500 gal bin for worms

anzohaze · Nov 1, 2015

So I had stop growig for a bit as some know I have another child on the way and with 2 kids a wife court etc and no more room I had to hang up the coat for a while. I have a few questions.

I have already a 500 gal Container that I laid down and cut the side out for a door(pic below).

should I cut slots or drill holes or etc into the now bottom of container to allow liquid to be removed. I was thinking either a few slits with like a circular saw a few holes so liquid can get out. Should I lay some stainless or aluminum mesh in the bottom to help cover holes or anything you can recommend. I will be putting in roughly 250 gal of soil and feeding it table scraps ammendments minerals etc. Thanks

Pattahabi · Nov 1, 2015

If you plan on feeding them a lot of wet scraps, then I guess holes in the bottoom sound like a good idea. Personally, I think it is better to compost your materials first, and then run them through the worm bin. In which case you really won't have that much moisture in the bin. But that's just how I would do it. You will want some aeration no matter what. My bin is made out of wood, so it breaths a little on it's own. Metal or plastic, not so much.

Peace!

P-

anzohaze · Nov 1, 2015

Pattahabi said:
If you plan on feeding them a lot of wet scraps, then I guess holes in the bottoom sound like a good idea. Personally, I think it is better to compost your materials first, and then run them through the worm bin. In which case you really won't have that much moisture in the bin. But that's just how I would do it. You will want some aeration no matter what. My bin is made out of wood, so it breaths a little on it's own. Metal or plastic, not so much.

Peace!

P-

I would not say wet as I let it dry and mold. I have learned that not taking care of your friends and just throwing scrap on top does not work and brings in bad bus anaerobic conditions and then the 2k + worms dead. So I learned a drier condition is better then wet lol

Pattahabi · Nov 1, 2015

anzohaze said:
I would not say wet as I let it dry and mold. I have learned that not taking care of your friends and just throwing scrap on top does not work and brings in bad bus anaerobic conditions and then the 2k + worms dead. So I learned a drier condition is better then wet lol

Ok good, that was my only concern when you said throwing food scraps in there. So in reality, the bin shouldn't be dripping water from the bottom, but should breath throughout.

P-

greasemonkeymann · Nov 2, 2015

anzohaze said:
I would not say wet as I let it dry and mold. I have learned that not taking care of your friends and just throwing scrap on top does not work and brings in bad bus anaerobic conditions and then the 2k + worms dead. So I learned a drier condition is better then wet lol

yea, it's important not to get that wet, in fact unless it's EXTREMELY hot out (this summer it was hot all the time, and I "watered" the bin only three or four times.
For me, the key to keep them happy is to give them lots of juicy rotten (frozen, then re-thawed) fruits.
That's ton of moisture right there, and they seem to prefer that to water.
I keep my bin covered with like five layers of recycled paper, those big brown pieces they send as shipping padding for amazon.
I do water those layers though, bit not the bin, sounds dumb, but the moisture stays on the paper, acts like a wet-jacket.
and a good base for any worm bin is old soil. that's all I did, old soil and lots of wet egg cartons and wet cardboard.
Make sure you dig a hole before giving them food, if you do it on the surface it'll stink and attract flies.
cover whatever food you give them with at least two inches of material.

Good luck with the little one on the way, man, hopefully everything turns out smoothly and with no problems.

Grandpa GreenJeans · Nov 5, 2015

greasemonkeymann said:
yea, it's important not to get that wet, in fact unless it's EXTREMELY hot out (this summer it was hot all the time, and I "watered" the bin only three or four times.
For me, the key to keep them happy is to give them lots of juicy rotten (frozen, then re-thawed) fruits.
That's ton of moisture right there, and they seem to prefer that to water.
I keep my bin covered with like five layers of recycled paper, those big brown pieces they send as shipping padding for amazon.
I do water those layers though, bit not the bin, sounds dumb, but the moisture stays on the paper, acts like a wet-jacket.
and a good base for any worm bin is old soil. that's all I did, old soil and lots of wet egg cartons and wet cardboard.
Make sure you dig a hole before giving them food, if you do it on the surface it'll stink and attract flies.
cover whatever food you give them with at least two inches of material.

Good luck with the little one on the way, man, hopefully everything turns out smoothly and with no problems.

Precisley, good info. With worms there are rules and they must be followed otherwise you risk killing them off.

500 gal bin for worms

anzohaze

Well-Known Member

Pattahabi

Well-Known Member

anzohaze

Well-Known Member

Pattahabi

Well-Known Member

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member

Grandpa GreenJeans

Well-Known Member