Main thing for any newbie using this bucket worm bin (and I assume most people using this bin method will be newbies) Is that feeding must be "vertical" and not in horizontal layers. The reason is because when the bin is so deep relative to the horizontal surface area, the temptation is to simply feed the worms by simply tossing food into the bin. The problem is that the fresh food will cover the entire surface and as it decays the aerobic bacteria will consume all the oxygen at the surface which will suffocate the worms which also need oxygen to breathe. The solution is to carefully dig a hole in the bedding along the wall and carefully put all the food in that hole, then cover it up. That way, the food will take up at most a few square inches of surface area so that the worms have the rest to come to the surface to breathe. Hope this saves a number of catastrophes where people will suddenly find their entire worm herd dead.
I have many (FREE) frosting buckets from the Bakery Dept from WalMart used as a container garden. & now a worm bin!! (Once I finish your other videos using my compost) **** I really wanted to let people know they may be able to get FREE frosting buckets and recycle instead of sending to landfills!**** Especially people those in small spaces.
They sell it at Walmart here for a $1.00 and I’m going to use it on my flower bed to protect my base foundation from termites cuz it gets soak with water. I don’t know if my husband will like the appearance of the house outside with all the white buckets on the side of the house 😬😬😬😳😊👩🌾👩🌾 I’m sure he doesn’t like it. Oh well, I asked for a big yard not a cemented pool around 🙄
With 1k+ views somebody has probably already mentioned just rubberbanding a piece of screen to the bottom. I've tried a lot of worm bins in the past but as the wife of a painter, I ❤️ this recycling project! 👍😉
Thanks Cheri. In another build I added a circle of screen on the inside of the bucket. It helped reduce the number of worms in the bottom bucket. Thanks for watching. Happy recycling. :-)
GreenShortz DIY, another thing that you might suggest is a flip top bait lid for a 5 gallon bucket. I found one at Academy for only $1 more than a traditional lid and not only is it easier to remove but flipping the center shoot is great for adding kitchen scraps.
Thanks! I'm making mine today, all I need is to pick up the glue. I have 3 buckets. I'm going to add a screened bottom bucket in between so that it can catch castings and worms from falling into the composting tea.
some folks had questions on how to separate the worms from the castings. i spread out all of the castings on a large empty plastic bag. if you cover one half of the spread out castings to keep it dark and cool, the worms in the sunny half will move over to the covered half! collect the part that they vacated, you can repeat until you have collected as much of the castings as you want. there may be a few rebels that won't move, but they are easy to pick out by hand. it works because worms that are exposed to light are vulnerable to drying out and to predators!
I think I need to try this big screen circle on the bottom bucket trick because I do get them in the bottom bin. They do climb up the walls sometime and survive. I also recommend drilling a lot of holes at the top of the water catching bucket because otherwise the section that you can't get the bins apart it's horrible. I also took extra buckets cut off the rims and drilled holes in it to make a spacer between my water bucket and my bottom warm bucket again because I could not get the bins apart myself and my husband could barely get the bins apart with me
Hey just a thought, but it may be easier and use less caulk if you cut a single 3.5" hole in the center of the lid, it has the same area as the sum of all of the smaller holes, and would only require one piece of mesh, so you would be saving more mesh as well (factoring for less loss due to the overhang into the silicone area. I also believe it may be easier to do for free since you could trace a single circle and easily cut it with an exacto knife or something similar) Sweet video, Love everything about it!
Thanks, this is great. Minor change I'll probably make; Instead of using screen on the bottom of the pail, I'm probably going to just make more smaller holes.
I'm a little confused, both by the video, and your comment. He didn't use screen on the bottom of the bucket, he just drilled holes there. He used screen on the lid. So, that's why I'm a little confused about your comment. The reason why I'm a little confused about the video, is because I would think that you would run into curious worms crawling through those holes and drowning in the liquid. I could be wrong about that though, they may not like that sensation of burrowing down only to discover they are entering a pocket of open air.
Large flower pots on a deep tray works well too for worm bin. I make compost tea in 5 gal buckets from veggie clippings. Just add water and keep covered for 3- 5 days, depending on climate. Strain liquid and there is your fertilizer.
I know this is an older video... but good job none-the-less. Great call on the Uncle Jim's worms... just got my first batch in this week. Now, working on my worm towers - also courtesy of Green Shortz. Keep it up - I'm loving the knowledge! :D
Nice video! Add another bucket with holes at bottom with some food to greet them and worms go up there instead of down to drown...they're done n want to move out.
+Wazoo123 Hey Wazoo! I did a little more research on the compost tea dilution question you raised. I saw different things...as you can expect on the internet. :-) I saw everything from "no need to dilute" to the 1:10 ratio that you mentioned. I also saw a recommendation to use the 1:10 ratio as a "maximum dilution" indicating that there are multiple options in between. I usually have diluted mine 1:1 with rain water just to get more liquid to use on plants and shrubs. I've never had a problem with my plants. You might consider testing your worm tea with different dilution ratios to see what works best. Let me know what you find.
OK Mr. Greenshorts, I've made me a bucket system and my worms just arrived from Uncle Jim's worm farm. Wish me luck. If this works as planned, I'll be making a tote system in the spring. Then on to the bottom harvester system next fall. Thanks for the great videos. Keep 'em coming...
GreenShortz DIY ok, so here is an update. I had great success with the bucket, so I decided to make the tote. The tote took off so good, I’ve actually made three others for friends. I ordered a small bag of worms from Uncle Jim’s and they multiplied like crazy. From the small bag, I’ve been able to populate all four totes in a little over a year and a half. This has been a real fun and educational project. Because I’ve been sharing with my friends, I haven’t really had any castings to put in my garden. I haven’t built the flow through system yet. That’s still in the list. Thanks again for the videos Mr. Greenshorts. And for anybody interested, there are many groups on Facebook dedicated to vermiculture. There are people from all over the world sharing their knowledge and experiences with worms.
Buckets for FREE! Go to the baking section at ur grocery store and ask them if they have buckets to recycle. that’s what icing, etc comes in. 5 gallon tall or squat! Food grade too!
Decent video. A few thoughts. You can get free FOOD GRADE plastic buckets from most grocery store bakers. Their muffin mixes come in them. The chemicals in the paint and cheep plastic are now getting transferred to your soil and your consuming them in the food you are growing and eating.
Thank you for your input. All #2 buckets are food grade. But, but I get those used for food delivery get a good washing before they are used. Thank you for watching.
Thanks for the feedback. The problem with is a third bucket is that the wormed will crawl up the side of the list bucket and get trapped. The way to avoid this is to drill holes in the sides of the inner bucket where it meets the top bucket. This will give the worms a path in when they can’t go up any further (in theory). I’ve thought about this, but haven’t tried it. Let me know if it works for you. Thanks for watching.
Could you use garden rock in the bottom of the worm tea bucket to allow the compost bucket to sit higher and add weighted stability to the system? Just pour the “tea” off the rocks and reuse? Thoughts? Hope to make one of these today. I have all the materials on hand. Also, can I use the compost from my compost bin or do you advise ordering the compost starter from a Uncle Jim’s? Thanks for the video.
Usually, if your Kroger has a bakery section where they make cakes they get their frosting in big buckets if you ask nicely they will give the empty buckets to you.
I want to suggest, IF you have the lid to the second pail, attach it to the bottom of the top lid with the screens, and have a layer of charcoal or cedar chips to control odor.
Terry M: I actually have had an in-house composter during Winter, to deal with food scraps and shredded natural fibre. It was impossible to smell a thing. The worms deal with the food scraps beautifully, so there’s never any liquid in the composter to go sour. Because I left the lid off, there was plenty of airflow. The only thing was, when I first put the worms in there and brought them in right before the first hard frost, they were not happy about being in the house, And that day a few of them crawled out of the bin. A hard frost at night meant that I couldn’t release them back out into the vegetable beds because they were frozen. So the best I could do for the poor little guys Was to put them back in the bin, and put a layer of sheer fabric, like an old curtain that you can absolutely see through no problem, over it with a bit of elastic to security around the edge. No odour though. I think that if you watered it heavily enough that the soil was saturated, then you would get an aerobic activity going on there.
Ok, I know I'm four years late. I also get free buckets from bakery departments. My best resources in southwest Ohio have been Meijer and Sam's Club bakeries. For the screen, I buy cheap round spatter screens in the kitchen section at Dollar Tree. I have a step-bit, bought with a coupon from Harbor Freight, which eliminates changing bits.
Mate, first of thank you so much for the video. I will do that. I have some questions. 1- how can/should I put the worms in my bucket? How many worms should I need for that bucket, approximately? Doesn't it smell terrible? Approximately, how many days, weeks should I wait to get my compost ready? Thank you so much
Thank you, Rifat. I think 250-300 worms is a good start for a bucket system. If you get worms online and put them in, they’ll want to move out initially. I leave the top off and shine a light down into the bucket for the first few days. Eventually they figure out it’s their new home, chill out and get to work. Worms are not fast. It may take 1-2 months to get finished compost, and then it will be part of the bucket, since ideally you’re adding more material on a regular basis. The smell is not bad if you keep new material covered well with a damp layer of fresh bedding (newspaper). Thanks for watching.
I would have glued that large piece of screen to the bottom of the top bucket, that way the worms can't get between or under the screen and you can rinse it out with a hose.
I know that this video is 2 years old, but I'd like to let you know that the liquid that collects in the bottom is actually worm leachate and not worm tea. Leachate is something you have to be careful with, as it can have phytotoxins (toxic to plants), whereas worm tea is made by "brewing" (aerating with a food source, such as molasses) the castings (about a handful in a 5gal bucket). Worm tea is extremely beneficial to plants as it contains many helpful microbes. If you're seeing that much liquid in the bottom, I believe drier ingredients such as leaves, cardboard, sawdust, etc. need to be added.
David, thank you for the feedback. Yes, I did learn after making this video the difference between worm tea and leachate. Lots of good comments to that effect. I’ve meant to make a worm tea brewer at some point. Just haven’t done it yet. I’ve switched my primary worm composting method to a flow-through system. It produces a lot less liquid. Thanks for the feedback.
Whether you call it worm castings leachate or worm tea, it's actually the same. Adding molasses (which isn't always recommended) merely tries to create an explosion of the microbes in the worm tea by adding a food source that all organisms would consume and metabolize instantly. Introducing a sugar is debatable since the typical consequence is not just an explosion of activity but the immediate downer afterwards of over exhaustion. And the effects of any unconsumed sugars in the biome.
When you were adding the screen I thought its the bottom side, to keep worms from falling into the worm tea...but then you placed it as a lid :) and did another round for the bottom
Love your videos! I am a teacher, so I don't have a lot of time for fun projects during the school year. I am also not very strong so some of your projects I cannot physically handle. I made the worm tower and love it. However, I don't have any shade around my home, at all. When I set up my worm tower, I had to install a permanent umbrella above. So, I found an irrigation valve and dug a hole for it. I filled hole with all my scraps and just remove lid when I want to feed my worms that just roam freely around my garden. I have installed 4 irrigation valves and my clay soil has really improved. Thank you for all your inspiration. I do have one request, could you make a detailed video on making worm tea, not too heavy, please. ;--) Thank you, M
Maria Lucia Gomez-Greenbetg: Just a suggestion, take it to school and make it a class project, recycled/environmental impact/How It Works. You can even work math into it, having students calculate output from input. Worm tea is just the liquid waste of the worms.
Green a great job on the worm composter I am out to build mine now :) I have a few Oak trees so a source of worms and compost matter is easy. The tea is fantastic stuff and I make my own in different varieties with kelp, fish bone and such. Just one hot tip for ya from a guy that uses power tools a lot. Never tighten the chuck with the motor, if you grab the chuck and turn it you will see that the electric motor inside has a brake and you can get it as tight as you want. Make sure the clutch is set to drill as this will give you max force on the clutch inside. If the drill binds during power application you can cause damage to the motor and its control circuit. Thanks again, Hugh
Hey watch Robbie and Gary, she puts pots inside her tote planters and fills them with clippings and some kitchen scraps then waters her tote garden by pouring water thru those smaller pots and she is very successful.
Thanks for this great video and your 10% discount code! I made it and the cost was under $20 and took me less than 15 minutes! Just waiting on the worms now. Excited to get started.
Hi! Have you ever tried this with 3 buckets? I read that if you start another bucket on top when the castings are finished in the 2nd bucket, the worms will move up to where the food is after a few days and then you don’t have to filter out the worms from the castings. Then you just alternate the top 2 buckets. I’m in my planning stage right now, and was just wondering if that actually works. I’m really eager to start my worm bin!
I tried that with an early bin design, but it wasn’t working well for me. The worms end up climbing the sides of the lower bin and getting trapped between the sides of the top bin and lower bin. To help this type of design, you could consider drilling holes along the sides of your top bins as well. The stacking bin systems are very shallow, but wide. The bucket and plastic bin systems tend to be deeper and narrow. One thing to try is a perforated plastic disk that would sit midway up the bucket. When the castings below this divider are finished, you could lift it out, dump out the lower castings and the put back the compost and worms from above the divider.
@GreenShortzDIY not entirely sure how to try the disk method but I think I'll give the 2 buck style with a 6 or 8 spaced out 1 inch chucks out of the rim of a 3rd buckets for the cycling the finished with the stuff above. My fail and smell or make tons of bait lol
Thank you so much for this video. Simple, sweet, and direct. I love that you added an element of anticipation by adding a timer. Certainly kept me watching. I am wondering if this model can be left outside all seasons? Or, does this only work indoors? This model is smaller than some other designs I've seen, and so there would be less soil to act as insulate, for the worms to retreat to during extreme temperatures. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again!
Inside for the winter would depend on how cold your winter is. In Georgia (USA), I keep mine indoors all year. By indoors, I mean my not-conditioned garage. In the summer, if it were outdoors, it would get overrun with soldier fly larvae and winter would be too cold for the worms. I hope this helps. Thank you for watching.
If you made it a 3 bucket system with second drain bucket (but without worms, makes more space for juice on bottom, therefore less likely to drown if levels get to high. And what if you did 100’s of tiny holes the worms can’t fit through?
@@chefdecuisine3080 obviously in this context the word tea is used outside of the world of cuisine. Its fairly accurate because you are making a liquid by soaking something, people know what you are talking about by the name and he is indeed right. Words have different meanings in different professions. I hope you are joking because there is no need to be rude.
I love it, i loveeee it. I was looking for exactly that idea on your video. Thanks for take your time to do this video. Very explained. I’m your new subscriber,
I have a lady working in a cake factory. They throw them out so I told her I need 10 more of those. I also look for buster old water containers that will serve as a underground watering can.
Best time is when a lot of rain happens when the ground is ankle deep after a it rains look around the area for dark color soil, black is a good area to look for them, Grass I never seen them around. I got a oak tree in my backyard just under the shaded area where the tree covers the Sun from being able to fully hit is just open soil with not a lot of Grass best area I've seen them in. Living in Florida is a gold mine for Earthworms I have a video I did that has a thumbnail of the video showing the handful of Earthworms I found after a Thunderstorm. I'm trying to breed them so I can release them into my plant bed on my porch so they will hopefully restore the soil with some new soil. I bought a 20gal storage box from Walmart went over to Lowes and bought a bag of Black Cow and Top soil mixed both soils together why I was at Walmart I went over to the fishing area and picked up containers of their fatty worms and put them in the storage box with the soil I've been putting Earthworms from around the backyard in with them should be interesting to see if they will end up making a hybrid or something. Only bad thing about using the soil I have them in is really hard to know if their is water on the or if the soil is dry in the middle down to the bottom. Trying to move the soil around I worry about cutting the worm(s) in half while I check the soil. they appear to be doing fine I've check on them quite a few times I notice they appear to wanna stay 1-2 inches below the top. I did mix some card board, egg carton pieces oak tree leaks and a few other things in with that soil, I buy crickets to feed my gecko's I ended up getting pieces of the egg carton the crickets hide in so I threw them in and mixed it with the soil. Worms appear to be fine still fat and I've had them for I believe 2-3 weeks?
I love rescuing earthworms after a rain. It is a great way to capture them too. You may have some composting worms in there too. Earthworms and composting worms (red wigglers) are different. Composters live in the top 12-18 of the soil, where it is more rich in organic matter, which they process. Earthworms are deeper, where the soil is primarily dirt and minerals. That’s what they process. Earthworms can be keep in a bucket habitat as well, but they won’t break down the compostable material. Thanks for watching.
Great video style. I like the timer idea. Looking back, do you now feel this was a little over-engineered? Perhaps more small holes, rather than fewer big holes in the base of the internal bucket would save the worms from falling through, but perhaps that causes drainage problems?
I tend to over engineer to start and then work back toward simplicity. I think this could be refined further. I do think your "more smaller holes" might help keep the worms from dropping into the bottom bucket. Although, I'm not sure how much the worms can squeeze through a hole smaller than their body. I've updated this bucket bin with a window screen cut to cover the bottom of the bucket (inside). Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for watching.
Thanks you so much for video. I made one last weekend, bought red wiggler from the bait store. For some reason, I found a lot of my worms dead. The bottom bucket smells really bad(stink). I suspect maybe it's too hot outside. I live in GA(zone 7). Do you store your bins indoor or outdoor?
Because the microbes plays such an important role, you want to do so with sufficient time for the plants to benefit before the winter starts if you are in a cold country. Anytime after the last frost is good. Freezing kills microbes.
@@GreenShortzDIY It is, and was forest, probably for a long, long time. lots of Fir with Oaks. Volcanic in origin. My friends tell me its mostly Clay. I'm still learning to differentiate. I am just shocked not to see even one worm. Very acidic, I suspect, or at least more acidic than most places. I live at about 2000 ft near or in the simco highlands. According to the maps I am living very close the Simcos. . Its a USDA hardiness zone '6'. Wet and even very snowy winters, shorter but hot summers. Lots of pumice on my land. I'm either going to try your style or just buy one but i have do something. Just buying bags of compost and cow manure every year doesn't make sense when i can make my own. I'm also looking into tumblers.
Great idea.Di you put holes on the bottom of the other bucket?I I didn't see you put any but I saw the one you put on top.Thanks for sharing.I appreciate it very much.
@@GreenShortzDIY Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.Usually. I get a thumbs up or a ❤ and left with no answer. So I get left in the dark.So thank you again very much appreciated.
@@lydvincecruz824 I can't answer all the comments, of course, but try to do so as much as possible for good questions. Especially when I sense people are wanting to do projects. 🙂
If you add the screen in the bottom to prevent the worms from crawling out and into the lower bucket, do you find it easy to still water your bin and have the water drain through to the lower bucket to make tea, while still keeping the top bucket not too moist? What are your thoughts? Or do you have any suggestions or upgrades? I understand you could add more carbon such as cardboard to make it less moist but id rather not do that every time I water the bin
Adding a screen to the bottom helps. Some worms will still find their way through. The moisture element has lots of variables, including what veggies get put in the bin and how much liquid they contain. I think it’s ok to have more liquid drain through to the lower bucket. I just apply that to my garden beds or trees. In all, I think a simpler bin system makes the most sense in the long run. That is my main suggestion…keep it simple. Thank you for the comment. Thank you for watching.
You said that you 'run water' through the castings for the tea. How long do you wait to do that and how often do you do it? Is it done at regular intervals and when you do take the castings?
Hi Tom. Running the water through can be done every month or so. Really more dependent on how processed the castings are. I do this to get liquid nutrients out without a major disturbance to the worms that happens when you harvest castings. I do that about once a year. Also depends on the size of the worm colony and how much feedstock they are getting. Thank you for watching.
Hi! I'm going to make the worm composting bin this weekend, but I have been reading the comments on this video and I am a little confused- can we use the leachate for herbs/veggies or not? In one place it seems you've recommended against it (because of harmful bacteria) and in another you talk about using food grade silicone instead of the caulk for veggie gardens. So, yes or no for food plants?? Also, is there a video where you explain what you said in the comment about the leachate needing to be "aerated and have a sugar-source added (like molasses) to become worm tea. And why would one need to do that? (ok, I have one more quick question and I REALLY appreciate you answering all this!!!... how many worms would I need to start with the BIN compost system?) THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Instead of doing all those little patches and gluing how about just cut a piece a few inches larger than the top of the bucket and hold it in place by pushing down the lid?
He is still young and hasn't gotten tired of doing things the hard way... When he gets your age he will be more likely to take the path of least resistance.
Yeah, I was thinking he could have done that in 5 minutes if he cut a bigger circle or drilled the holes in two straight lines and just cut long strips.
On a similar note, spread the caulk arund the greater circumference of the lid (outside the holes) and again inside the holes which would speed up the screen adhesion procedure.
@@ghand6158 I cut a big piece of screen and locked it in place ith the lid, no need for gluing. The bottom, just a piece under de bedding, also, no need for gluing.
Hi Candy. Answer is yes. Remember, these worms are used to working below ground. There is enough air infiltrating the compost and bucket for their needs. Thank you for watching. Good luck with your build.
Thanks for the video. I'm gonna make one this week. One quick note: that caulk looks like it includes toxic chemicals, which you might want to avoid if you're gonna use the effluent for vegetable gardening. I'm gonna try a food grade silicone adhesive sealant instead.
Andy, yes...I didn't fully read the ingredients on the caulk. Agreed that a food-grade silicone would be a good choice to put the screens in the lid of the composter. Make sure you are scuffing up the lid well before adhering with silicone, so the screens don't pop off. I had a suggestion for hot glue too. Thanks for your comment.
The hot glue peeled on my lids... the Dap is really the best for staying on. Because of the good air flow, I don't worry about what chemicals are in the lid. The worms are well below it. I have not had any problems so far.
A wrinkle I was given from an old timer involves the lid - or lack of one. To cover the worms, an old piece of carpet is used. It must be 1 - 1 1/2” smaller than the top. This way, there is a gap between the bucket edge and the carpet when it is in place on top. Worms won’t cross an open area like this - the light and open air stops them. So they don’t crawl out! You add moisture as needed by watering the carpet, and feed by placing food under it. In this way, the worms tend to stay in the upper 2/3 of the media, and stay out of the wet bottom 1/3. Since I use worms for fishing, this also keeps them near the top where I can find them! I’ve done this in recycled ice coolers found on the side of the road - repurposing! But I’m going to start a new one with a couple of damaged buckets destined for the dumpster.
davhutton: Perhaps once they’re settled, they won’t leave an open bin, but the first year I did a composting bin in the house over the winter, my worms were not pleased about being indoors. several of them did indeed crawl up the side and out of the bin. The weather was freezing at that point, as I waited till the last minute to bring any in out of the Garden. So, Releasing them back out into the garden wasn’t an option. I got a piece of sheer fabric, of the variety that a person normally hangs in the window, and used a nice big piece of elastic to secure the fabric across the top of the bin. The worms soon settled in, And I released them again in the spring. But the surprise for me was that they would indeed climb out of the open bin in the light. I don’t know if this will help anybody, but I’ll throw it out there just in case.
@@dahutful : ikr; it was astonishing to me that these guys could even climb up the side of a bin. I didn’t have carpet on the top of mine. That might’ve made a difference. Instead I planted a couple of dandelions in the top, as they’re more than abundant in the garden. Thank you very much for the carpet tip. It never even occurred to me to try that.
great diy! was wondering if I use a fabric like a felt sort of fabric in place of the screen for the holes do you think that would work as well? possibly keeping out flies and what nots?
Nina, I think that would work. I'd make the holes bigger. You'll need more surface area for air exchange. Twice as big or twice as many ought to work. Thanks for watching.
I have experimented with different size screen, and there is a fabric screen that you can pick up at most fabric stores... that is very fine, and bugs can't get through. It's the kind of fabric that is used to make cosmetic bags that you see in some stores. I have made several of these worm farms and am very happy with the results. I have decided to eliminate the bottom bucket and there have been no need for the drain holes, as over the past 8 months of having this set-up... the moisture is easy for me to control, never have had any in the bottom bucket. This may be because I place the worm food on top of shredded paper, and then the paper over the top of the food, thus sealing the moisture between layers of paper... never any bug problems either. I do really like the Dap adhesive that GreenShortz shows in the video! I have tried other brands... and after a few weeks... the screen comes loose, not with the Dap Kitchen & Bath adhesive! I make these little worm farms and have sold them at craft shows, with 50 -100 Red Wigglers to start them out. The moms and kids are really liking them. I do use smaller buckets. :)
You dont caulk the screen to the bottom? Great idea to start out small, using buckets. I dont have much food waste, but I like the idea of composting for my garden, I love gardening.
Main thing for any newbie using this bucket worm bin (and I assume most people using this bin method will be newbies)
Is that feeding must be "vertical" and not in horizontal layers.
The reason is because when the bin is so deep relative to the horizontal surface area, the temptation is to simply feed the worms by simply tossing food into the bin.
The problem is that the fresh food will cover the entire surface and as it decays the aerobic bacteria will consume all the oxygen at the surface which will suffocate the worms which also need oxygen to breathe.
The solution is to carefully dig a hole in the bedding along the wall and carefully put all the food in that hole, then cover it up. That way, the food will take up at most a few square inches of surface area so that the worms have the rest to come to the surface to breathe.
Hope this saves a number of catastrophes where people will suddenly find their entire worm herd dead.
Great tips! Thank you, Tony.
Thank you : )
Thank you much!!!
I never would have thought that starting out thanks
I have many (FREE) frosting buckets from the Bakery Dept from WalMart used as a container garden. & now a worm bin!! (Once I finish your other videos using my compost) **** I really wanted to let people know they may be able to get FREE frosting buckets and recycle instead of sending to landfills!**** Especially people those in small spaces.
Awesome suggestion! FREE buckets from Walmart...a Goddess worthy comment. :-) Thanks for watching.
Speaking of Walmart: Many of their plastic containers that hold their bakery goods make great, and cheap (free), indoor seed starting containers.
They will just give them to you for free?
They sell it at Walmart here for a $1.00 and I’m going to use it on my flower bed to protect my base foundation from termites cuz it gets soak with water. I don’t know if my husband will like the appearance of the house outside with all the white buckets on the side of the house 😬😬😬😳😊👩🌾👩🌾 I’m sure he doesn’t like it. Oh well, I asked for a big yard not a cemented pool around 🙄
@@emylytle7149 garden is more important than a pool
I did this on a smaller scale with two one gallon buckets. I spent nothing. My lemon bonsai began showing new shoots instantly. Thank you!
With 1k+ views somebody has probably already mentioned just rubberbanding a piece of screen to the bottom.
I've tried a lot of worm bins in the past but as the wife of a painter, I ❤️ this recycling project! 👍😉
Thanks Cheri. In another build I added a circle of screen on the inside of the bucket. It helped reduce the number of worms in the bottom bucket. Thanks for watching. Happy recycling. :-)
GreenShortz DIY, another thing that you might suggest is a flip top bait lid for a 5 gallon bucket. I found one at Academy for only $1 more than a traditional lid and not only is it easier to remove but flipping the center shoot is great for adding kitchen scraps.
@@GreenShortzDIY I was looking for this comment! Thank you :)
Thanks! I'm making mine today, all I need is to pick up the glue. I have 3 buckets. I'm going to add a screened bottom bucket in between so that it can catch castings and worms from falling into the composting tea.
some folks had questions on how to separate the worms from the castings. i spread out all of the castings on a large empty plastic bag. if you cover one half of the spread out castings to keep it dark and cool, the worms in the sunny half will move over to the covered half! collect the part that they vacated, you can repeat until you have collected as much of the castings as you want. there may be a few rebels that won't move, but they are easy to pick out by hand. it works because worms that are exposed to light are vulnerable to drying out and to predators!
Do you add some worms to other plants?
Thank you for the information. I'll give it a go. Newly retired an spring fever getting to me.. Thanks again stay safe.
Thanks, that's what I like somebody showing a good inexpensive way to make something anybody can.
Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for watching.
I Found it easy and cheap.
I think I need to try this big screen circle on the bottom bucket trick because I do get them in the bottom bin. They do climb up the walls sometime and survive. I also recommend drilling a lot of holes at the top of the water catching bucket because otherwise the section that you can't get the bins apart it's horrible. I also took extra buckets cut off the rims and drilled holes in it to make a spacer between my water bucket and my bottom warm bucket again because I could not get the bins apart myself and my husband could barely get the bins apart with me
"We're gonna pull the caulk away from the hole" 😅 I giggled lol
Hey just a thought, but it may be easier and use less caulk if you cut a single 3.5" hole in the center of the lid, it has the same area as the sum of all of the smaller holes, and would only require one piece of mesh, so you would be saving more mesh as well (factoring for less loss due to the overhang into the silicone area. I also believe it may be easier to do for free since you could trace a single circle and easily cut it with an exacto knife or something similar) Sweet video, Love everything about it!
Thank you for the suggestion, Connor. I think that would work well. Thank you for watching.
Just FYI, old jeans or similar fabric helps to cover the holes too 😊
Thanks for the idea. :-)
Thanks, this is great. Minor change I'll probably make; Instead of using screen on the bottom of the pail, I'm probably going to just make more smaller holes.
The little bugs will still get through small holes.
I'm a little confused, both by the video, and your comment. He didn't use screen on the bottom of the bucket, he just drilled holes there. He used screen on the lid. So, that's why I'm a little confused about your comment.
The reason why I'm a little confused about the video, is because I would think that you would run into curious worms crawling through those holes and drowning in the liquid. I could be wrong about that though, they may not like that sensation of burrowing down only to discover they are entering a pocket of open air.
@@scottcantdance804 He cut a circle with the screen and laid it at the bottom of the pail.
Great video… newspaper also works for helping the worms not fall through.
Large flower pots on a deep tray works well too for worm bin.
I make compost tea in 5 gal buckets from veggie clippings. Just add water and keep covered for 3- 5 days, depending on climate.
Strain liquid and there is your fertilizer.
I know this is an older video... but good job none-the-less. Great call on the Uncle Jim's worms... just got my first batch in this week. Now, working on my worm towers - also courtesy of Green Shortz. Keep it up - I'm loving the knowledge! :D
Thank you Stevo! Glad you’ve got the worms on the way. Good luck with your build. Thanks for watching.
Nice video! Add another bucket with holes at bottom with some food to greet them and worms go up there instead of down to drown...they're done n want to move out.
Thank you! I was just gifted my first worms. I'm going to make this today. I have everything on hand. Yay!
This is so cool. I have a feeling we're going to need this knowledge.
You were absolutely correct
I'm giving this a try. bucket cost me $13 but worth it if it does work. thank you for your help.
I've heard that the worm tea is very concentrated and could be diluted to a 1:10 ratio with water. Great tutorial!
+Wazoo123 Thank you. I'll have to look into the tea thing. Interesting. Let me know if you end up making this composter.
+Wazoo123 Hey Wazoo! I did a little more research on the compost tea dilution question you raised. I saw different things...as you can expect on the internet. :-) I saw everything from "no need to dilute" to the 1:10 ratio that you mentioned. I also saw a recommendation to use the 1:10 ratio as a "maximum dilution" indicating that there are multiple options in between.
I usually have diluted mine 1:1 with rain water just to get more liquid to use on plants and shrubs. I've never had a problem with my plants. You might consider testing your worm tea with different dilution ratios to see what works best. Let me know what you find.
OK Mr. Greenshorts, I've made me a bucket system and my worms just arrived from Uncle Jim's worm farm. Wish me luck. If this works as planned, I'll be making a tote system in the spring. Then on to the bottom harvester system next fall. Thanks for the great videos. Keep 'em coming...
Rock on Joe Baker...rock on! Keep me posted and let me know if you have questions. Thanks for sharing.
so how did you go?
;
GreenShortz DIY ok, so here is an update. I had great success with the bucket, so I decided to make the tote. The tote took off so good, I’ve actually made three others for friends.
I ordered a small bag of worms from Uncle Jim’s and they multiplied like crazy. From the small bag, I’ve been able to populate all four totes in a little over a year and a half. This has been a real fun and educational project. Because I’ve been sharing with my friends, I haven’t really had any castings to put in my garden. I haven’t built the flow through system yet. That’s still in the list. Thanks again for the videos Mr. Greenshorts.
And for anybody interested, there are many groups on Facebook dedicated to vermiculture. There are people from all over the world sharing their knowledge and experiences with worms.
Cassandra's Rollercoaster Journey updated response below.
nice now i have to follow the contractors around for buckets !! ! !
Buckets for FREE! Go to the baking section at ur grocery store and ask them if they have buckets to recycle. that’s what icing, etc comes in. 5 gallon tall or squat! Food grade too!
Your idea is very nice. I am impressed by watching the video.....Thank you brother
Cool. I've done this but only cut 1 screen like plate size, then adhere down, good video!
Decent video. A few thoughts. You can get free FOOD GRADE plastic buckets from most grocery store bakers. Their muffin mixes come in them. The chemicals in the paint and cheep plastic are now getting transferred to your soil and your consuming them in the food you are growing and eating.
Thank you for your input. All #2 buckets are food grade. But, but I get those used for food delivery get a good washing before they are used. Thank you for watching.
Just saved me a few dollars im going to home depot to get 2 5 gallon buckets thanx
If you have a firehouse subs near by they sell old pickle buckets (5 gal buckets) for $3. The money goes to firefighters
Love it- I’ve been looking for an easy worm compost design- I think I will add a 3rd bucket to give the worms more layers too- thank you!
Thanks for the feedback. The problem with is a third bucket is that the wormed will crawl up the side of the list bucket and get trapped. The way to avoid this is to drill holes in the sides of the inner bucket where it meets the top bucket. This will give the worms a path in when they can’t go up any further (in theory). I’ve thought about this, but haven’t tried it. Let me know if it works for you. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for this I was planning to use 3 buckets and didnt think of this
Could you use garden rock in the bottom of the worm tea bucket to allow the compost bucket to sit higher and add weighted stability to the system? Just pour the “tea” off the rocks and reuse? Thoughts? Hope to make one of these today. I have all the materials on hand. Also, can I use the compost from my compost bin or do you advise ordering the compost starter from a Uncle Jim’s? Thanks for the video.
@@GreenShortzDIYW as and WasA cool to Dr opinion to b it i thef Kool lol housing guli his yfxcbgdl he got tscx check sgr Dr f had the
TH-cam: If you add four or five buckets, it will break them down more thoroughly. Stagger the holes just a little to save a HUGE fall for the worms.
I love the streaming Blue Jay in the background! Lol!
Ha. Yes. That back yard was a bird haven. Thanks for watching.
Usually, if your Kroger has a bakery section where they make cakes they get their frosting in big buckets if you ask nicely they will give the empty buckets to you.
That is a good idea, Ingada. Thank you for sharing.
That's what I did also!
Lard buckets at Mexican restaurants are also free
That’s a great idea as it’s food grade plastic as well, which I imagine paint buckets aren’t.
Your the man Bro. This is a cool idea, especially the compost tea part. Wow dig it.
Cool! Gotta try this. Now I gotta find your setup video.
I want to suggest, IF you have the lid to the second pail, attach it to the bottom of the top lid with the screens, and have a layer of charcoal or cedar chips to control odor.
You shouldn't have a strong odor. If you do have odor the compost is most likely too wet.
Terry M: I actually have had an in-house composter during Winter, to deal with food scraps and shredded natural fibre.
It was impossible to smell a thing. The worms deal with the food scraps beautifully, so there’s never any liquid in the composter to go sour.
Because I left the lid off, there was plenty of airflow. The only thing was, when I first put the worms in there and brought them in right before the first hard frost, they were not happy about being in the house, And that day a few of them crawled out of the bin.
A hard frost at night meant that I couldn’t release them back out into the vegetable beds because they were frozen. So the best I could do for the poor little guys Was to put them back in the bin, and put a layer of sheer fabric, like an old curtain that you can absolutely see through no problem, over it with a bit of elastic to security around the edge.
No odour though.
I think that if you watered it heavily enough that the soil was saturated, then you would get an aerobic activity going on there.
I was going to take a big sports container. The 5 gallon ones with the valve on the bottom and put trays in it but this looks easier. Thanks
Great video, also fun to watch. I was enjoying and smiling when it was on high speed. Thanks
Warm fertilizer are so nice for plant. Thank you for your viedo and you tube is my nearest teacher.
Thank you for watching. I’m glad you thought the video was valuable.
Ok, I know I'm four years late. I also get free buckets from bakery departments. My best resources in southwest Ohio have been Meijer and Sam's Club bakeries. For the screen, I buy cheap round spatter screens in the kitchen section at Dollar Tree. I have a step-bit, bought with a coupon from Harbor Freight, which eliminates changing bits.
Mate, first of thank you so much for the video. I will do that. I have some questions. 1- how can/should I put the worms in my bucket? How many worms should I need for that bucket, approximately? Doesn't it smell terrible? Approximately, how many days, weeks should I wait to get my compost ready? Thank you so much
Thank you, Rifat. I think 250-300 worms is a good start for a bucket system. If you get worms online and put them in, they’ll want to move out initially. I leave the top off and shine a light down into the bucket for the first few days. Eventually they figure out it’s their new home, chill out and get to work. Worms are not fast. It may take 1-2 months to get finished compost, and then it will be part of the bucket, since ideally you’re adding more material on a regular basis. The smell is not bad if you keep new material covered well with a damp layer of fresh bedding (newspaper). Thanks for watching.
I would have glued that large piece of screen to the bottom of the top bucket, that way the worms can't get between or under the screen and you can rinse it out with a hose.
You can put the screen with caulk in the underside of the bucket just like you did the lids and still be able to rinse it clean.
Did bottom mesh helped save little ones?
I heard it’s a thing to drill plastic like this with the drill on reverse. Thank You!!
I know that this video is 2 years old, but I'd like to let you know that the liquid that collects in the bottom is actually worm leachate and not worm tea. Leachate is something you have to be careful with, as it can have phytotoxins (toxic to plants), whereas worm tea is made by "brewing" (aerating with a food source, such as molasses) the castings (about a handful in a 5gal bucket). Worm tea is extremely beneficial to plants as it contains many helpful microbes. If you're seeing that much liquid in the bottom, I believe drier ingredients such as leaves, cardboard, sawdust, etc. need to be added.
David, thank you for the feedback. Yes, I did learn after making this video the difference between worm tea and leachate. Lots of good comments to that effect. I’ve meant to make a worm tea brewer at some point. Just haven’t done it yet. I’ve switched my primary worm composting method to a flow-through system. It produces a lot less liquid. Thanks for the feedback.
Whether you call it worm castings leachate or worm tea, it's actually the same.
Adding molasses (which isn't always recommended) merely tries to create an explosion of the microbes in the worm tea by adding a food source that all organisms would consume and metabolize instantly. Introducing a sugar is debatable since the typical consequence is not just an explosion of activity but the immediate downer afterwards of over exhaustion. And the effects of any unconsumed sugars in the biome.
When you were adding the screen I thought its the bottom side, to keep worms from falling into the worm tea...but then you placed it as a lid :) and did another round for the bottom
Love your videos! I am a teacher, so I don't have a lot of time for fun projects during the school year. I am also not very strong so some of your projects I cannot physically handle. I made the worm tower and love it. However, I don't have any shade around my home, at all. When I set up my worm tower, I had to install a permanent umbrella above. So, I found an irrigation valve and dug a hole for it. I filled hole with all my scraps and just remove lid when I want to feed my worms that just roam freely around my garden. I have installed 4 irrigation valves and my clay soil has really improved. Thank you for all your inspiration. I do have one request, could you make a detailed video on making worm tea, not too heavy, please. ;--)
Thank you,
M
Thanks for the feedback, Maria. Happy worm composting. Enjoy your summer break. :-)
Maria Lucia Gomez-Greenbetg: Just a suggestion, take it to school and make it a class project, recycled/environmental impact/How It Works. You can even work math into it, having students calculate output from input.
Worm tea is just the liquid waste of the worms.
Green a great job on the worm composter I am out to build mine now :) I have a few Oak trees so a source of worms and compost matter is easy. The tea is fantastic stuff and I make my own
in different varieties with kelp, fish bone and such.
Just one hot tip for ya from a guy that uses power tools a lot. Never tighten the chuck with the motor, if you grab the chuck and turn it you will see that the electric motor inside has a brake and you can get it as tight as you want. Make sure the clutch is set to drill as this will give you max force on the clutch inside. If the drill binds during power application you can cause damage to the motor and its control circuit. Thanks again, Hugh
Hey watch Robbie and Gary, she puts pots inside her tote planters and fills them with clippings and some kitchen scraps then waters her tote garden by pouring water thru those smaller pots and she is very successful.
Thank you, Barbara. I’ll take a look. Thank you for watching.
Thanks for this great video and your 10% discount code! I made it and the cost was under $20 and took me less than 15 minutes! Just waiting on the worms now. Excited to get started.
Going to be doing this or similar this week. Thank you for the video.
May I suggest pinning the bottom screen down with some gravel round the edge.
Great video.
It's great and wat happened to the transporting worms from 1 bin to another
Great work! I love the salvaging!!
Very helpful! Keep it up!
💚 From 🇵🇭
Great video! Thank you for posting. This is exactly what kind of information I was looking for.
Thanks for watching, Thurman. Good luck with your build.
one of the best videos I have seen on building it in a bucket
Hi! Have you ever tried this with 3 buckets? I read that if you start another bucket on top when the castings are finished in the 2nd bucket, the worms will move up to where the food is after a few days and then you don’t have to filter out the worms from the castings. Then you just alternate the top 2 buckets. I’m in my planning stage right now, and was just wondering if that actually works. I’m really eager to start my worm bin!
I tried that with an early bin design, but it wasn’t working well for me. The worms end up climbing the sides of the lower bin and getting trapped between the sides of the top bin and lower bin. To help this type of design, you could consider drilling holes along the sides of your top bins as well. The stacking bin systems are very shallow, but wide. The bucket and plastic bin systems tend to be deeper and narrow. One thing to try is a perforated plastic disk that would sit midway up the bucket. When the castings below this divider are finished, you could lift it out, dump out the lower castings and the put back the compost and worms from above the divider.
@GreenShortzDIY not entirely sure how to try the disk method but I think I'll give the 2 buck style with a 6 or 8 spaced out 1 inch chucks out of the rim of a 3rd buckets for the cycling the finished with the stuff above. My fail and smell or make tons of bait lol
Thank you so much for this video. Simple, sweet, and direct. I love that you added an element of anticipation by adding a timer. Certainly kept me watching. I am wondering if this model can be left outside all seasons? Or, does this only work indoors? This model is smaller than some other designs I've seen, and so there would be less soil to act as insulate, for the worms to retreat to during extreme temperatures. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again!
Inside for the winter would depend on how cold your winter is. In Georgia (USA), I keep mine indoors all year. By indoors, I mean my not-conditioned garage. In the summer, if it were outdoors, it would get overrun with soldier fly larvae and winter would be too cold for the worms. I hope this helps. Thank you for watching.
@@GreenShortzDIY Thanks so much!
If you made it a 3 bucket system with second drain bucket (but without worms, makes more space for juice on bottom, therefore less likely to drown if levels get to high. And what if you did 100’s of tiny holes the worms can’t fit through?
6 years later this worm bin will cost you 68$
Very simple and effective.
That drain off is leachate NOT tea. You make tea with worm castings.
you make tea with tea leaves IDIOT
@@chefdecuisine3080 obviously in this context the word tea is used outside of the world of cuisine. Its fairly accurate because you are making a liquid by soaking something, people know what you are talking about by the name and he is indeed right. Words have different meanings in different professions. I hope you are joking because there is no need to be rude.
@@pandadog1391 r/whooosh
@@pandadog1391 I wish more people would respond to comments like you did....very dignified!
@@shansi1931 Am I getting wooshed again. Lol.
I love it, i loveeee it. I was looking for exactly that idea on your video. Thanks for take your time to do this video. Very explained. I’m your new subscriber,
Awesome and easy! Gonna share with my friends, thanks!
Thanks for watching, Daniel. Thanks for the feedback.
I have a lady working in a cake factory. They throw them out so I told her I need 10 more of those. I also look for buster old water containers that will serve as a underground watering can.
Best time is when a lot of rain happens when the ground is ankle deep after a it rains look around the area for dark color soil, black is a good area to look for them, Grass I never seen them around.
I got a oak tree in my backyard just under the shaded area where the tree covers the Sun from being able to fully hit is just open soil with not a lot of Grass best area I've seen them in.
Living in Florida is a gold mine for Earthworms I have a video I did that has a thumbnail of the video showing the handful of Earthworms I found after a Thunderstorm.
I'm trying to breed them so I can release them into my plant bed on my porch so they will hopefully restore the soil with some new soil.
I bought a 20gal storage box from Walmart went over to Lowes and bought a bag of Black Cow and Top soil mixed both soils together why I was at Walmart I went over to the fishing area and picked up containers of their fatty worms and put them in the storage box with the soil I've been putting Earthworms from around the backyard in with them should be interesting to see if they will end up making a hybrid or something.
Only bad thing about using the soil I have them in is really hard to know if their is water on the or if the soil is dry in the middle down to the bottom.
Trying to move the soil around I worry about cutting the worm(s) in half while I check the soil.
they appear to be doing fine I've check on them quite a few times I notice they appear to wanna stay 1-2 inches below the top.
I did mix some card board, egg carton pieces oak tree leaks and a few other things in with that soil, I buy crickets to feed my gecko's I ended up getting pieces of the egg carton the crickets hide in so I threw them in and mixed it with the soil.
Worms appear to be fine still fat and I've had them for I believe 2-3 weeks?
I love rescuing earthworms after a rain. It is a great way to capture them too. You may have some composting worms in there too. Earthworms and composting worms (red wigglers) are different. Composters live in the top 12-18 of the soil, where it is more rich in organic matter, which they process. Earthworms are deeper, where the soil is primarily dirt and minerals. That’s what they process. Earthworms can be keep in a bucket habitat as well, but they won’t break down the compostable material. Thanks for watching.
Great video style. I like the timer idea.
Looking back, do you now feel this was a little over-engineered?
Perhaps more small holes, rather than fewer big holes in the base of the internal bucket would save the worms from falling through, but perhaps that causes drainage problems?
I tend to over engineer to start and then work back toward simplicity. I think this could be refined further. I do think your "more smaller holes" might help keep the worms from dropping into the bottom bucket. Although, I'm not sure how much the worms can squeeze through a hole smaller than their body. I've updated this bucket bin with a window screen cut to cover the bottom of the bucket (inside). Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for watching.
Thank you so much,worm bins are going for over £100 pounds ridiculous I just have a back yard garden
Thanks you so much for video. I made one last weekend, bought red wiggler from the bait store. For some reason, I found a lot of my worms dead. The bottom bucket smells really bad(stink). I suspect maybe it's too hot outside. I live in GA(zone 7). Do you store your bins indoor or outdoor?
May be it was too wet. Also the bad smell signals bad bacteria, bad for us, bad for worms as well.
What time of year is a good time to fertilize plants outside with the liquid? And what about house plants? Thank you for your informative videos.
Because the microbes plays such an important role, you want to do so with sufficient time for the plants to benefit before the winter starts if you are in a cold country. Anytime after the last frost is good. Freezing kills microbes.
I just made two of these from used ghee and yoghurt pots.( the catering size of course!)
Glad you were able to reclaim these materials for your worm composters! Happy composting.
you need to put something like a couple of bricks in the bottom to keep your top bucket from getting to wet from the liquid in bottom bucket
One of the shocks of living in Eastern WA is I have NO worms in this soil - none . .. never seen even ONE. Uncle Jim's it is.
Wow! That is amazing. What is the soil like? Happy worm composting. Thanks for watching.
@@GreenShortzDIY It is, and was forest, probably for a long, long time. lots of Fir with Oaks. Volcanic in origin. My friends tell me its mostly Clay. I'm still learning to differentiate. I am just shocked not to see even one worm. Very acidic, I suspect, or at least more acidic than most places. I live at about 2000 ft near or in the simco highlands. According to the maps I am living very close the Simcos. . Its a USDA hardiness zone '6'. Wet and even very snowy winters, shorter but hot summers. Lots of pumice on my land. I'm either going to try your style or just buy one but i have do something. Just buying bags of compost and cow manure every year doesn't make sense when i can make my own. I'm also looking into tumblers.
Great idea.Di you put holes on the bottom of the other bucket?I I didn't see you put any but I saw the one you put on top.Thanks for sharing.I appreciate it very much.
Hi Lyd. The bottom bucket stays whole to capture the leachate, which can be used as fertilizer or made into worm tea. Thank you for watching.
@@GreenShortzDIY Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.Usually. I get a thumbs up or a ❤ and left with no answer. So I get left in the dark.So thank you again very much appreciated.
@@lydvincecruz824 I can't answer all the comments, of course, but try to do so as much as possible for good questions. Especially when I sense people are wanting to do projects. 🙂
If you add the screen in the bottom to prevent the worms from crawling out and into the lower bucket, do you find it easy to still water your bin and have the water drain through to the lower bucket to make tea, while still keeping the top bucket not too moist? What are your thoughts? Or do you have any suggestions or upgrades? I understand you could add more carbon such as cardboard to make it less moist but id rather not do that every time I water the bin
Adding a screen to the bottom helps. Some worms will still find their way through. The moisture element has lots of variables, including what veggies get put in the bin and how much liquid they contain. I think it’s ok to have more liquid drain through to the lower bucket. I just apply that to my garden beds or trees. In all, I think a simpler bin system makes the most sense in the long run. That is my main suggestion…keep it simple. Thank you for the comment. Thank you for watching.
You said that you 'run water' through the castings for the tea. How long do you wait to do that and how often do you do it? Is it done at regular intervals and when you do take the castings?
Hi Tom. Running the water through can be done every month or so. Really more dependent on how processed the castings are. I do this to get liquid nutrients out without a major disturbance to the worms that happens when you harvest castings. I do that about once a year. Also depends on the size of the worm colony and how much feedstock they are getting. Thank you for watching.
Hi! I'm going to make the worm composting bin this weekend, but I have been reading the comments on this video and I am a little confused- can we use the leachate for herbs/veggies or not? In one place it seems you've recommended against it (because of harmful bacteria) and in another you talk about using food grade silicone instead of the caulk for veggie gardens. So, yes or no for food plants?? Also, is there a video where you explain what you said in the comment about the leachate needing to be "aerated and have a sugar-source added (like molasses) to become worm tea. And why would one need to do that? (ok, I have one more quick question and I REALLY appreciate you answering all this!!!... how many worms would I need to start with the BIN compost system?) THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Use it to water none food plants or use
Inexpensive and effective. Thanks.
Love your video, thanks. Would landscaping fabric work as well as screen. I use it for making grow bags so it's porous.
I think it would work fine. You might do one larger hole (6 inches?) to allow for enough air movement since it is a tighter mesh. Thanks for watching.
Thank you @@GreenShortzDIY
I got a Ryobi drill just like that does the exact same thing every time I bet falls out I want to check that drill as far as I can
Thanks for the coupon code! It still works :)
Excellent! I’m glad they still honor that. It’s been a few years. Thank you for watching. :-)
I really enjoying ur videos, can i have quick questions. Why we need make hole for the lid? Does without hole, the compsoting still working?
Thank you. The holes in the lid allow airflow, which is important for composting to happen. Thank you for watching.
Thnx for the vid. Why didnt u just cut 1 circular piece of mesh for the top as well!!
check with your local grocery store bakery they often have 5 gallon food grade buckets for free they often just throw them out.
Wow! Great info thanks for sharing it. 👍
Instead of doing all those little patches and gluing how about just cut a piece a few inches larger than the top of the bucket and hold it in place by pushing down the lid?
saved me commenting!
He is still young and hasn't gotten tired of doing things the hard way... When he gets your age he will be more likely to take the path of least resistance.
I’d just cut one big circle to fit the lid.
Same with bottom rather than trying to cut to size fold up over the edge and use duct tape or some type of a clamp to hold tight.
I think his purpose was to keep the screen completely sealed everywhere except the holes... makes sense to me!
After your drill bit is in, hand turn the torque to lock it so they won’t fall out. I just learned about the lock.🤷🏼♀️
Thank you for the tip, Mendy. Thank you for watching.
Great job👍👍
Make it easier just cut a circle for covering all the holes, a single piece.
Thanks for the suggestion, Patrica. A good one. :-)
Yeah, I was thinking he could have done that in 5 minutes if he cut a bigger circle or drilled the holes in two straight lines and just cut long strips.
On a similar note, spread the caulk arund the greater circumference of the lid (outside the holes) and again inside the holes which would speed up the screen adhesion procedure.
@@ghand6158 I cut a big piece of screen and locked it in place ith the lid, no need for gluing. The bottom, just a piece under de bedding, also, no need for gluing.
A thin layer of coarse sand over the screen helps keep worms in and water flowing through to the bottom bucket.
Thanks for the tip, James. Thanks for watching.
Will follow this method. But question - do the worms get enough air with just the top and bottom holes? Thanks
Hi Candy. Answer is yes. Remember, these worms are used to working below ground. There is enough air infiltrating the compost and bucket for their needs. Thank you for watching. Good luck with your build.
Thank you Sir for the cheap and effective system. Qq though, where you from you have a natural sound effect on your background 😄
Yes. The birds sound great in this video. I am in Georgia, USA. Thanks for watching.
I dont have that mesh but I figure an old piece of fabric will do the same trick! I would glue 1 giant circle instead of 10 small circles
Thanks for the video. I'm gonna make one this week. One quick note: that caulk looks like it includes toxic chemicals, which you might want to avoid if you're gonna use the effluent for vegetable gardening. I'm gonna try a food grade silicone adhesive sealant instead.
Andy, yes...I didn't fully read the ingredients on the caulk. Agreed that a food-grade silicone would be a good choice to put the screens in the lid of the composter. Make sure you are scuffing up the lid well before adhering with silicone, so the screens don't pop off. I had a suggestion for hot glue too. Thanks for your comment.
Ooooh, I hadn't thought of hot glue. Sounds like it would be stronger. Thanks!
The hot glue peeled on my lids... the Dap is really the best for staying on. Because of the good air flow, I don't worry about what chemicals are in the lid. The worms are well below it. I have not had any problems so far.
Nice concept! Cheap! Quick and easy!
Thanks for watching, Dagaan. :-)
A wrinkle I was given from an old timer involves the lid - or lack of one.
To cover the worms, an old piece of carpet is used.
It must be 1 - 1 1/2” smaller than the top. This way, there is a gap between the bucket edge and the carpet when it is in place on top.
Worms won’t cross an open area like this - the light and open air stops them. So they don’t crawl out!
You add moisture as needed by watering the carpet, and feed by placing food under it.
In this way, the worms tend to stay in the upper 2/3 of the media, and stay out of the wet bottom 1/3.
Since I use worms for fishing, this also keeps them near the top where I can find them!
I’ve done this in recycled ice coolers found on the side of the road - repurposing!
But I’m going to start a new one with a couple of damaged buckets destined for the dumpster.
Thank you for the comment, Dav. Interesting and innovative suggestions. Thank you for watching.
davhutton: Perhaps once they’re settled, they won’t leave an open bin, but the first year I did a composting bin in the house over the winter, my worms were not pleased about being indoors. several of them did indeed crawl up the side and out of the bin.
The weather was freezing at that point, as I waited till the last minute to bring any in out of the Garden. So, Releasing them back out into the garden wasn’t an option.
I got a piece of sheer fabric, of the variety that a person normally hangs in the window, and used a nice big piece of elastic to secure the fabric across the top of the bin.
The worms soon settled in, And I released them again in the spring.
But the surprise for me was that they would indeed climb out of the open bin in the light.
I don’t know if this will help anybody, but I’ll throw it out there just in case.
@@daphneraven6745 super mountaineering worms!
I never did have them escape that way
@@dahutful :
ikr; it was astonishing to me that these guys could even climb up the side of a bin.
I didn’t have carpet on the top of mine. That might’ve made a difference. Instead I planted a couple of dandelions in the top, as they’re more than abundant in the garden.
Thank you very much for the carpet tip. It never even occurred to me to try that.
great diy! was wondering if I use a fabric like a felt sort of fabric in place of the screen for the holes do you think that would work as well? possibly keeping out flies and what nots?
Nina, I think that would work. I'd make the holes bigger. You'll need more surface area for air exchange. Twice as big or twice as many ought to work. Thanks for watching.
I have experimented with different size screen, and there is a fabric screen that you can pick up at most fabric stores... that is very fine, and bugs can't get through. It's the kind of fabric that is used to make cosmetic bags that you see in some stores.
I have made several of these worm farms and am very happy with the results. I have decided to eliminate the bottom bucket and there have been no need for the drain holes, as over the past 8 months of having this set-up... the moisture is easy for me to control, never have had any in the bottom bucket. This may be because I place the worm food on top of shredded paper, and then the paper over the top of the food, thus sealing the moisture between layers of paper... never any bug problems either. I do really like the Dap adhesive that GreenShortz shows in the video! I have tried other brands... and after a few weeks... the screen comes loose, not with the Dap Kitchen & Bath adhesive! I make these little worm farms and have sold them at craft shows, with 50 -100 Red Wigglers to start them out. The moms and kids are really liking them. I do use smaller buckets. :)
You dont caulk the screen to the bottom? Great idea to start out small, using buckets. I dont have much food waste, but I like the idea of composting for my garden, I love gardening.
Excellent.
Hey green shorts I love worms! 😘 Happy October 🎆🎃😉
+Olivia Helen happy October to you as well! 🎃 🎃 🍁 🍁