Worm composting indoors

[calvinjane]

Does any have indoor worm composting systems? I have had one since Christmas in our kitchen and am looking for others to may be doing the same to trade ideas about them.

[soil]

I have many worms. a few million at least I think. they produce some good castings for ACT and seedling soils.

[rainbowgardener]

I did over the winter and early spring. Closed up shop for the summer (emptied it out and cleaned it up). In fall, I may start it again. You can find my posts about it by putting worm compost in Keyword Box of Search the Forum and rainbowgardener as author.

[Yogas]

I just went to a seminar about worm composting at my library! The Master Gardener leading the presentation just had a rubbermaid container with holes in the top where she keeps her worms - she keeps them inside. The presentation made me wonder if you could get enough compost to make a difference in your garden. I already have a big compost pile outside.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah my worm bin is (was?) one of those big rubbermaid storage totes with holes in the bottom for drainage and in the sides for air. I started it I think in Nov and emptied it in June. The tote was more than half full of pretty pure worm castings. And that's given that by April I had given up on the worm bin with everything else going on and quit feeding them, so their last two months they had no more food added... If I had been more diligent, volume would have been more.

May or may not count as enough to make a difference in your garden, depending on how big your garden is, but it's pretty dense stuff. I was glad to have it at that point. If you wanted to stretch it further, you could make a compost tea with it.

[!potatoes!]

I keep worms indoors. nested 5-gallon buckets. it's true I don't produce enough to effect my whole garden, but I use it for those things I want to give an extra kick to.

one day I'll get around to doing compost tea with it, but not yet, apparently.

[rot]

..
Just saw this add on CraigsList:


EarthWorm Castings - $10 (Ojai)

Date: 2011-07-16, 1:05AM PDT
Reply to: sale-ck4xs-2444516128@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

I have a buncha earth worm castings for sale, they do wonders for your plants. I am selling them for $10 per pound. Let me know.

Location: Ojai
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2444516128
..

[toxcrusadr]

I wonder if they are actually selling any at that price? Then again, it's California.

Worm bins really are a solution for people who can't compost outside, but if you already have room for an outdoor pile, it may not be worth the fuss. Some folks like worm castings enough to go to the trouble anyway.

[Odd Duck]

I have a couple indoor worm bins, both are the home-made "flow-through" type that have a harvest chamber below the working part where the worms live. I haven't had them a long time, yet, so I'm just getting to where I'm consistently producing enough castings to make ACT with the vermicompost. Even with 2 bins, these don't make anywhere near enough compost for my whole yard, but they will make enough to make plenty of ACT for me and have vermicompost for seedlings, transplants, houseplants, potted plants, etc.

I learned how to make the flow-through type bin on this website:

https://vermicomposters.ning.com/

And here:

https://vermicomposters.ning.com/forum/topics/diy-flow-through-bins-a

is a link with many different styles of converted/home-built flow-through type bins listed on that site. Feel free to browse the list for ideas you can use. Do some reading on this site for great information as it relates to vermiculture.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, did I say I definitely would not rely just on worm castings? Mainly I have an outdoor compost pile that supplies the bulk of nutrients for my garden. I did the worm bin mainly to see what it was like, but the worm castings are a really rich extra to add to the garden.

[Green Mantis]

I started one last year too, in the furnace room, and still have it going. I was going to use it for planting with seedlings outside, but had an operation and can't garden for awhile, plus our place is for sale. So it's still going. Should be interesting to see how much I get out of it by next spring.
If nothing else I find it all very interesting. Mine is made out of a rubber maid tote too..

[Odd Duck]

Yeah, did I say I definitely would not rely just on worm castings? Mainly I have an outdoor compost pile that supplies the bulk of nutrients for my garden. I did the worm bin mainly to see what it was like, but the worm castings are a really rich extra to add to the garden.

RBG, my post was really meant for the OP, not you. Did it seem like I was aiming at you? Or am I taking it wrong that you're aiming your comment at me? Darn internet! Anyway, I wouldn't presume to try to educate you about worm bins, I've long since figured out that you have loads more gardening experience than I do. I hope you didn't take offense, I did not intend any. Just to be clear, I did not take offense at anything, just wanted to clarify that I didn't intend any towards you. I was just trying to give a thorough reply to the OP, since it seemed this type of discussion was what calvinjane was interested in seeing. Now back to the topic at hand:


I wish that someone had steered me towards an explanation about flow-through style bins. They are a bit more complicated to set up, but are much easier to harvest, produce more VC (vermicompost), are more forgiving of the common problems of overheating, excess moisture, etc, and are usually easier to use in general.

I, too, have a multibin, outdoor, compost heap that supplies the bulk of my compost. I use the VC primarily to make ACT to "spread the wealth" farther since there is information that VC, in particular, supposedly has some benefits that may extend beyond what "regular" compost does (I would highly recommend reading any info that can be found from Allison Jack and the rest of "her" group in [darn brain, is it South Carolina Univ?]).

I suppose that we must give a nod to acknowledge that there will be a significant amount of VC in many people's "regular" compost and it would presumably do many of the things for our plants that more concentrated VC would do. I just like having both options. I figure you can't go wrong with a "big buffet spread" for the soil food web, as long as you're putting healthy options on that buffet. Anyway, JMHO.

[rainbowgardener]

no offense, not "aiming" at you, just clarifying! It's all good!