Worm Beds

[Our7Wonders]

I'd love to hear from anyone who has managed to raise them outdoors. I have two bins in my basement - but I'd rather have them outside.

We hit 110 in the summer and below 0 at times in the winter - is it possible to raise them outdoors? Perhaps if I were to bury their bins in the dirt?

 

[valmom]

I don't think outdoors works anywhere there are actual seasons. I put them outside on the north side of the house in the summer, but they live in the garage all winter. I would think if you bury the bins they would be harder to harvest.

 

[savingdogs]

Thank you for asking that question, I was wondering that too.

So how does everyone deal with the fact that this is moist and gooey in there and could leak water, but has holes in the bottom? How do you make sure you don't have worms and castings all over the floor and escaping worms? I don't mind making space in the house, but that sounds almost more icky than the cat box!

 

[k0xxx]

I raised them outside with no problem, but as was mentioned, there were no real cold spells there other than minor freezes. Raising them outside, there is always the problem of ants invading during wet weather as well as other predators that love worms. Plan accordingly.

As for being moist and gooey, the bedding should be moist, but definitely not to the point of being gooey. Occasionally you may have some moisture weeping through the holes. If that may be a problem, just set the bin inside of another container, but make sure that it isn't resting on the bottom, so that there is room for the moisture to escape the bin.

Also, worms normally live in the top 6 or 8 inches of the bedding. If you have 12 to 14 inches of bedding, you should have no problem with them crawling out through the holes in the bottom. To be on the safe side, putting down a layer of the black weed barrier will keep in the bedding and woms, but still let any moisture escape.

Edited to correct the sentence: To be on the save side, putting down a layer of the black weed barrier will keep in the die, but still let any moisture escape.

I must have been asleep, drunk, or both when I wrote that one.

 

[savingdogs]

Ahh! thanks Mark, for explaining that. I see I just need to assemble more parts.

 

[kimlove2]

DH got me a small bathtub to use for the worm bed. It was made to go into a camper or something. anyway it's about half full of the worm bedding stuff, and I moistened it till it looks like mud. He's sposed to be getting my worms even as I write this. hope it works!

 

[kimlove2]

well, worms are in. I havendt put a cover over them since the tub is only half-full, reckon they could climb out? :/ Maybe I should make some kind of cover for them. :/

 

[Florezian]

How are everybody's worms doing?

I am going to try the bin technique this weekend We have a bunch leftover from moving.

We tried a compost pile, but everything is so dry right now, it just seems to shrink and dissappear :/ So we're going with worms


Some questions....
Does anyone have any recommendations for buying them online?
I'm in Florida... would it be too hot to ship them?
How many would I need in an 18 gallon bin?

thanks!

 

[mlynd]

I think we have a 5 gallon bin for ours and they are doing ok as of right now don't know if they are reproducing as of yet been kind of wet around here :/

 

[kimlove2]

Well, I think my worms have escaped. I can't find any in the worm bed, but I have found LOTS out in the yard where there didn't used to be any at all! Since that's where they were going to end up anyway, I guess it's ok.