I like to allow my coffe grounds to hot compost first before watering and adding worms. Works really well. I also add more water than most people think is okay. The castings I get are incredible.
I do the same. I mix the grounds with some finished castings and keep it moist. In a week the mix smells like good forest soil. When this is added to the bin, the worms start feeding within a day. If I put fresh grounds straight into the bin it lakes probably a week for the worms to move in.
Instead of a week's worth of dried out, moldy coffee, have you tried adding a day's worth of fresh, moist coffee daily, spread out so it won't form bricks?
I have a coffee only 360 going, I don’t use paper filters anymore, but when I did, I’d shake them out into a old coffee can, then toss filters into another. When the grounds can was full I’d add it to the 360, then lay the filters on top. You can’t just dump a full balled up filter in there, because you get that mold. I have 4 worm factories 360 going with wrigglers, along with some bigger and tall outdoor bins for crawlers for several years now, and the thing about worms is less you mess with them, the better they’ll do...I watched a few of your videos, and like everybody else, you disturb the substrate too much and very unnecessarily... to each their own, far be it from me to tell anybody how to do it...happy worming :)
I like to spread the grounds over the surface and then mix it into the bedding. It seems to help the worms work through it better. If I notice any dry areas I just spritz it with water and mix it up.
I found that my coffee bin dried out a bit as well. I think the coffee heats up and causes the moisture to evaporate. It will work its way out. If you haven't you might want to add some more crushed egg shells as well. Also amazed at how much the blue worms move around!
I have the same problem with coffee drying out and clumping up. Now, I mix the grounds with my coir bedding and that seems to have solved the clumping problem.
I've always stirred it well into my other kitchen scraps for the same reason, and it gives me more confidence I won't accidentally create a concentrated pocket that might overheat. Problem is, the way Emily makes such lovely clear videos that let us see what's happening is by not just stirring everything up together like me!
Use burlap instead on top. Wet burlap still breathes, keeping moist condition with better air flow. And if the bin starts heating up, a small fan over the burlap will create a cool breeze and reduce temps. Burlap at the bottom is also a good idea. I find if the bin gets too warm I will find the worms at the corners and sides under the burlap. A cool area to hang out.
Coffee can be a problem, especially if it comes bagged from my local coffee shop. The way I deal with it is to spread it on a flat baking tray and dry it out completely in the oven. It’s then easy to sprinkle over wet, decomposing food and let it re-wet in a thin film. It’s another process, but stops those thick, hard lumps from forming.
Thanks for explaining the difference between the blues and red wiggles. I've wondered. I think I have a mix of blues and red wigglers. I don't care if they are mixed. I just want to keep them alive . So far, so good.
Does your outside bin have worms trying to escape when its raining ? My outside bin is under a roof on porch so they aren't getting wet . But man they just go crazy when it rains climbing the walls of bin all bunched up. These little guys are so interesting and each bin has its own personality .
Im not an expert by any means but what ive discovered over the years is that just one type of material very rarely works well no matter what ive used. I good variety of material has always worked the best for me personally. Hope ya have Happy holidays, and an even better 2021. Stay well and keep safe.
04:46 Everything I have read says they don't like the same conditions. That reds can tolerate a far wider range of environments than blues can, as well as faster parameter shifts. What is your method for keeping them together?
I’m wondering when you first add the coffee, if you could put ice cubes on top of the bedding in the spots where the coffee is buried. It could counter the heat production and slowly add liquid. Helping with both the heat and the dryness.
I've composted coffee quite a bit, and it always becomes a firm lump. Before adding it to other compostables, I break it up and there doesn't seem to be a problem after that. I'm going to try just spreading it on the surface of the garden this summer to see how that goes.
Could the filters be shredded to keep them from forming a pocket for the grounds? Just a thought from someone who knows nothing about this subject...but I sure am interested. Thanks you for your videos.
I have a completely sterile bin which has only worms & coffee (no soil) yet pot worms appear if it gets too wet. I wonder if pot worm eggs actually get stored inside of worms & come out in their castings???
Our bin is open on top with tulle for air so far the moisture still stays in worms are happy. We have euros and earthworms...they seem to be eating faster then before although we got the euros way before and takes two weeks to eat what's put in and now we seen the lettuce almost gone in just two days.
You completely smothered that side with filters and paper towels.. those filters and paper towels don't break down as fast as you think. And they suck up so much moisture from the bin I stopped putting filters and paper towels into my worm bin when adding coffee and I don't have any problems like this..
Hey Crazy Worm Lady, I've been watching your vids and learning a lot. I've had some African night crawlers for about 6 years now. I like how you have your boxes organized and controlled. I have a few boxes and a big compost bin I use for my planting efforts. My boxes unlike yours are more of a free range or wild west jungle environment. I even had a bunch of red ants once and ended up spraying a bunch of diesel fuel on them. Go figure the dose of fuel oil didn't seem to phase the worms at all and the ants were gone. Recently I got a bunch of coconuts and the husks are incredible. I think it will be some of the best bedding I ever saw. I usually just add peat and or the coir you get in blocks and hydrate. I give my worms espresso grounds and now they act like yuppies. LOL
Just to let you guys know coffee grounds are grit to help digest more than a food source. If you spread them thin on top they will eat it up. In clumps its a hard thing to swallow lol. I would remove the mold unless your doing experiments only.
There is a sceintic study that says too much coffee in a worm bin will make them sterile. You might not notice this if you are moving worms from different bins to other bins. Not worth the risk, me thinks!
As a suggestion, just use the coffee grinds and if the paper of the tea/coffee . I bet takes too long to c0mpost and not worth vs the value of just the coffee/tea al-me and if you use paper/cardboard . Not -re treated moldy ones like what happens when coffe or tea being stored after used. that’s what I’m trying
Yikes. I hope you were wearing a mask, that mould looks scary! I think the added water and paper will help, but also I think it'll need another good stir up because the very dry bits will be hydrophobic so the water might just run down to the bottom unless you force it into some of the dry bits.
hi Em tried to put a comment on your community we have had a hell of a lot of rain here in the UK and I thought my can o worms bin was gonna be ok because it was right next to a really thick conifer tree in my garden with lots of covering from the branches how rong was I. :( I went to it this morning moved it indoors to my shed. noticed my bucket under the drain tap was full of water. went to it just now its 5pm here in the UK and my bin is extremely warm I think it's gone into anaerobic composting ive moved it around tride to get some air in it. Its like handling clay any help or tips to halt this before it kills my worms would be appreciated.
I think the worms will decimate the paper napkins. But I also think the extra water will help minimize those clumps. Keep on fightin' !! You'll get more coffee poo, I'm sure. 😉
Random diy worm bin question. Is it bad to do frequent early harvest? I don't do the migration harvest, I just take the worm balls out and sift the rest, but everything I read says to wait 3-6 months which I've never done
Only problem I have when I harvest too frequently is that the eggs are almost always sifted through with the casings, and eggs take about 3 weeks to hatch. I am trying to grow my population so I'm leaving the casings in.
Well I've been putting the castings in a 5 gal bucket with a screened lid after a couple months I bait out the worms. I Wasn't sure if I was causing the other worms problems doing this
i have not seen you makeing a new video i hope you are ok i have question i was shredding carbourd in micro shedder i noticed there were sticker with bar codes and a few went there not alot and i picked out what i could is it true that that it might kill my worms
how often should i air out the ben i have ben with leaves and compost with 150 red wigglers and i just put over 200 red wigglers into ben that i made like to guy down to the roots by put stuff in the bedding and turning it for a week and i just made ben with paper and carbourd i put some 4 year old horse manewer compost and mixed it all threw should i be turning the soil 1s a week or just check for water at the bottem should i be adding water should i just let frozen food do that for me and i have over 200 eggs in small 1 leter ice cream container i put some carret shaving in there but i have bag worm food from cheep worm farm i bought from dollar store the worms love it i am into my 1st week with my worm bens i did evey thing like my worm farmers that learn so much from so thank you
Good afternoon, I am writing to you thanks to the Google translator, since I do not speak English. I wanted to know if you can configure your videos to be able to use the subtitles in Spanish. only who can upload the video can configure it. Thank you very much, I am really passionate about what you do and I really enjoy it, only visually since for now I cannot translate it. from Argentina thank you very much 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
There are no coffee grounds in the worms natural habitat , best to just immolate their natural environment in the wild so you can have peace of mind and enjoy your worms. 👍🏻
I like to allow my coffe grounds to hot compost first before watering and adding worms. Works really well. I also add more water than most people think is okay. The castings I get are incredible.
I do the same. I mix the grounds with some finished castings and keep it moist. In a week the mix smells like good forest soil. When this is added to the bin, the worms start feeding within a day. If I put fresh grounds straight into the bin it lakes probably a week for the worms to move in.
Instead of a week's worth of dried out, moldy coffee, have you tried adding a day's worth of fresh, moist coffee daily, spread out so it won't form bricks?
I have a coffee only 360 going, I don’t use paper filters anymore, but when I did, I’d shake them out into a old coffee can, then toss filters into another. When the grounds can was full I’d add it to the 360, then lay the filters on top. You can’t just dump a full balled up filter in there, because you get that mold.
I have 4 worm factories 360 going with wrigglers, along with some bigger and tall outdoor bins for crawlers for several years now, and the thing about worms is less you mess with them, the better they’ll do...I watched a few of your videos, and like everybody else, you disturb the substrate too much and very unnecessarily...
to each their own, far be it from me to tell anybody how to do it...happy worming :)
I like to spread the grounds over the surface and then mix it into the bedding. It seems to help the worms work through it better. If I notice any dry areas I just spritz it with water and mix it up.
I found that my coffee bin dried out a bit as well. I think the coffee heats up and causes the moisture to evaporate. It will work its way out. If you haven't you might want to add some more crushed egg shells as well.
Also amazed at how much the blue worms move around!
I have the same problem with coffee drying out and clumping up. Now, I mix the grounds with my coir bedding and that seems to have solved the clumping problem.
Golden Ages good idea. I will try that with the next feeding.
I've always stirred it well into my other kitchen scraps for the same reason, and it gives me more confidence I won't accidentally create a concentrated pocket that might overheat. Problem is, the way Emily makes such lovely clear videos that let us see what's happening is by not just stirring everything up together like me!
Thanks Emily, I copied the idea from a video of a worm farmer who mixed his cornmeal into the coir bedding.
u mention quite often the worms look good/healthy. how would you know if its unhealthy?
Use burlap instead on top. Wet burlap still breathes, keeping moist condition with better air flow. And if the bin starts heating up, a small fan over the burlap will create a cool breeze and reduce temps. Burlap at the bottom is also a good idea. I find if the bin gets too warm I will find the worms at the corners and sides under the burlap. A cool area to hang out.
Coffee can be a problem, especially if it comes bagged from my local coffee shop. The way I deal with it is to spread it on a flat baking tray and dry it out completely in the oven. It’s then easy to sprinkle over wet, decomposing food and let it re-wet in a thin film. It’s another process, but stops those thick, hard lumps from forming.
Whenever I add coffee grounds I add them by hand and spread it never in a large bulk. Then I add pulverized gg shells. My worms love it.
I am going to do my own version of this in a video for sure, as my hungybin worm farm is coffee grounds bed with saw dust
Funny that marty, i was goint to ask you about that. Sounds good, i'll be waiting for it
what happen to crazy worm lady
Thanks for explaining the difference between the blues and red wiggles. I've wondered. I think I have a mix of blues and red wigglers. I don't care if they are mixed. I just want to keep them alive . So far, so good.
Does your outside bin have worms trying to escape when its raining ? My outside bin is under a roof on porch so they aren't getting wet . But man they just go crazy when it rains climbing the walls of bin all bunched up. These little guys are so interesting and each bin has its own personality .
Im not an expert by any means but what ive discovered over the years is that just one type of material very rarely works well no matter what ive used. I good variety of material has always worked the best for me personally. Hope ya have Happy holidays, and an even better 2021. Stay well and keep safe.
04:46 Everything I have read says they don't like the same conditions. That reds can tolerate a far wider range of environments than blues can, as well as faster parameter shifts. What is your method for keeping them together?
Any update on the coffee grounds experiment?
I’m wondering when you first add the coffee, if you could put ice cubes on top of the bedding in the spots where the coffee is buried. It could counter the heat production and slowly add liquid. Helping with both the heat and the dryness.
I've composted coffee quite a bit, and it always becomes a firm lump. Before adding it to other compostables, I break it up and there doesn't seem to be a problem after that. I'm going to try just spreading it on the surface of the garden this summer to see how that goes.
I am sure you will figure it out. Thanks for another video.
kevin neel all in good time.
My worms love coffee but I only sprinkle it on the surface, never in bulk
Could the filters be shredded to keep them from forming a pocket for the grounds? Just a thought from someone who knows nothing about this subject...but I sure am interested. Thanks you for your videos.
How do the pot worms get into a bin in the first place ? Thanks for the video 💕✌️🌱
I have a completely sterile bin which has only worms & coffee (no soil) yet pot worms appear if it gets too wet. I wonder if pot worm eggs actually get stored inside of worms & come out in their castings???
Emily, your videos are great. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I can't wait to start my own worm farm to help contribute to growing my medicine
Is everything ok? I miss seeing your videos. Hope all is well!
Definitely needed some moisture. Thank you for the i card!
Grant McIntosh thanks for being a long-time subscriber and commenting as always!
@@TheCrazyWormLady 😉
Love your videos!
Hey i hope your okay. I miss your videos check ups. Im going to check your fb maybe i missed an announcement somewhere?
Our bin is open on top with tulle for air so far the moisture still stays in worms are happy. We have euros and earthworms...they seem to be eating faster then before although we got the euros way before and takes two weeks to eat what's put in and now we seen the lettuce almost gone in just two days.
Yum - damp paper towels. I bet this bins is gonna do great with a bit more time. After all - who doesn't love coffee?! :)
Hey I've just started a similar experiment on my gurilla garden. Do you have any updates on this one? Cheers
You completely smothered that side with filters and paper towels.. those filters and paper towels don't break down as fast as you think. And they suck up so much moisture from the bin I stopped putting filters and paper towels into my worm bin when adding coffee and I don't have any problems like this..
Interested to see how all of that water helps. Fat and happy worms though. Even your blues look big.
Amber’s Amusements I think they look great!
Hey Crazy Worm Lady, I've been watching your vids and learning a lot. I've had some African night crawlers for about 6 years now. I like how you have your boxes organized and controlled. I have a few boxes and a big compost bin I use for my planting efforts. My boxes unlike yours are more of a free range or wild west jungle environment. I even had a bunch of red ants once and ended up spraying a bunch of diesel fuel on them. Go figure the dose of fuel oil didn't seem to phase the worms at all and the ants were gone. Recently I got a bunch of coconuts and the husks are incredible. I think it will be some of the best bedding I ever saw. I usually just add peat and or the coir you get in blocks and hydrate. I give my worms espresso grounds and now they act like yuppies. LOL
Just to let you guys know coffee grounds are grit to help digest more than a food source. If you spread them thin on top they will eat it up. In clumps its a hard thing to swallow lol. I would remove the mold unless your doing experiments only.
There is a sceintic study that says too much coffee in a worm bin will make them sterile. You might not notice this if you are moving worms from different bins to other bins. Not worth the risk, me thinks!
i wonder if the coffee is why the wormies look so twitchy
yes i hate my blues from unckle jims worm farm i bought reds
As a suggestion, just use the coffee grinds and if the paper of the tea/coffee . I bet takes too long to c0mpost and not worth vs the value of just the coffee/tea al-me and if you use paper/cardboard . Not -re treated moldy ones like what happens when coffe or tea being stored after used. that’s what I’m trying
I put my grass cutting on top of the coffee I get from the local coffe shop and its a win. I only do outside bins now.
Maybe as you're saving coffee grounds add a cup or two of water to each batch to make like a muddy consistency before adding it to bins
Hi! What do you usually use for bedding to start a brand new bin?
Yikes. I hope you were wearing a mask, that mould looks scary! I think the added water and paper will help, but also I think it'll need another good stir up because the very dry bits will be hydrophobic so the water might just run down to the bottom unless you force it into some of the dry bits.
Was the ever another update?
hi Em tried to put a comment on your community we have had a hell of a lot of rain here in the UK and I thought my can o worms bin was gonna be ok because it was right next to a really thick conifer tree in my garden with lots of covering from the branches how rong was I. :( I went to it this morning moved it indoors to my shed. noticed my bucket under the drain tap was full of water. went to it just now its 5pm here in the UK and my bin is extremely warm I think it's gone into anaerobic composting ive moved it around tride to get some air in it. Its like handling clay any help or tips to halt this before it kills my worms would be appreciated.
You rock lady. C ya
I think the worms will decimate the paper napkins. But I also think the extra water will help minimize those clumps. Keep on fightin' !! You'll get more coffee poo, I'm sure. 😉
Is diatomaceous earth good for worms
Random diy worm bin question. Is it bad to do frequent early harvest? I don't do the migration harvest, I just take the worm balls out and sift the rest, but everything I read says to wait 3-6 months which I've never done
Cole Bradshaw depends on what you’re using the castings for.
Only problem I have when I harvest too frequently is that the eggs are almost always sifted through with the casings, and eggs take about 3 weeks to hatch. I am trying to grow my population so I'm leaving the casings in.
Well I've been putting the castings in a 5 gal bucket with a screened lid after a couple months I bait out the worms. I Wasn't sure if I was causing the other worms problems doing this
i have not seen you makeing a new video i hope you are ok i have question i was shredding carbourd in micro shedder i noticed there were sticker with bar codes and a few went there not alot and i picked out what i could is it true that that it might kill my worms
Maybe they decided to cut back on their caffeine 😁
Do the worms get hurt when you mix it up ?
Maybe if you are overly forceful with them. They are resilient because they lack bones.
how often should i air out the ben i have ben with leaves and compost with 150 red wigglers and i just put over 200 red wigglers into ben that i made like to guy down to the roots by put stuff in the bedding and turning it for a week and i just made ben with paper and carbourd i put some 4 year old horse manewer compost and mixed it all threw should i be turning the soil 1s a week or just check for water at the bottem should i be adding water should i just let frozen food do that for me and i have over 200 eggs in small 1 leter ice cream container i put some carret shaving in there but i have bag worm food from cheep worm farm i bought from dollar store the worms love it i am into my 1st week with my worm bens i did evey thing like my worm farmers that learn so much from so thank you
Good afternoon, I am writing to you thanks to the Google translator, since I do not speak English. I wanted to know if you can configure your videos to be able to use the subtitles in Spanish. only who can upload the video can configure it. Thank you very much, I am really passionate about what you do and I really enjoy it, only visually since for now I cannot translate it. from Argentina thank you very much 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
You might want to learn English, it cannot hurt
I prefer composting over a worm bin.
There are no coffee grounds in the worms natural habitat , best to just immolate their natural environment in the wild so you can have peace of mind and enjoy your worms. 👍🏻