Building a Stackable DIY Worm Farm for $30
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Date: 2022-07-18
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Comments and reviews: 15
coeruleo
i made a bin like this once, it did work. however, the way the totes nest together does not allow much space in the bottom and middle. the bottom wasn't such a big deal as long as i kept it fairly drained. but the middle bin was an issue. if 'too full' which does not take much, the top bin rests upon the medium in the middle bin, potentially compacting it, and it allowed a gap between the middle and top bins and other bugs easily got inside. this can be ok in an indoor bug-free and rodent-free area. outdoors it was a messy disaster. if possible, try to get bins of different depths that still stack. and keep in mind that the material in the middle bin needs to be deep enough to reach the bottom of the top bin so the worms can migrate up. the worm juice i made kept my orchids blooming year round in sothern california.
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i made a bin like this once, it did work. however, the way the totes nest together does not allow much space in the bottom and middle. the bottom wasn't such a big deal as long as i kept it fairly drained. but the middle bin was an issue. if 'too full' which does not take much, the top bin rests upon the medium in the middle bin, potentially compacting it, and it allowed a gap between the middle and top bins and other bugs easily got inside. this can be ok in an indoor bug-free and rodent-free area. outdoors it was a messy disaster. if possible, try to get bins of different depths that still stack. and keep in mind that the material in the middle bin needs to be deep enough to reach the bottom of the top bin so the worms can migrate up. the worm juice i made kept my orchids blooming year round in sothern california.
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Janine
Attention Mr Epic garden man - If worm bedding is so wet that it is draining off liquid - then it is too wet, attracts undesirable insects like Springtails, Potworms and even Black Soldier Fly! Wet bedding and the liquid is actually unhealthy leachate - rotten, it stinks and is anaerobic. You do a disservice to people telling them to do things that are wrong, not necessary and unhealthy. That liquid is rotten. The best thing to do with this is pour it back over the worms to reinocculate. NO drainage - use all three bins with 60-70% brown material - shredded cardboard is the best; the right kind of green vegetables and a little fruit. Fruit attracts fruit flies and ants. If you're going to teach, do it right.
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Attention Mr Epic garden man - If worm bedding is so wet that it is draining off liquid - then it is too wet, attracts undesirable insects like Springtails, Potworms and even Black Soldier Fly! Wet bedding and the liquid is actually unhealthy leachate - rotten, it stinks and is anaerobic. You do a disservice to people telling them to do things that are wrong, not necessary and unhealthy. That liquid is rotten. The best thing to do with this is pour it back over the worms to reinocculate. NO drainage - use all three bins with 60-70% brown material - shredded cardboard is the best; the right kind of green vegetables and a little fruit. Fruit attracts fruit flies and ants. If you're going to teach, do it right.
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Cris
I have a question, not trying to be condescending or anything, but if you want worm casings for your garden, why not just put the worms in the garden and put their food down in the garden as well? What is the benefit to this system outside of just being able to place castings where you want to? I mean, they create the same castings whether they are in the garden or in a container, correct? And if they create them in the garden, you don't have to carry them out there, right? I honestly don't know, and I'm not trying to put down any methods that work for people or anything, just seems like it would be less work to put the worms where you want the castings to go.
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I have a question, not trying to be condescending or anything, but if you want worm casings for your garden, why not just put the worms in the garden and put their food down in the garden as well? What is the benefit to this system outside of just being able to place castings where you want to? I mean, they create the same castings whether they are in the garden or in a container, correct? And if they create them in the garden, you don't have to carry them out there, right? I honestly don't know, and I'm not trying to put down any methods that work for people or anything, just seems like it would be less work to put the worms where you want the castings to go.
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Winston
The bins will be very difficult to separate once all materials and water have been added. I would place some kind of shim between each bin prior to stacking. They need to be able to be pull out so make them grab-able. The vacuum that will be created on stacked bins makes it very difficult to separate bins. Plus, the constant pressure on the bins on each other is physically jamming the bins together. The shims will allow air to flow and will stop a vacuum from being created. Pieces of rope may work. I use wood shim on my buckets. Ever try and separate buckets with nothing in them? Finger nail rippers!
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The bins will be very difficult to separate once all materials and water have been added. I would place some kind of shim between each bin prior to stacking. They need to be able to be pull out so make them grab-able. The vacuum that will be created on stacked bins makes it very difficult to separate bins. Plus, the constant pressure on the bins on each other is physically jamming the bins together. The shims will allow air to flow and will stop a vacuum from being created. Pieces of rope may work. I use wood shim on my buckets. Ever try and separate buckets with nothing in them? Finger nail rippers!
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Ajit
How is the system going? The problems that I could foresee with this system. the upper vents of the middle bin get closed as the material in it gets compacted due to the weight of the top bin. Further, it will get stuck with the bottom of the top bin and will be difficult to separate them. If you put a spacer to prevent that then, the worms will not be able to climb up to the top bin as, the lower portion compacts. Which will create some gap between the two bins.
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How is the system going? The problems that I could foresee with this system. the upper vents of the middle bin get closed as the material in it gets compacted due to the weight of the top bin. Further, it will get stuck with the bottom of the top bin and will be difficult to separate them. If you put a spacer to prevent that then, the worms will not be able to climb up to the top bin as, the lower portion compacts. Which will create some gap between the two bins.
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needsomehike
My compost worms just arrived, but next morning they were up at the lid trying to escape.
Now I added the food scraps but they are not doing their work. not one is busy with eating and composting. some still trying to escape.
Why? Is it too hot (18-23 degrees celsius) or not enough air (I drilled wholes around the edge under the lid. or the soil may be too wet or too dry?
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My compost worms just arrived, but next morning they were up at the lid trying to escape.
Now I added the food scraps but they are not doing their work. not one is busy with eating and composting. some still trying to escape.
Why? Is it too hot (18-23 degrees celsius) or not enough air (I drilled wholes around the edge under the lid. or the soil may be too wet or too dry?
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Jay
The way the vid was shown the transition part isn't very clear.
He dumped the worms into the top, but they would need to go into the middle, (with some fine cloth across the bottom, or they would drop into the liquid level)
Some food and say coffee grinds dropped into the top, and then they make their way up, but the top 2 would sit quite high for that to work?
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The way the vid was shown the transition part isn't very clear.
He dumped the worms into the top, but they would need to go into the middle, (with some fine cloth across the bottom, or they would drop into the liquid level)
Some food and say coffee grinds dropped into the top, and then they make their way up, but the top 2 would sit quite high for that to work?
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lib
we dont put a drain thing in - just a bigger hole in one corner of each bin. we set them up on an angle to drain to that corner and sit them in a larger lid ( can be bought separately) which also has a hole cut in the same corner. we put our collection pot for worm tea under that corner. The boxes can be rotated when it is necessary to rotate the system - not often.
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we dont put a drain thing in - just a bigger hole in one corner of each bin. we set them up on an angle to drain to that corner and sit them in a larger lid ( can be bought separately) which also has a hole cut in the same corner. we put our collection pot for worm tea under that corner. The boxes can be rotated when it is necessary to rotate the system - not often.
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Jack
Hi guys and gals. I just started my worm condo a little over 2 weeks now. seems to be working just fine. However, can someone give me an idea on how long it will take for the composting cycle be before I can harvest the second bin and rotate the top bin (the new compost)to the middle? any advice will is greatly appreciated.
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Hi guys and gals. I just started my worm condo a little over 2 weeks now. seems to be working just fine. However, can someone give me an idea on how long it will take for the composting cycle be before I can harvest the second bin and rotate the top bin (the new compost)to the middle? any advice will is greatly appreciated.
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Marlon
Thanks for your worm video. I have watched several and yours is the best for newbies, I liked the in practice part that described it detail of exactly how it works. Most others did not detail this enough and I had to keep searching until I found a video with enough details. So thank you and keep up the great work.
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Thanks for your worm video. I have watched several and yours is the best for newbies, I liked the in practice part that described it detail of exactly how it works. Most others did not detail this enough and I had to keep searching until I found a video with enough details. So thank you and keep up the great work.
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Maggie
This video is great. I love this guy. He is likable, simple, shows you how to do it, and the video is straight and to the point. Question: Can I keep this outside in summer if it's 110 degrees where I live. I really don't want to keep them inside but I also don't want them to overheat and die.
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This video is great. I love this guy. He is likable, simple, shows you how to do it, and the video is straight and to the point. Question: Can I keep this outside in summer if it's 110 degrees where I live. I really don't want to keep them inside but I also don't want them to overheat and die.
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Valerie
This is amazing! As someone is looking at this for a condo living situation I'm curious what we can do with this system in the winter. Could I bring it inside or would it smell really bad? I'm also wondering if leaving this outside during the summer is okay, or would the heat cook the worms?
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This is amazing! As someone is looking at this for a condo living situation I'm curious what we can do with this system in the winter. Could I bring it inside or would it smell really bad? I'm also wondering if leaving this outside during the summer is okay, or would the heat cook the worms?
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Mary
Quick question, followed your design for the 3 tote system, added worms, bedding and some food. Thought I was doing good. Have my worms in the house cause its still pretty cold here in tulsa and I found like 10 worms dead on my floor and more trying to escape. Any suggestions?
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Quick question, followed your design for the 3 tote system, added worms, bedding and some food. Thought I was doing good. Have my worms in the house cause its still pretty cold here in tulsa and I found like 10 worms dead on my floor and more trying to escape. Any suggestions?
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egg
Hello! Do you know if it is alright to keep the worm cocoons in the worm castings when using the castings for indoor houseplants? I'm looking to start a farm of my own since castings are expensive and wrapped in plastic, but am not sure if the cocoons will be an issue. Thanks!
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Hello! Do you know if it is alright to keep the worm cocoons in the worm castings when using the castings for indoor houseplants? I'm looking to start a farm of my own since castings are expensive and wrapped in plastic, but am not sure if the cocoons will be an issue. Thanks!
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Tonya
STOP being rough with the worms, don't toss them around and try not to disturb those work horses. And you can't even get those bins apart w/o worms inside so it will squish them and be hard on them each time you separate the bins which has to be a lot of times.
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STOP being rough with the worms, don't toss them around and try not to disturb those work horses. And you can't even get those bins apart w/o worms inside so it will squish them and be hard on them each time you separate the bins which has to be a lot of times.
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