A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 My Worm Bin

For tea, I don't have the spout on my bin, but I just take a couple good handfuls of the compost that I have collected from the bin, put it into a five gallon bucket and fill that with water. Thnen I let it steep for a few days .......

hi there,
i'm hoping melcon will bring down some of her worms next week??? I have a 5 gallon bucket, with a spout on the bottom. i have placed rocks and an old window screen on the bottom to collect the "tea" but prevent the worms and debris from going down to the spout.

Hey Christine!

I'll be happy to bring you down some worms next week!

You better remind me again the day I'm leaving (Sunday) or I'll forget again!

Hmmmmm.... I have regular old earthworms in the yard... would they work for something like this??

The worms best suited to worm composting are the redworms: Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler. I would suggest you check out the other forums on this site about worm bins or worms. I found a wealth of great informaton about worms right here at the Garden Helper.

is there a certaintime of the year to start a worm bin? cani keep it in my garage?

where do i get red wigglers?

thanks for your help!

Is your garage heated???????

no, my garage is not heated. and in case you need to know, i leave in PA.

If it won't freeze too much your garage may work out. When the weather conditions are more favorable to "worm travel" I can mail you some to start you off.

According to the information I have, it says that the Red Wiggler worms need to be in a location where the temperature will be between 50-80 degrees F. I keep my bin in the basement which is about 78 degrees and they seem to be doing fine. They seem to be very happy and extremely productive!

I agree with Patti on the temps' for the Red Wiggliers', any info I've read they can't be in an unheated area..
Especially when the Northeast is subject to
BLIZZARDS' and SUB~ZERO TEMPS'..
A garage would be okay in late~late spring and early fall.. but needs heat/warmth/freezing protections..

I'm not sure if I agree, Weezie. Granted I live in FL, but we're getting sub-freezing temps at night and my worms are doing just fine. One thing to keep in mind is that the bin generates a fair amount of heat, and if the outer parts are too cold the worms will move in towards the center. I would guess that for that reason a bigger bin has a better chance of surviving the winter in very cold areas, but I don't think it's impossible.

The 50-80 range has been exceeded in both directions here, and my bin is overpopulated if anything.

Boxmonkey, are you composting with Eisenia Fetida or Eisenia hortensis worms in your bins?

can someone explain to me worm tea? what do you use it for? how often. etc.

thanks!!!

Coachdaisy, worm tea is made from liquid that drains out of the worm bin or you can put some of the worm casings in a very fine mesh bag or some cheesecloth and soak that in a container of water for a few days. Worm tea is used the same as fertilizer, but I think it's much better because it's all natural. Whenever I use the liquid that drains out of the bin I dilute it with 50% water, but if I use the cheesecloth bag, I use that liquid full-strength.

thanks patches for the info.

i'm excited over worms!

this is all new to me, but i want to have a successful veggie gaqrden to show my daughters that nature and natural are imoprtant aspects of life. i am going to try very hard to do everything organicly.

jonni13- i would love some of your worms when the weather is ideal. thanks for offering!

Actually, Tina is the resident expert on worms

I am no expert. I stumble along.
My worms are outside all the time. We have had some record breaking cold this year, sustained. They are doing just fine. I would guess my bin is about as long as three of the sterlite bins, side by side. And slightly deeper. And it generated enough warmth so the unusual snow melted off it before anything else. The worms were fine.
I've learned an awful lot from just this thread. And they have distant cousins all over the country now.

Hey Tina, you're certainly an expert to me!

That is so neat . I just put leaves and kitchen scraps in compost piles . I added some left over worms from the boys going fishing and they had bought bait from a shop that produces them locally . Now I just throw a ton of leaves over the garden spot at the end of gardening season and over winter and the worms have found a good home and air rate the soil for me . I add the compost piles to the garden when I till and when I plant and there are worms galore in them too . I might just have to try your idea too for more worms . LOL . Great pics by the way . Keep up the good work .

My neighbor wanted to know if the night crawlers that were sold for bait could go into her veggie garden. I gave her a thousand or so of my red wigglers to try instead of paying $4 something for 10 worms. I think they can survive here.

Hey, Tina, some of your worm's distant cousins are now living in Wisconsin. I fixed up a carton of worms, a 20-page information packet about worms and some worm chow to get her started. They were hand-delivered by a friend who took them to her mother and they arrived safe and sound at their new home.

Cool, Patti. It is fun to share. And that way you are fairly certain they will arrive in good condition. I've had a couple go wrong in the PO. ("P.U.)

Yes, it is Tina , and I'm glad you feel that way or I wouldn't have my worm bin ! I am so grateful for everything you did for me to get me started.

Hey, Tina, check out Triva Triplets III. I posted some new words there.

We just bought our first red wigglers (got them from the pet store!) and put them in a big ol' coffee can with some compost for now. They were a nice addition to my daughter's science fair project on recycling in the garden. (See the frugal thread to see photos of her project!)
Thanks for suggesting it!

'Manda