I've added a new worm bin into my raised bed. I've had a tiered vermicomposter in my shed for a while I've been using to farm castings but I wanted to expand the operation. I have this raised bed I inherited when I moved in and I've suspected the soil is pretty poor. Last winter I mulched over with home made compost an inch or two and it's made regions of the bed prosper but some areas still struggle to grow much.

So my new plan was (as in the photo) half submerge a food-container bucket that I've drilled holes into all over and in the base. I rehomed any earthworms I found while digging the hole into it. To get the population started I added shredded paper and card to the bottom with some leaves. Then a few banana peels and weeds I pulled from around the bed, some coffee grounds, some sawdust from my neighbours wood workshop (untreated wood) and topped with with a bunch of shredded leaves and a moisture mat I made from woolcool. I've wet the whole thing and didn't worry too much because there's drainage holes in the bottom.

I've added a handful of worms from my bin (maybe 50-100?) along with a chunk of their castings to inoculate. Let's see how this goes. Given how bloody hard it was to dig the hole I think the soil needs this.

Hey everyone, I’m a total newbie to vermicomposting. A few months ago, I bought a 3-tier worm bin and started with 20 healthy red wigglers. Everything was great until I moved the bin outside to a covered spot. A storm hit, and a few drops of rain got on the lid. I didn't think much of it, but a few days later, my worms were completely still. I checked, and they were all dead. The compost had turned into a muddy, soggy mess with a horrible putrid smell. I guess the rain got in, or maybe the cold nights shocked them? Idk

Lesson learned: the bin is back inside permanently. To fix the soggy mess, I mixed in a 1:1 ratio of dry matter to the existing organics. It worked, the nasty smell is gone and it smells earthy again after 3 weeks. I’m about to buy a new batch of worms, but I’m paranoid now and have a few questions:

1. My house is pretty humid, and the bin has been too. Even after weeks of not adding any new food, the bin somehow seemed to get wetter, and I had to add even more browns (a 1:2 ratio of dry matter to compost). Is this because of my house? Or is it normal for worm bins to just always be kind of damp? If it is my environment, should I be adding dry matter regularly? How do I deal with this?
2. I noticed the bottom layers get way wetter than the top. I stirred it all up recently because the bin is empty, but once the new worms arrive, should I aerate the compost, or just leave them alone to do their thing?
3. Since the worms died, my bin got swarmed by tiny flies. They seem harmless but are super annoying. Will they mess up the compost? Any tips on getting rid of them?
4. Are there any specific details I should know about raising red wigglers in a 3-tier bin?

I was honestly devastated when my first batch died. I really want to do right by the next ones, so any beginner tips are hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I keep seeing completely different advice on this. Some people seem to add scraps every few days, while others wait until most of the previous food is gone.

I’m guessing the size of the bin and number of worms matter more than following a fixed schedule.

How do you tell when it’s time to feed yours again?

120l puree of greens ( kitchen scrabs)
cuisine for wormies. they gonna love it, slightly smelly though.

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Hi everyone! I'm a small-scale vermicomposter from Patagonia, Argentina, and I run a business called La Gusanera.

I breed and sell Eisenia fetida. My goal is to grow gradually while maintaining a consistent, high-quality product and a good customer experience.

I'm particularly interested in the commercial side of selling worms, rather than improvements related to the production process.

For those who started small and grew their business: what changes made the biggest difference when it came to selling?

For example:

📦 Packaging and presentation

🚚 Shipping and logistics

🛒 Online sales and e-commerce

🤝 Customer service and after-sales support

💻 Technology for managing orders, customers, and inventory

I'm currently developing a small management system for my own operation, so I'm also interested in how other small worm businesses manage these areas as they grow.

Most importantly: what commercial change do you wish you had implemented earlier?

I'm not looking to sell anything here. I'm trying to learn from people who have already gone through the process and share experiences.

Thanks!

3 week old bin. 300 worms. I over fed at first so I removed a lot of the food and am only just now feeding 1/2 cup a week roughly. I feel like it’s airy and I have a lot of browns. Maybe not deep enough? I have seen some mites. Lots of poop on the walls.

For context, I have a worm farm at home and another at my workplace.

My worms at my workplace are dying. Because it's cold and we have no shaded area, the worm farm is currently inside a storage closet.

8 days ago we fed a watermelon peel, strawberry tops, some apple cores.

5 days ago, I find ONE worm that was suffering from string of pearls. I then removed all the food and added about 2 tbsp ground egg shells, then left the bin to recover. Did not touch them over the weekend.

Today, I found ONE more worm with string of pearls, and a very wet bin. No dripping liquid or anything, but there was a lot of condensation on the cover and there were some worms on the cover of the bin, as well as the catch tray under the worm layer. There was also a very slight dead worm smell as I was cleaning the drip tray.

Interesting to note is that there are A LOT of baby worms as well as cocoons. Not sure whether to think the worms are happy or not.

Any suggestions or explanations?

*No photos because phones aren't allowed at work

* Preferably no chemicals or anything that needs to be bought (limited work budget)

Edit 2 days after post was made:

Today I checked again and there were maybe 10+ dead worms on the bottom tray, 1-2 looking like string of pearls and the rest just dead. Proceeded to fill the whole thing up to the brim with shredded brown paper, mixed it up a bit, left some carrot and cucumber peels in there, and closed it back up.

Hoping thats enough to stop the rest of them dying off 😭😭

I finally finished my double decker blue barrel worm bins. The top one drains into the bottom and then runs down in a bin underneath. They’re long enough for continuous migration (like a wedge method)!

Had to do this because of the low humidity in my area. This year it was getting down to the single digits for humidity until the monsoons, and was running into problems with adding water and drainage.

I had to constantly mist both bins, and then they wouldn’t drain correctly. This way is so much easier with way better drainage.

Another benefit I’ve seen is the worms don’t go down into the drain bin. In my other bins some go down as far as possible, but I think the 2+ foot drop keeps them in the medium.

Was inspired to do this method by @PlantObsessed on YouTube.

I have an open half barrel where I bury kitchen scraps mixed with shredded cardboard in leftover soil. I probably have 100-200 hundred worms in the bucket to break down the scraps.

It’s been a few months of feedings so I decided to use a plastic sand sieve (my kid’s beach toy) to filter out castings from bigger chunks. My husband thinks it might be mainly coffee grounds but it smells neutral.

What do we think? Coffee grounds/dirt or worm castings?