smart as Poop advises that you set up your vermicomposter be set up in advance so that it is ready to receive the worms on delivery. For best results, your red wigglers should be placed into their new home (the vermicomposter of your choice) as soon as they have been picked up/delivered.
Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of your very own squirm of red wigglers!
Upon receipt of your shipment of red wiggler composting worms:
1) Open the box and remove the package containing the worms.
2) Open the cellophane bag and gently invert it, emptying its’ contents (worms & shipping medium) onto the surface of the bedding material.
3) Leave the vermicomposter uncovered, worms exposed and an overhead light on in the room. Allow the worms to find their own way down into the bedding material. [Red Wigglers are photophobic (do not “like” the light). As such, the red wigglers will burrow down into the bedding material in order to get away form the light.]
4) Once all of the red wigglers have made their way down into the bedding material, close the lid of the composter once more.
Happy composting!
Your red wigglers will work harder and more efficiently, if, they are provided with an appropriate environment within which to live, called bedding material. Quality bedding material plays an important role in reproduction rates, moisture, and odour control, all while also being an important source of food (carbon). Keeping your worms active, hydrated and feeding will ensure a productive and satisfying vermicomposting experience.
Bedding Material is both:
1) the physical environment within which the worms live (inside your vermicomposter)
AND
2) a very important source of food for the worms.
Did you know that your red wigglers diet should include two “types” of food?
i. a carbon source (eg. newsprint or cardboard)
ii. a nitrogen source (eg. kitchen scraps)
Once established, your red wigglers will actually consume the environment in which they live! For this reason, it is important to provide bedding material that will satisfy their nutritional needs as well as act as a fly deterrent. Smart as Poop recommends a combination of coconut coir and shredded newsprint. Coconut coir, a 100% natural and renewable product is an excellent choice for vermicomposting bedding material.
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Preparing the Bedding Material:
Materials:
- 1 plastic pail or bin
- water
- 1 brick of coconut coir
- shredded newsprint
- 1 litre of soil (from a flower bed or garden area outside – not bagged soil from the store)
- dried, crushed eggshells
Instructions:
1. Add approximately 4 liters of water to a large plastic bin.
2. Add 1 brick of coconut coir to the water.
3. Allow the coconut coir to sit undisturbed for approximately 1 hour.
4. Using your hands, break up the now expanded/rehydrated coconut coir until it is a loose texture, and no clumps remain.
5. Add shredded newspaper (or cardboard), one handful at a time, and mix.
6. Add 1 liter of soil and 1 handful of crushed eggshells. Mix.
7. Test the moisture level by squeezing one handful of the coir/paper mixture in your hand. Adjust the moisture level by adding water or shredded paper until the desired moisture level is reached.
Note: The desired moisture level is that of a damp sponge, drops of water should be expressed when a handful of bedding material is squeezed, not streaming water.
8. Repeat steps 5-6 until the desired moisture level is achieved.
9. The “end goal” is to have a mixture of approximately equal parts of newsprint and coconut coir.
10. Set bedding mixture aside.
Worm Factory 360 Overview
How the Worm Factory 360 Works
1. Determine where you would like to set up and operate your Worm Factory 360.
Note: When selecting a location, keep in mind that your assembled Worm Factory 360 will require an 18” x 18” footprint, and will stand approximately 3 feet tall once all 4 trays are in use.
2. Assemble your Worm Factory 360 in the following order:i. baseii. worm ladderiii. 1 tray
3. Line the bottom of the tray with newsprint (uniformly, with a minimum 8 sheet thickness), being sure to cover the entire surface of the bottom of the tray.
Reason: This will block the holes in the tray. Doing so will encourage the worms upwards toward their food source rather than having them explore and getting caught down below in the reservoir.
Note: You will only do this when you are setting up your tower for the first time. You do not need (or want to) do this when it comes time to add subsequent trays to your vermicomposter.
4. Fill the tray with your prepared bedding material.
5. Store the remaining 3 trays in a safe place for future use.
Tip: The spigot should be ALWAYS in the OPEN position. This way, excess moisture will be free to drain from your vermicomposter freely and as needed. Place & leave a container under the spigot to serve as a leachate collection vessel.
Your red wigglers can eat virtually anything you do!For indoor worm bins, for various reasons however, I suggest the following guidelines:
| Food Scrap DO’s | Food Scrap DON’Ts |
|---|---|
| FRUITS * | MEAT |
| VEGETABLES | DAIRY PRODUCTS |
| RICE | EXCESSIVELY OILY FOODS |
| PASTA | |
| BREAD | |
| MUFFINS | |
| CAKES | |
| CRACKERS | |
| EGG SHELLS |
*add citrus fruits/peelings in moderation
No, pureeing worm food is neither necessary or recommended.
That said, you can do something to help …
To accelerate the decomposition & composting process, food scraps should be chopped up into smaller pieces.
Why?
Breaking the food down mechanically somewhat will expose more surface area. Increasing the surface area, increases the “access” points for microbes (fungus, bacteria, etc) to act on. The faster the microbes can get to work, the sooner the worms can get to work.
How?
Simply run a knife through your fruit and vegetable scarps a few times, creating smaller pieces, rather than large chunks, before adding them to your bin.
How much kitchen scraps can my Red Wigglers eat each week?
Red Wigglers can process half of their body weight in kitchen scraps per day.
- 1 pound of worms – 0.5 pounds kitchen scraps per day
- ½ pound of worms – 0.25 pounds of kitchen scraps per day
- etc
As a guideline … Assuming you have chosen to populate your vermicomposter with one pound of red wigglers, you will be able to feed your worms one half pound of food scraps per day (or 3.5 pounds over the course of one week).
How much kitchen scraps can my Red Wigglers eat each week?
Red Wigglers can process half of their body weight in kitchen scraps per day.
- 1 pound of worms – 0.5 pounds kitchen scraps per day
- ½ pound of worms – 0.25 pounds of kitchen scraps per day
- etc
As a guideline … Assuming you have chosen to populate your vermicomposter with one pound of red wigglers, you will be able to feed your worms one half pound of food scraps per day (or 3.5 pounds over the course of one week).
How often should I feed my Red Wigglers?
Red Wigglers are easy to work with, so do not get too hung up on a feeding schedule per say. How often you feed your red wigglers is up to you. Establish a feeding routine that is manageable.
At our house, I allow the food scraps to accumulate (covered so as not to attract fruit flies) until I have enough for one feeding. Our red wigglers do not get fed every day, but rather twice a week, or there abouts.
Feeding Tips:
1. Break your kitchen scraps down somewhat using a knife.
2. DO NOT overfeed!
3. Feed your red wigglers regularly. A fest or famine approach is not recommended and will not end well!
How do I feed my red wigglers?
1. Dig a hole in the bedding material.
2. Deposit the food scraps into the hole.
3. Cover the newly deposited food scraps with 2-3” of bedding material.Burying the food scraps will deter flies (eg fruit flies) as well as mask any odors which may be produced during the process of decomposition.Imagine the chart below is your worm bin.
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
Feeding #1 - Dig a hole in position 1, deposit the food scraps and cover with bedding material.
Feeding #2 - Dig a hole in position 1, deposit the food scraps and cover with bedding material.
Feeding #3 - Dig a hole in position 1, deposit the food scraps and cover with bedding material.
And so on … until you reach position 9.
On Feeding #10 - Bury food scraps, once again, in position 1 and repeat the cycle adding additional bedding material as needed.
Note: By the time you return to position 1 you should observe that most, if not all, of the food scraps buried there previously have been used up. If this is not the case, and food scraps remain – hold off on adding more food scraps until the red wigglers have had a chance to “catch up”. (Make sure they finish their plate before you give them more)
Why am I feeding my worms in this grid like pattern?
1. The process of decomposition is an exothermic one (produces heat). Worms are unable to regulate their own body temperatures, as such they do not “like” the heat! When you add fresh food scraps to the bin you are effectively creating a hot spot in the bin/bedding. By adding food scraps in one location at a time (as is the case with the “grid” pattern approach), you are creating one hot spot at a time, thus ensuring that there will always be some part of the bin that remains “cool”, providing a safe space to which the worms can retreat if need be.
2. Feeding in a grid-like pattern will allow you to “read” your bin. You will quickly become an expert in knowing how much food scraps your red wigglers can process, thus ensuring that you are not over feeding.
One last thing …
DO NOT overfeed your red wigglers! Overfeeding is the #1 reason that people run into problems vermicomposting indoors.
Overfeeding can:
1. Cause unpleasant odours.
2. Create imbalances within your vermicomposter.
3. Attract flies.
Subsequent trays will not be added to your vermicomposter until the previous tray is “finished”.
As a general rule of thumb, your first tray will take approximately 2 months to “finish”.(The first tray is always the slowest, subsequent trays will take approximately 1 month.)
It will be time to add a tray when the one directly below it is not only full, but, has completely changed in look and texture. When first set up, the contents of the tray will look like fresh bedding material (50/50 shredded newsprint & coconut coir). In time, you will notice that the shredded paper is no longer “identifiable” (it will look more like paper pulp rather than pieces of paper). When the tray is “finished”, the contents will look more like coffee grinds than paper pulp.
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