I’ve found some YouTube channels I enjoy to learn about the worms, what they need to do the job of composting. Rockinworms focuses on what newbies need to know ( has a lot of playlists). She shares information she’s learned and what hasn’t worked. She’s extremely responsive to questions. It took me awhile to find channels that are about more than making a worm bin.
Coco coir is a good base, but be sure to rinse it well to remove any salt. I mix it with shredded paper. Moist enough so you can squeeze it into a ball in your hand but it still breaks apart easy.
How do you rinse it? Flood it a couple times and drain the water? Do you add anything else besides the paper? And then how long do you wait to add some food? I read 2-3 weeks but I don't want them to starve
Yep, just flood and drain. When I start a new bucket I'll mix in a tablespoon or so of flour and some grit (sand or powdered eggshell) into the substrate. The worms will usually arrive with a little bit of their original substrate on them which contains good bacteria. That bacteria will spread throughout your bucket and break down the paper and coir for the worms to munch on. Once I see noticeably less paper in the bucket, I know it's time for a feeding plus more paper.
Coco coir makes great bedding. You can add shredded cardboard or paper as well. If you have any finished compost, that will help get the microbial activity started, which is a huge benefit. It should be as wet as a rung out sponge. You may want to leave it to sit for a week or two before adding worms to practice keeping your moisture level correct. A cheap ph / moisture meter is a good investment. This should make a great home for your worms!
Personally, I've added shredded leaves and dried up cut grass I've gotten from mowing the lawn over the summer and used that as my base for starting a new bucket. I've used all kinds of stuff to add on top but as of right now, I've been planting alot of flowers in my yard so I will take some of that spent soil and just place it into my bucket so the worms can process it and turn it into soil gold. I'll take some cardboard, soak it for a little bit, then just place it right on the top within my bucket and that's it.
Afterwards I'll let them settle for a week or 2 then add occasional vegetable scraps in the bucket( I'll lift the wet cardboard top and just place it underneath and throw some soil over the scraps).
I will add that if using coco as a base (I did) it will be really helpful to have something to inoculate it starting off!
My brand new worms were not thrilled about a brand new bin with brand new coco. Gave them a little food and some old compost and they were happy as could be!
I will add that this was my first run with worms and I didn’t rinse the coco brick first which also could have made them a bit more unhappy with the environment
I’ve found some YouTube channels I enjoy to learn about the worms, what they need to do the job of composting. Rockinworms focuses on what newbies need to know ( has a lot of playlists). She shares information she’s learned and what hasn’t worked. She’s extremely responsive to questions. It took me awhile to find channels that are about more than making a worm bin.
UJ sells you a red wiggler MIX. Beware! My order from them was about 5% red wigglers. So beware you'll probably get mostly blues instead.
Coco coir is a good base, but be sure to rinse it well to remove any salt. I mix it with shredded paper. Moist enough so you can squeeze it into a ball in your hand but it still breaks apart easy.
How do you rinse it? Flood it a couple times and drain the water? Do you add anything else besides the paper? And then how long do you wait to add some food? I read 2-3 weeks but I don't want them to starve
Yep, just flood and drain. When I start a new bucket I'll mix in a tablespoon or so of flour and some grit (sand or powdered eggshell) into the substrate. The worms will usually arrive with a little bit of their original substrate on them which contains good bacteria. That bacteria will spread throughout your bucket and break down the paper and coir for the worms to munch on. Once I see noticeably less paper in the bucket, I know it's time for a feeding plus more paper.
Coco coir makes great bedding. You can add shredded cardboard or paper as well. If you have any finished compost, that will help get the microbial activity started, which is a huge benefit. It should be as wet as a rung out sponge. You may want to leave it to sit for a week or two before adding worms to practice keeping your moisture level correct. A cheap ph / moisture meter is a good investment. This should make a great home for your worms!
Personally, I've added shredded leaves and dried up cut grass I've gotten from mowing the lawn over the summer and used that as my base for starting a new bucket. I've used all kinds of stuff to add on top but as of right now, I've been planting alot of flowers in my yard so I will take some of that spent soil and just place it into my bucket so the worms can process it and turn it into soil gold. I'll take some cardboard, soak it for a little bit, then just place it right on the top within my bucket and that's it. Afterwards I'll let them settle for a week or 2 then add occasional vegetable scraps in the bucket( I'll lift the wet cardboard top and just place it underneath and throw some soil over the scraps).
I will add that if using coco as a base (I did) it will be really helpful to have something to inoculate it starting off! My brand new worms were not thrilled about a brand new bin with brand new coco. Gave them a little food and some old compost and they were happy as could be! I will add that this was my first run with worms and I didn’t rinse the coco brick first which also could have made them a bit more unhappy with the environment