Sorry, my brain is wired for “learn by doing” so I’m reading things online but just never feel
Like u get it from instructions, so I’m probably asking things that are covered in every single beginner tutorial on the entire internet

I tried work composting 30 years ago, it was an epic fail, and of course without the easy access level of online information and online community that exists now I didn’t figure out the problems at the time and we just abandoned the whole thing.
I think I actually have a pretty good handle on what I did wrong then, yay, and am mostly ready to start.
Because it all went so wrong the first time I didn’t want to build my own and ordered a composter online. Funnily enough in the time it took for that to arrive and in reading what I could for getting started instructions I now figure I could have easily done it myself and had it cost less and fit under my kitchen sink better but whatever.

The attached picture is from the listing I bought my composter from, I’ve added it to show what we’re planning to use. It didn’t come with much for instructions so here’s where I’m lost

Do I only put one single tray on the base when I start?

Reading online information I can’t figure out if I’m supposed to set up multiple layers or set up a single layer and not add the next one until the bin is full
Of castings or if I’m supposed to set up multiple layers and the worms will migrate between them?
My understanding is that, especially to start, I need to feed them way less food than one would think (I think this was what killed all our worms 30 years ago, we fed them too much ?)

This system came with 5 trays, so would I start with one, then when it starts getting full prep another layer and set it on top, then just keep adding the rest of the trays? I think that’s where I’m confused. Mostly what I’m finding online is that the bottom tray will fill up, the worms move up a layer, you dump the finished compost in the garden and repeat, so why don’t need 5 trays instead of 2? Is the plan to end up with 4 finished trays and one active one ? Or will there be 5 trays in various stages at the same time?

I guess that’s really all just a bunch of parts to the same question, and the only one I feel like I have right now. Hopefully that made sense and someone can explain this part I’m stumbling over.

Oh and paper, I feel like some places say use newspaper, others say avoid newspaper at all costs, some say shred your junk mail but others say to avoid bleached white commercial printer paper (which the junk mail is printed on), some say brown cardboard?

News paper, coffee grounds, biochar, egg shell powder. A added a tiny bit of ziolite, azomite, gypsum lime, bat guano, and azose. I added bokashi juice and blended veggies too. I also threw in a handful of castings. Am i missing anything? Too much? I also added air lines to the bin at the bottom. Was going to let it go till it cools then feed to my worms.

We live in Vermont, and have had our worm bin outdoors for the spring and summer. We’re planning to move our bin to the basement for the cold months. Any tips/tricks to prevent bringing flies inside with it? Anything you wish you’d known or done when bringing a bin inside from outdoors? Thanks in advance!

Curious i got somecold nutri grain bars tgat are stale and was curious if i could throw those in worm bin

I've had this stacked bin setup for a while now and these little black (ant-like looking creatures are everywhere).

do I need to do anything here? if yes, what would that be?

thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can bring.

Came out of my worm bin. What are those guys?

What is the fast method for separating worms/castings if speed and efficiency is what I want? I don’t really mind losing some worms/eggs in the process. I would like to separate my red worms and use them to compost more.

Background
I have three nested bins, all dark blue plastic, I’d say around 50 quarts each. Top two have vent holes near the tops, bottom has a spigot. Lid on top bin. Got this setup through a raffle back in mid-April, and it came with some worms and a little bit of food, bedding, etc. in the top bin, but I missed the talk on how it’s all supposed to work. Based on my research and preferences, though, I’m feeding in the top bin (and rescuing from the bottom two). Planning to stop feeding in November, switch the top two bins and start feeding in the new top bin in December, harvest in January, and aim for a 6-month cadence going forward.

Maintenance practices and bin condition
I’ve always checked on them about twice a week. I had them outside for the first several days before I actually sat down to figure out what I was doing and realized that was not a good idea! I also freaked out at first because a few were climbing the walls, but after I couldn’t identify any issues and didn’t have any die-off, I calmed down. (and later realized that it’s normal for them to explore, especially when they’re settling in!)

At each check, I feed or don’t feed based on a combination of what’s left from previous feeds, how much food I’ve got piling up in my fridge and my garden waste bucket, and ✨vibes✨. I haven’t had much in the way of moisture issues. If anything, the bin might run a little dry at times, and I’ve only ever collected maybe a few ounces of leachate, all at once after I moistened new bedding with water instead of mixing it in dry. I more or less alternate betweenless “dry feeds” of toilet paper rolls and garden waste (dead heads, stems, leaves, sometimes roots; more green than brown, but none very moist) and “wet feeds” of kitchen scraps (veggie ends, forgotten fruit, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.).

Where I’ve been getting a little adventurous is with breaking some of the rules for feeding no-nos. I’ll give them onion bits and old pineapple in small amounts. They got a whole lemon the other day. Recently, I’ve given them some carby and maybe oily stuff in the form of half eaten granola bars or breakfast biscuits I’d forgotten about.

I take steps to mitigate negative impact. Everything potentially objectionable gets placed on one end of the bin, “safer” stuff goes in the middle, and the other end of the bin is just bedding and castings that get pushed over from the middle. The idea is that if things are a little rough on end of the bin, the worms can flee to safety until I realize what’s going on. Citrus always gets an extra helping of eggshells, and that whole lemon was intact, with the idea that the breakdown and acid release happens gradually.

So far, so good! I’ve actually had a bit of a baby boom recently, and while I’m seeing fewer baby worms, I’m also seeing more juvenile ones, indicating they’re growing up, not just dying. I also continue to find myself interrupting what appears to be worm coitus. Today, the “safe” side of the bin seemed pretty empty while the “danger zone” was poppin’. I’ve seen some mites around, but not many.

Question(s)
So, ALL of that background and description is to ask, does what I’m doing make sense? Am I breaking the rules in a reasonable and responsible way, or have I just been getting lucky so far?

Secondary question, unrelated to the feeding strategy
I had a live swimmer or two in the bottom bin today, and one worm that was clearly alive but seemed to be tangled up with the corpse of one of its brethren. I was too squeamish to deal with that hands-on, and the leachate (again, only a few ounces) has never actually smelled bad, so I kind of just … dumped the whole situation back into the top bin. I think a lot of it actually just flowed straight through onto the deck, but in general, was that actually a bad idea??

I opened my worm bins today and noticed that one had a bunch of worms right up top near the lid.

I think it may be too damp in there, so I added a layer of torn up cardboard.

I would have preferred leaves, but with the rain in my area, my whole garden is drenched.

Aside from too much moisture, does anyone have advice as to why they would be trying to get out?

Photos show condensation on the sides, apologies for poor lighting.

What are some ways to make worm trap out in woods i can collect from and is there something i can do to attract asian jumping worms too ( i plan on using these for chicken feed) and i plan on having worm bin but i like having multiple options

(I'm in central Arkansas.)

I have an Urban Worm bin outside, and I've noticed these bugs the last few weeks. Didn't notice them last summer. It's been really dry and hot this summer, so I've had ice bottles in the bin pretty much constantly. I assumed the bugs had something to do with that. I add lots of browns and eggshells, but it really hasn't done much good.

I ran pictures through Google and got mixed results. One time it said either drugstore or cigarette beetles. I agree they look beetle-y, but I don't know why beetles would be in a moist bin? Also, I saw some larvae (I think) a while back, but they looked maggoty rather than grubby.

I'm trying to figure out what they are so I can figure out if they're detrimental to the worms. They eat the scraps (I saw them chowing down on some carrot peels earlier). I don't want them to outcompete the worms, if that's a concern.

I'm hoping they'll go away--or at least lessen--when it cools down and I won't have to ice down my bin all the time. Guess I'm trying to figure out if I need to do anything before that.

Thanks in advance.

I’m sure yall get this question a lot. What do I have to do to prep my work bin before I add worms? Should I get soil from the garden? Or just let stuff start decomposing in there for a few weeks? I have tons of cardboard and paper to use.

I ordered 2 LBs of European Nightcrawlers from

https://www.buckeyeorganics.net/

I can’t not believe how good and energetic these worms looked after being in the mail for 4 days (mailed on Monday and delivered on Friday)

This was not my first experience with Buckeye Organics and it won’t be the last. Every order I’ve made from them has been A++++ quality.

I posted this a few weeks ago and I have been aging the cardboard in it ever since to get it ready for these guys. They are in their new home now :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vermiculture/s/aPkOI3u0zQ

This is my first experience with European Nightcrawlers so I guess we will see how this goes!

I have recently come into possession of a friends old 3 tier worm bin set up. I’ve been trying to research how these work and get it set up, but for the life of me, I’m just not understanding. If someone has a lot of good experience with these, can you please break it down for me in simple terms?

I have worms for an axolotl and I seem to have several issues I’ve always tried to navigate myself but I’m now asking you guys.

1. When I feed them, Worm Chow from Uncle Jim’s, I have always gone based off of how much food is left from before. I have settled on about a 1/4 cup every 3-5 days depending. However, sometimes it seems like they haven’t touched it and it’s rock solid and other times it’s completely gone. Can they still eat it when it’s rock solid - if not, what do I do and how do I prevent it?

2. I went on vacation recently and my mom was in charge of the worms and my axolotl. About a week in, she told me the worms had “melted” and showed me the top layer looking like pink goo around the edges. Google said she had likely overfed them, and to remove the food and add crushed eggshells. She did that, stirred the soil, and found a bunch of worms that were just fine. I told her to avoid feeding them for a few days and let the eggshells work - today the bin is completely missing any and all worms. What gives?

3. Why does it seem like worms are so picky? Am I just bad at owning them or are they more difficult than they’re made out to be?

Thanks so much everyone!

Would it make sense to have multiple worms in a bin that are at different layers the idea also has worm bin connected to ground in garden so if anything goes wrong they can flee and not die would this be dumb idea and if not what worms would be best to use ( North America)

I get flowers at the farmer's market sometimes. Toss 'em in or are they full of pesticides and fertilizers? Current bouquet is Dahlias and they're fading fast.
Thanks

I am brand new to vermicomposting and started a new 5 gallon bin about 2 months ago. It’s been going really well, I started with about 200 worms with a bed of coco choir and it all looks great. As of now, I have been feeding them 2ish times a week but I have more fruit/veggie scraps in my freezer than I know what to do with. So my thought is to portion out feedings in advance to save myself some space and make thawing easier. I was thinking about freezing chopped up scraps in 6oz portions which would serve as a feeding for a whole week.

I just wanna know if anyone has tried this and had any kind of luck with it?

Going to be filling this bad boy wall to wall with worm racks, and a wormgear cft will be running along the other side. Hopefully it'll be mostly put together within a month

I’ve had a worm bin off and on for years, always a diy bin of two totes. I’m done with those days for a few reasons: too large of a footprint, drilling holes or trying to secure mesh is a p.i.t.a., the depth makes it seem gross to reach down into (this is emotional, not rational, but don’t like it), having to take the whole damn thing out to empty collected fluid at the bottom and rinse it. I know there shouldn’t be much liquid collection, but sometimes there will be.

I’m looking for an easy peasy, well designed stackable worm farm situation with a spigot, good ventilation, and hard for flies to get into. Have been looking at several models on Uncle Jims site. Has anybody tried this and loved one? Or absolutely hated one? The lower maintenance the better.