A worm bin is a quick and easy way to compost your own food scraps. Here’s how to make your own organic fertilizer for the garden by composting with worms.
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We all know that we should fertilize our gardens regularly, but many of us are unsure of how to do it properly and safely without the use of chemical fertilizers. In this article, find out how to make your own natural fertilizer, with very little effort, by composting food scraps in a worm bin.
Worm Castings—The Fertilizer You Need
Worm castings increase organic content and provide a slow release of nutrients when added to garden soil. They also improve soil porosity as well as its moisture holding capacity.
Their biggest benefit, however, is that the worm composting process can be easily done indoors, focusing specifically on composting food waste.
Manure has a high probably of being contaminated with herbicide, which can destroy soil life and result in crop failures. Backyard compost bins are also becoming contaminated with herbicide in some instances, even when the gardener doesn’t use herbicides in their garden. What’s more, many gardeners purchase bagged compost, without knowing that even organic-approved compost soils may be contaminated with herbicide.
While hay, manure, straw, and grass clippings tend to be frequently contaminated by herbicides, food scraps are not, which is one reason why I enjoy keeping a worm bin.
Although worm compost is typically made in small batches, luckily, even a tablespoon of castings per plant can improve plant health and vigor in poor soil.
In addition, worm castings add beneficial soil organisms and can help plants resist diseases and pests.
Worm castings can be easily purchased in bags, but it’s just as easy to make your own with a worm bin!
Make your own worm bin for vermicomposting!
Vermicomposting is a fancy word for worm composting.
It’s a great way for city dwellers to dispose of kitchen scraps because of the small footprint of a worm bin.
However, I think worm composting is a boon for all gardeners, because worm bins are so easy to make and yield such an important soil amendment.
I keep my worm bin in our garage, and when the compost pile outside is frozen in winter, I can continue to compost food scraps. There are many store-bought varieties of worm bins, but DIY worm bins are so easy and inexpensive to make.
Would you like to yield delicious harvests while partnering with nature? Check out my mini guide, The Permaculture Inspired Vegetable Garden.
Worm Bin 1.0
One Christmas years ago, my brother gave me my first worm bin made from a plastic tote. He simply drilled two holes in each side for ventilation. I had been wanting a worm bin, but I was afraid I would do it wrong and attract bad smells or fruit flies. Now I had no choice: The worms were in the mail, on their way!
I did, in fact, experience some problems with that first bin, such as fruit flies. However, I learned that I had simply been doing it wrong. A few quick fixes, and I was up and running.
My first worm bin, which has been retired.
Harvesting Worm Castings from a Worm Bin
After keeping worms for a year, I had gotten the hang of managing them properly. However, I was still having problems with harvesting the castings.
It turns out, harvesting from a single worm bin didn’t work for me.
I tried feeding them only on one side, hoping that when that side filled up I could begin feeding them on the other side. In this plan, eventually the worms are supposed to migrate to the new side where the food is, so I can harvest the castings on the first side.
There were always lots of worms in all areas of the bin, and I didn’t want to add the castings—with worms—into the garden.
An alternative strategy for harvesting the castings is to spread out a sheet of plastic on the ground and scoop out handfuls of worm castings, placing each in a cone-shaped pile on the plastic (like a party hat!). After a few hours, the worms migrate to the bottom of their cone, allowing you to harvest the top 2/3 of each pile.
This totally works, but it’s a lot of work.
So I decided to build a new bin with easy harvesting in mind. After some research, I decided on the following design.
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You’ll find loads of information just like this in my award-winning book, The Suburban Micro-Farm.
Worm Bin 2.0
Here are my step-by-step instructions for the worm bin that has lasted years and has produced many loads of great worm compost.
Materials
- 2 (10-gallon) plastic totes + lids (dark colored, no clear plastic)
- Drill + 1/4″ and 1/8″ drill bits
- Shredded office paper and newspaper – enough to fill a bin
- spray bottle with water
- Red Wiggler Worms (1,000)
- 1 cup of food scraps (fruits, veggies, egg shells, coffee grounds. NO garlic, onions, or hot peppers). I collect them in my countertop compost pail with carbon filter.
- 4 bricks
How the Bin Works
The worms and the composting happen in one bin (tote). When it gets full, the lid is removed, and the second (empty) bin is placed right on top of the compost surface of the bottom (full) bin.
Bedding and food are added to the new bin on top. Over the next 2-3 months, the worms migrate up through the holes to the new bin, at which point, the bottom bin is 98% worm castings. You’ll still want to sift through the finished compost to find wayward worms and return them to the new working bin.
Although this process takes longer, it’s a lot less work to harvest the castings than from the single bin.
Constructing and keeping a worm bin is fun for the whole family! This bin is featured in Teri Page’s book Family Homesteading. Check it out for more tips on gardening with children!
How to Build this Worm Bin in 9 Steps
Step One
Drill about 50 holes in the bottom of each bin using a 1/4-inch drill bit. This is for drainage and through which the worms will migrate upward to the empty bin.
Drill 1/4-inch holes in the bottom of both totes.
Step Two
Create ventilation holes by drilling about 60 holes just under the top edge with a 1/8-inch drill bit, as well as about 50 holes in ONE of the lids.
Drill 1/8-inch ventilation holes around the top.
Drill 1/8-inch ventilation holes in one lid.
Step Three
Add half of the shredded paper, moistening it with the spray bottle. It should feel like a wrung out sponge. This is the bedding.
Add shredded office paper and torn newspaper.
Step Four
Add the worms. In my case, I dumped in the contents of the old bin, so the worms went in with some castings and food scraps. You can add a few handfuls of loose garden soil or leaves if desired, but it isn’t necessary.
Add the worms to the bedding in a new worm bin.
Step Five
Now add food scraps and spread it all out evenly.
Add one cup of food scraps to a new bin.
Step Six
Top with the other half of the shredded paper and moisten well.
Top the food scraps with shredded paper.
Step Seven
Locate your bin’s ideal permanent place. The worms don’t like temperature extremes, such as really hot summers and really cold winters. 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. I keep my bins in the attached garage.
Step Eight
Place the lid without the holes on the ground and place a brick in each corner, and set the bin on top of the bricks.
Worm bin setup: Place 4 bricks on the lid without the holes, then place the bin on top of the bricks.
Here’s my worm bin with ventilation lid.
Step Nine
To feed the worms, pull away the shredded paper on top, pour in the cup of food, then replace the shredded paper so all food is covered.
Worm Bin Care
Only feed the worms about one cup of food each week for the first few months. As the worms look bigger and more numerous, you can increase the amount of food scraps you give them each week.
Over time, the bedding (shredded paper) will break down. Just add more shredded paper if that happens, moistening it with the spray bottle.
Monitor the moisture level. The contents should always feel like a wrung-out sponge. If lots of liquid seems to be draining out the bottom onto the bottom lid, this could mean that you’ve added too much water. Just let the moisture levels balance out on their own, perhaps lifting the lid once a day.
If your bin gets fruit flies or mites, the problem is usually related to too much food being added too fast. Just hold back from feeding them for a month to let things balance out.
Learn better by video? Watch me make my worm bin.
Worm castings are an easy, inexpensive, and important fertilizer for the garden. Will you build a worm bin this year?
READ NEXT:
- 7 Ways to Improve Soil Quality
- How to Keep Herbicides out of your Compost Bin
- How to Source Herbicide-Free Compost Soil
>>> Get my free 19-page Guide to Organic Soil Amendments for more ideas:
Don says
This two bin method has worked well for me over the years. I have one suggestion. Instead of setting the bins on a lid, put the bin(s) with holes in a third, unperforated bin. A few bricks in the bottom help create a reservoir to collect the nutrient rich “juice” that the worms produce. The liquid can be diluted and poured around plants. To improve air circulation, drill a set of larger holes around the rim that will correspond with the bedding bins’ holes.
Amy says
If you get that much liquid from your bin, then I can see why having a reservoir bin would be beneficial. Our bin just doesn’t produce more liquid than the bottom lid can collect. There is some controversy as to whether that amount of leachate is good for plants, which you can read about here. I may take you up on adding more ventilation holes. We’ll see how the worms do, so far they seem to like their new home.
Don R says
Amy,
‘ Thank you for the “how to” on worm casings! I have been wanting to do this. I hope to get mine going soon. Where did you get the “red wigglers”?…and are they the same as sold at a bait shop? Would “night crawlers” (a bigger worm…sold at fishing bait shops or at Walmart-sporting goods) make even more castings?
Your fan in Nashville (Music City),
Don
Amy says
Hi Don R! Yes, you can get red wigglers from your bait shop, but check the price. They are often cheaper when bought online because the bait shops don’t usually sell in quantities of 1,000. Check out Urban Farmer Seed company online.
Lindsey says
Thank you for such a detailed tutorial! We are new to gardening and might try this if I can convince the husband to keep a tub of worms in our basement 🙂 Question – how long does it take before you switch the bins and have castings to use? Also how to you use them – just mix them in the soil before you plant? Thanks!
Amy says
How long it takes to fill up one bin will depend on how often you feed the worms and in what quantity. Our bottom bin is about half full, but I’m going to start the top bin this week so I have worm castings in two months for the garden.
You can use worm castings any time in the garden – amend the soil before planting, or use it as a fertilizer in the middle of the season by sprinkling on the soil between plants. 1-2 inches will be sufficient, or whatever amount you’ve got available.
Michael says
Amy,
My family dumps a liter bucket of compost DAILY, it seems like there’s no way worms could keep up with us unless we had a huge operation. Do you have any knowledge of large scale worm farming? I am planning to setup better composting, and worms keep coming up as a really good solution. We fill a 55 gallon bucket in about 6 months and I’m curious if I should even plan for worms on that big of a scale.
Amy says
Michael, this is a really good question. The amount of food scraps your family generates is similar to mine – you all must be eating lots of fresh, healthy food! Currently I’m acclimating my worms to a new bin, so I’m only feeding them one cup of scraps per week. The rest I’m sending out to my regular compost pile, even though it’s frozen.
Here is what I would recommend if you want to solely use worm bins to compost all of your food scraps: I would make 3 of the systems I described above (assuming you have the space for the footprint of 3 bins). It will take a couple of months to get your systems working up to full function, so during that time you will only feed each bin one cup of food scraps per week. After that initial period, they should be fully-functioning. Just alternate which bin you’re putting your scraps in.
Only by monitoring will you know for sure if the system can handle the volume of waste. If fruit flies appear or any bad odors, it might mean that you need to add a 4th system.
Usually, our worm bins get all of our food scraps throughout the winter while the ground is frozen, but then I pull back in the warmer months, only feeding them one cup per week and taking the rest of our food scraps out to the regular compost. This gives them some time to fully break down all that I was giving them throughout the winter. Whether or not they need this break, I don’t know, but it has been my system.
Wendy James says
Hi Amy and Michael
I run a bokashi bin for all household food waste. This includes cooked food, meat, onions citrus….everything except liquids and I find any part of an avocado pear will just mould so no avo! Bokashi microbes break down everything so that it is accessible to the worms in the bin, worms in the soil and furthermore when you bury the bokashi in the garden/veg patch it forms beautiful compost in about 4-6 weeks depending upon the weather.
From one bokashi bucket I fill half an orange bag with ripe bokashi mix and pop it under the paper in the worm bin. They take a little time to get used to it and then you cannot keep them away! This way when the bokashi is almost eaten many worms are in the bag and transferring them to a new spot is easy. I also use the cone method in full sunlight and it is pretty quick. Those little wriggles rush to the base very quickly. The rest of the bokashi I bury in the garden. Just one tip, I never bury a bokashi in the same spot in the garden, as that soil bacteria is already perfect and I do not want to upset the balance.
Kevin says
That’s called worm pee and should be discarded
What is bokashki
Gerald says
Thats what i’m saying and why as soon as get off here will see what Wikipedia reveals about Bokashi. As for the worm pee having to be discarded whats up with that? Birds and fish use the entire worm why not the Bokashi?
David says
I run all my food scraps through a blender first then make a small hole in the worm farm, tip the blended food in and cover with the material from the small hole, I add shredded paper if the new food is a bit wet, I blend everything that will fit in the blender without breaking it. The worms eat it 10 times faster when it’s blended and covered with existing material in the worm farm. Every third or forth feed I cover with shredded paper just to keep the ratios of green and brown correct.
Brennie lee says
Try an old bathtub. Add some coarse bedding, drill a hole for leachate, shade it from the sun…heaps more detailed info on the internet….try bathtub worm farm
Amy says
This is an excellent strategy if you live in a warm climate and can properly protect the bathtub from high heat. Those in northern climates or high altitudes that deal with freezing will want to have portable worm bins that can be brought inside when temps drop.
Rita says
We use the liquid 1 part to 10 parts of water OR enough added to water to make a weak tea colour. The veges and other plants just love the “worm Juice”.
Chris says
Hi Amy, I just stumbled across your blog and I think it’s great. Thanks for this easy tutorial on creating a worm bin. I have one question on step 4 – once you have the bedding in and moistened, you add the worms and the scraps. In your picture, it looks like there is a clear sheet between the bedding and the worms and castings. Was that done for illustrating the parts when you took the photo or should there be something separate the levels? Thanks again!
Amy says
Hi there. There is nothing separating the bedding from the worms/castings. It must be an optical illusion 🙂
Chris says
Thank you Amy! I’ll let you know ow the project goes. Keep up the great work!
Rachel says
I’m interested in trying this. Your links for finding worms weren’t working, so I just checked amazon, and it was $80 CDN for 300 worms. this seems a little pricey. What is the cheapest way to buy worms? Do I need to start with 1000 or will they multiply on their own?
Amy says
Thanks for letting me know the link didn’t work. I fixed it so it should now take you to the worms I have purchased. It seems to be a better deal than what you found. You can start with a smaller number, but you’ll have to be very careful about not feeding them too much before they multiply, so you don’t have rotting food. Good luck 🙂
Cindy says
Rachel, Get your worms online at Jims Wormfarm! We paid $20.00 for 1,000 worms.
Myrna says
They won’t deliver live worms outside of the USA.
Doug Arndt says
I tried a similar approach using 5 gal buckets, but it seemed that it took forever to get any castings. (many months)
the conclusion I came to was surface area has a direct influence to how large (number) the worm community grows to — more surface area, more worms, smaller area (like a 5 gal bucket), less worms. My experience anyway.
the worms did migrate to the next bucket, so the concept seems to work.
I need to try the bin stack as that seems to have the best of both.
Amy says
Great observation on surface area. Makes sense to me. Thanks for sharing!
Judi says
I’m discovering my love for gardening and I just heard about worm farming. I was a bit nervous to try this and fail until I came across your page about mistakes you made and also the diy worm bin. I love that your page had a question and answer area! I feel way more confident and excited now to try this.
Lori Benton says
So, how do you like your newer setup now that you have done it for awhile? Did they all migrate up or were there squatters in the bottom bin? Thank you!
Amy says
The system works great! There will always be a handful squatters, but the “smart” ones (most of them) have migrated up to where the food is. 🙂
Some things I’ve discovered after doing this for a couple of years:
In the future, I’m going to try 10-gallon totes instead of 20-gallon so that the worms get fresh digs more often. Plus, as the 20-gallon tote fills up, it gets heavy and is hard to move off the garage shelf to add food scraps to.
Rob Terry says
Thanks for posting this info on worm bins. I started with an outdoor stackable bin several years ago without much success. I read several books and learned what to do, but most of the worms crawled out and I wasn’t left with too many. I recently tried it again with a plastic tote and it’s working much better this time. I only has a few “jumpers”, the majority of the worms stayed in the bin. I was getting ready to empty the worm castings and I came across your article on the double bin. After dumping the contents on a plastic tarp on the deck, sorting into piles, waiting for it to dry and then screening out the castings, your idea seems like less work (although I will probably still screen the casting). Yesterday I set up the bin as you described and already I like it much better. My original worms have already multiplied and I found lots of eggs and baby worms in the original bin. We are a family of vegetarians and we try to grow as much food as we can on our small lot, so composting our kitchen waste is something we do without a second thought. I have several outdoor composting bins which we use throughout the year, but after reading “Compost Revolution” and learning the difference between hot and cold composting I want to set up more worm bins to compost on a larger scale. We run an organic school garden and have access to tons of kitchen scraps from the school and I am planning on setting up an outdoor worm bin in the garden as well. I have used several of the permaculture techniques you describe in your book at the school garden and it is becoming the self-sustaining, ecosystem that we imagined creating! Thank you again for providing such useful information!
Amy says
Hi Rob,
Thanks so much for your nice message. I look forward to hearing how this method works for you and whether you’re able to harvest the castings easier. It has worked well for me. There is still a little screening that I do, but it’s less time consuming than the tarp/pile method. 🙂
I love hearing about the school garden, too. What an exciting project! I’m so curious as to which permaculture techniques you put into action there.
Rob Terry says
Hi Amy,
The permaculture techniques we put in place were adding a 3 bin composting station so we could add organic compost to the beds each year from garden waste and leaves collected from the site. I am amazed how much compost we can make and add to the beds each spring. We’ve added rain barrels to the garden shed and now harvest all the water we need to keep the garden growing through the summer. I swapped out most of the annual vegetables for perennial vegetables, fruit trees and bushes. We put in blueberries, raspberries, apples, peaches, pears and strawberries. We also added rhubarb and asparagus. We still grow summer veggies, but not as many as before and we grow lots of garlic, shallots, onions and leeks. We have been saving seeds and bulbs from year one to replant each year. We have built a good seed stock over the years. In the center of the garden there is a pollinator garden which we added a pond to last year. It has a solar pump to run a small waterfall. The center bed attracts butterflies, birds and other critters including praying mantis that have been laying eggs in the garden for several years now. We do companion planting to keep pests at bay and also plant in layers (such as comfrey under the fruit trees) to create micro climates and help build the soil. The biggest obstacles with the school garden project were building the soil, watering and maintaining it through the summer when school isn’t in session and we solved all these problems using the techniques I mentioned. We still have big plans for this project, but it’s nice knowing we took an area that was barren after they built the new school and turned it into a thriving eco-system that is enjoyed by the students, teachers and wildlife! We have plans to move soon but we feel good knowing that we are leaving the space in better condition.
Amy says
I love hearing this story. Sounds like you’ve built an incredible ecosystem. A great educational example of how good design and welcoming biodiversity can have a positive impact on productivity and the number of inputs a garden requires. It’s not about imposing your wishes on a space but listening to and observing what the space has asked for. I love leaving spaces better than I found them. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story and I look forward to whatever you create next! 🙂
Kimberly says
Can you Worm cast if you do not have a stable 55-70 degrees? An outdoor casting plan?
Amy says
That is the temperature range that worms thrive in, so yes, you’ll want to get close to that range so they don’t suffer or die, either by insulation in the cold, or shade in the heat.
Sandra says
Hi Amy,
I purchased a 4 tiered worm bin but find after working through all the tiers and it’s time to remove the bottom tier to empty and add to the top I still have worms in it, even though there hasn’t been any food there for them. Will the red wigglers hurt my garden (eating seeds or roots) if some wind up there?
Amy says
Red wigglers live in loose, shallow soil. If added to garden soil, they will likely not survive. I take the time to pick out as many of them as I can to return them to the composting bin.
Valarie says
So what does a worm casting look like and How will I know one if I see it 🙂 ? Had my worm bin about a month now and they are not eating much ( 500 worms)
Amy says
Worm castings are soil-like. You can see them in the first pictures in the article above. 🙂
Emily says
This is fantastic! I unfortunately have that filthy and horrific Amynthas worm aka Asian snake worm in most of my garden so come July – October some of my perennials and annuals just stall and I have to dress most of the garden with organic matter just to keep them tip top and blooming. I’m so fearful to buy red wigglers as I don’t trust what I’m getting. I live in the Adirondacks Zone 4 where there is plenty of lake fishing so there are wigglers available. I’d really love to add worm composting in addition to my percolating leaf mold and bin compost. Plus I have access to semi cooked quail manure and certain perennials just love it. I mix it in my compost bin and this fall around some peonies, persicarias. Sometimes I use the product Moo-Doo manure as well. These worms choke out the plants at the root ball but sucking all the plants’ nutrients and their castings don’t for some reason release any nutrients back into the soil. In fact it changes the entire structure where the plants just easily dislodge from their planting location and soil is the texture of crumbs you’d top a pie with.
Amy says
The invasive snake worm is such a new problem that we don’t really know what the long term consequences will be. But I’m not clear on what this has to do with red wigglers? Wigglers remain in your worm bin, which, in your climate, would need to be kept indoors. They don’t negatively impact soil ecology if they accidentally escape.
Kendall says
Hello Amy,
Thank you for the great post. Do you find worms “escaping” through the holes in the bottom bin? I live in Florida and was hoping to set this up in the lanai (all day shade but it does get warm here).
Thank you!
Kendall
Amy says
Hi there! This tends to happen if the worms aren’t happy with their living conditions. I’d bet that your location is too hot for them. A basement or a garage may be a better fit for them, as they prefer 55-75 degrees F. If that isn’t possible, then I would search for “outdoor worm bin solutions”, as the worm bin I’m showing here is ideal for indoor and/or cool environments.
Scott says
Hi!
Thanks for the post. Instructions were very useful!! We’re having an issue with escapees as well. Could 1/4” be too large for the bottom? Seems like maybe 5 a day or so are getting out. A few in the bottom lid as well. Not enough food or water possible issues?
Amy says
I have a number of bins that are about 7-8 years old with the 1/4″ holes, and this doesn’t seem to be a problem for me. Here are some things to troubleshoot if this is happening:
1) Bedding: Is there enough moistened shredded paper in the bottom to fill half of the bin? If they don’t have bedding, and they’re just living in food and poop, they will try to escape. 😀
2) Temperature: It must be dark and cool. This is not an outdoor bin design. If it’s warmer than 75 degrees, they’ll try to escape. 75 is the upper limit; they really prefer it to be cooler than that.
3) Food: Approved food only and not too much or too little. This is a family-sized bin, it isn’t sized for a restaurant. On the other hand, if they’re motoring through the food scraps, then you’ll have to find some more things for them to eat.
Often the problem is too much food, so be patient and let them build up their numbers to be able to handle the amount of food you need them to accept.
Don’t let your food scraps ferment and get moldy on the kitchen counter. Worms don’t like it and it only feeds fruit flies and mites, which create an imbalance in the bin. If you can’t get your food scraps to the worms within a few days, consider freezing them until you can.
They will try to escape if they’re not being fed the right amount of things they like to eat. That’s what I would do. 😀
4) Moisture: It’s pretty incredible that worms accustomed to living in topsoil can live in a barely-breathable plastic tote. They like air; too much moisture both suffocates and drowns them. Make sure it’s like a wrung-out sponge.
I don’t really need to add any water after I’ve topped the food scraps with moistened bedding. However, at least once a month I add a new top layer of moistened shredded paper. They do prefer having the bedding on top as well as on bottom. I think they feel naked without it, so this might make them run away. 😀
venessa says
Hi. In the past, whenever I came across an earthworm in the ground I would put it into my garden and compost pile. Now I’ve been reading about snakeworms and think maybe I’ve made a mistake.? My garden soil Is alittle crumbly. Is it better to remove them from my garden when I see one? I’d appreciate your recommendation.
Amy says
I wouldn’t worry about snakeworms unless you’ve seen them. I also wouldn’t move around worms to the garden. If the garden soil is healthy, they’ll find their way there.
Regular compost bins are a bit different from worm bins, so I wouldn’t add worms to your regular outdoor compost bin, as the composting process heats up too much.
Rizwan says
Hi Amy, that blog was really informative. I just set up a Tumbleweed Worm Cafe a couple of weeks ago and I am still learning about vermicomposting. There are many conflicting information that you can find in different websites and blogs. I read about flushing the worm bin with 5 or more ltrs of water every alternative week to cool down the bin, to remove the urine of worms (which I read somewhere else that worms do not urinate) and to collect worm tea (which is actually leachate and whether it is safe is contentious as per different sources).
My question is, is it necessary to do this flushing frequently? And also, wouldn’t the quality of final castings be affected by this flushing?
I look forward to your reply.
Thanks.
Amy says
I haven’t ever flushed my worm bins and as I understand it, this action would not be beneficial for the worms and would also dilute the biology/quality of the worm castings. However, I wonder if this suggestion is meant for outdoor worm bins in hot climates? Water would cool the habitat, which is essential for the worms. My worm bin process is centered on indoor worm bins.
Muriel Tillman says
Hi Amy!
I’m so glad to have found your blog! I am planning to construct a worm bin and like to do my research first. I’ve found the commercially offered systems just too expensive for me, considering what it is in fact they are there for. I love the plans you’ve posted, plus all the tips and advice you’ve offer newbies! I am going to happily subscribe to your newsletter/blog and hope to post my efforts once I get up and running. I do have one question though: I’d been looking at different websites offering red wigglers and one such vendor advertises “red wiggler mix”. All that I’ve read is that I should be looking for compost worms or “red wigglers”. Knowing and experiencing what you have, to date, would you purchase something called a “red wiggler mix”? I am skeptical. (This vendor does have great reviews, to be honest.)
Amy says
I can’t say for sure, not knowing the vendor. I’ve linked above to the red wigglers that I purchased for my bins many years ago.
Billy says
Great article, thanks.
I live in North Florida & have no garage or place in the house to set up a worm garden. How well do you think I can do with this method with summer temperatures in the mid to high 90s?
Amy says
This worm bin strategy is for keeping indoors or in a cool, protected space such as a garage. You’ll want to look for worm composting solutions that are specific for outdoor use.
Debbie says
There was someone on a gardening summit years ago that talked about using an old chest freezer as a worm bin. I can’t remember how it was set up though. Amy, have you heard of this before? If so, do you know any details as far as setup for those who generate a large amount of produce scraps?
Thanks,
Debbie
Amy says
Sounds like a serious setup! I don’t have any details about it.
Jeff DeMarchi says
I am relatively new at this. I have seen many different methods, so it’s confusing. I tried a plastic tote with 2 1-incn vent holes near the top per he EPA. I like your method the best. I hate separating the worms. I may tru bigger vent holes at the top.
Question: because I don’t have enough shredded paper, can I use shredded cardboard too?
Amy says
Yes, many people use shredded cardboard, but be sure to shred it finely, as the thicker pieces can reduce air flow and cause suffocation or other problems.