Loading…
21
Snubbed the worm bin my neighbor built, then watched her pull out 2 pounds of finished castings in 8 weeks
I always figured worm bins in small apartments were a mess waiting to happen, so I kept freezing my scraps and hauling them to a drop-off spot 15 minutes away. Last month my neighbor Priya in Austin invited me over and opened a plain 10 gallon tote under her sink with maybe 200 red wigglers inside. No smell, no fruit flies, and she pulled out a full tray of dark castings she had started 8 weeks earlier. I set up my own bin that weekend and now the drop-off runs are done. For folks in tiny places, how do you keep the bin from getting too wet in summer?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
harris.aaron9h ago
Just a heads up that the 8 weeks thing in your post is a bit off. Castings take way longer than that to fully finish in most bins, closer to 3 or 4 months for a small setup like that tote. What Priya probably pulled out at 8 weeks was more like partially processed material she sifted, which still works great but isn't fully done castings yet.
For keeping it from getting too wet in summer, the big thing is airflow and not overfeeding. Leave the lid cracked or use a lid with holes, add dry shredded cardboard whenever it looks soggy, and freeze your scraps first so they don't dump extra water in. Also skip the urge to water the bin no matter how hot it gets outside, the food scraps bring plenty of moisture already.
8
vera_sanchez9h ago
Read somewhere that tossing in a handful of dry oats helps soak up extra wetness too.
2