Hello all,
New guy here with a question about worm bedding material.
We have been vermicomposting for a little over a year now and it is time to split the little guys and gals again.
I find myself without any newspaper but I have a bunch of "Yellow Page" phone books.
Just wanted to check to see if this would be OK to use since it is (I assume) dyed yellow.
If not, I do have a bag of Peat Moss in the shed.
Thank much!
Another worm-keeper! 
Hi!
No White Pages? Because I think they're printed on newsprint, the same kind of paper that newspapers are printed on. Yellow pages might work; why not use them in half of the box and not in the other half? I've also used coir for bedding; it seems to provide more air than leaves do.
The castings pack down quite tightly in my experience, and the worms don't move as freely.
If you're on a FreeCycle list (https://freecycle.org), you can request newspapers from other members. Everything on FreeCycle is...well...Free!
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Hi!No White Pages? Because I think they're printed on newsprint, the same kind of paper that newspapers are printed on. Yellow pages might work; why not use them in half of the box and not in the other half? I've also used coir for bedding; it seems to provide more air than leaves do.
The castings pack down quite tightly in my experience, and the worms don't move as freely.
If you're on a FreeCycle list (https://freecycle.org), you can request newspapers from other members. Everything on FreeCycle is...well...Free!
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Yes, I plan on moving some of the castings over too, but am going to use most of them in the garden.Toil wrote:In your shoes I would harvest some castings and just use the remaining castings as bedding. Keep your numbers high and you can process more material.
You can cover new food with whatever or nothing at all depending on flies.
Thanks!
YES! I LOVE the little red critters!cynthia_h wrote:Another worm-keeper!
No White Pages? Because I think they're printed on newsprint, the same kind of paper that newspapers are printed on. Yellow pages might work; why not use them in half of the box and not in the other half? I've also used coir for bedding; it seems to provide more air than leaves do.
The castings pack down quite tightly in my experience, and the worms don't move as freely.
If you're on a FreeCycle list (https://freecycle.org), you can request newspapers from other members. Everything on FreeCycle is...well...Free!
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
My son got me into them a bit over a year ago when he was in his school's Farm to Table program and I just happen to have a friend with a few horses so the intial set up and worms were free!
I actually might have some coir in the basement now that you mention it. Might have to sneak some in (it's used for potting the water plants for my wife's Koi pond but she won't notice some of it missing I'm sure
I am just getting back into the swing of this so am not familiar with the freecycle site. I'll definately check it out.
I was just wondering about the yellow pages since they are just laying around in the way never used and I need bedding. A non glossy yellow dye woun't have any heavy metals in it would it?
THANKS!
Guys I am a bit confused. Are your castings not fluffy? Pleasant to touch? Do you have lots of runoff? (I hav had no runoff for over a year) I have three types of bin, and while I have achieved compaction in the past when first starting out, that was before I had a solid base of castings. I think of this as their habitat ( reports that castings are poisonous to worms are untrue).
Rather than fiddle with bedding, why not figure out what else could be going wrong? My first guess is excess moisture, because that is what I had.
I will point out that I harvest LOTS of castings. I just don't do it the standard way by strip mining my bins. And to be frank, it sounds easier to me. Don't get me wrong, I throw in browns like paper, or more often, the bran in my bokashi. I have tried coco recently but found it was just filler. Wheat bran is great.
Worms make their own bed let them lie in it.
Rather than fiddle with bedding, why not figure out what else could be going wrong? My first guess is excess moisture, because that is what I had.
I will point out that I harvest LOTS of castings. I just don't do it the standard way by strip mining my bins. And to be frank, it sounds easier to me. Don't get me wrong, I throw in browns like paper, or more often, the bran in my bokashi. I have tried coco recently but found it was just filler. Wheat bran is great.
Worms make their own bed let them lie in it.
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firstimegardener
- Cool Member
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:07 pm
I'm not having any kind of problems. My castings are nice anf fluffy and smell like rich soil. I am just splitting the worms to have more bins and give them more room to grow and process more waste.Toil wrote:Guys I am a bit confused. Are your castings not fluffy? Pleasant to touch? Do you have lots of runoff? (I hav had no runoff for over a year) I have three types of bin, and while I have achieved compaction in the past when first starting out, that was before I had a solid base of castings. I think of this as their habitat ( reports that castings are poisonous to worms are untrue).
Rather than fiddle with bedding, why not figure out what else could be going wrong? My first guess is excess moisture, because that is what I had.
I will point out that I harvest LOTS of castings. I just don't do it the standard way by strip mining my bins. And to be frank, it sounds easier to me. Don't get me wrong, I throw in browns like paper, or more often, the bran in my bokashi. I have tried coco recently but found it was just filler. Wheat bran is great.
Worms make their own bed let them lie in it.
Yeah, I'm going to start doint that too. At least then that stuff will be good for something, huh?firstimegardener wrote:I use shredded up junk mail. Just don't use the plastic coated stuff...BUT, I'm new at this, so I could be wrong......
As long as the worms don't start opening credit accounts and throwing wild parties while I'm out!
well processing more waste I have down, if you want to listen. I don't want to go back and forth, but my observation is that a bed of castings makes for faster processing. I'm not kidding - almost nothing organic leaves my house. Everything from broccoli stem to yesterdays cream sauce gets processed into castings via the bokashi bin. We are a family of 2.navajo wrote:I'm not having any kind of problems. My castings are nice anf fluffy and smell like rich soil. I am just splitting the worms to have more bins and give them more room to grow and process more waste.Toil wrote:Guys I am a bit confused. Are your castings not fluffy? Pleasant to touch? Do you have lots of runoff? (I hav had no runoff for over a year) I have three types of bin, and while I have achieved compaction in the past when first starting out, that was before I had a solid base of castings. I think of this as their habitat ( reports that castings are poisonous to worms are untrue).
Rather than fiddle with bedding, why not figure out what else could be going wrong? My first guess is excess moisture, because that is what I had.
I will point out that I harvest LOTS of castings. I just don't do it the standard way by strip mining my bins. And to be frank, it sounds easier to me. Don't get me wrong, I throw in browns like paper, or more often, the bran in my bokashi. I have tried coco recently but found it was just filler. Wheat bran is great.
Worms make their own bed let them lie in it.
Yes, the downside is you "sacrifice" your first batch of castings to make the bedding. But after that, use all the leaf mold or any other bedding you want. It won't compact. The worms will move and breed much faster in their natural environment.