vermicomposter

Has anyone tried the can-o-worms or other worm composters? I'm thinking of getting a new one since mine is 6 years old and wondered if anyone really had one in particular that they thought was really good.

Back when you posted this I had never heard of this site and didn't have a Can~O~Worms.

Well, now I have and I do.

I think it's a good product, made entirely out of recycled materials in Australia. It is very strudy. The lowest layer is a collecting basin in which the humic acid rich tea collects. There is a nicely designed valve to get it out.

The upper layers are perforated so the tea can trickle down and the worms can migrate up..., which they seem to do very nicely.

It's worked very well, and as a basic, easy, beginner's experiment (describing myself), I recommend this product.

My ONLY complaint about it is that the snap~on legs SEEM brittle and not sturdy. They are sturdy..., but just have a cheap feel.

Last note: If you set this up outside as I have, put something heavy on the lid to discourage the neighborhood scavangers.

Adam.

You know you can put it inside. If you havn't lost the worms yet you will. I always had mine right in the kitchen with a cloth over it. Made it look like a table. It had no odor.....really. The worms don't live if it freezes.....not if they can't get in the ground. Glad you like it. I am thinking of getting the same Can-o-worms brand again. Still havn't replaced the old one but I sure miss it.

I just spent about an hour on the phone with a large-scale worm farm working out the details of a possible redworm co-op to offer here. They ship to all parts of the country all year and only suggest that, if you put a new batch of worms on your compost heap, you should cover them with, for example, an old piece of carpet, to provide a little insulation as they found their way down.

They said that, basically, as long as you understand that you are dealing with an animal and you give it the consideration you would give to another comparably vulnerable animal, you'll be fine.

I have to agree with fairyhunter; if you have them in a vertical container raised off the ground on legs, however sturdy the legs may be, it doesn't bode well for the worms in the dead of winter -- especially with the weather I've been hearing about lately in NYC.

Another subject that we discussed was the unneccessary expense people go to with worm habitats. The worm farmers use furrows. I will be using Rubbermaid bins in my greenhouse, which all the worm farmers and long-time vermiculturers I've been in touch with approve of as appropriate and adequate.

I'm interested in vermiculture for the castings as a high-quality soil additive, for the benefit of recycling food scraps into a useful material and for the savings that are offered by replacing purchased soil additives with this homemade one.

If I spend a fortune on an imported worm penthouse, there goes a year's worth of savings and, with it, part of the initial incentive.

By the way, what would you all think about a redworm co-op? I was able to negotiate a rate of $13 a pound including delivery; two pounds minimum (one pound would be $16).

PlanterRik If you offer Worms Please Put me on the list!Couple Lbs to a good home.Rtdr.

I still havn't purchased a new worm bin and I really liked the benefits of having the worms in the kitchen doing their thing. I forgot you can have any kind of water tight box with a lid. PlanterRik you just reminded me that when my oldest daughter was in Kindergarden the class had a big rubber box with a lid they kept worms in. Stacy said the only time she could smell it was when the kids got carried away and put things in that they didn't get permission such as half a baloney sandwich and too many apples on one day. This little story is certainly proof to anyone that if the school gave the ok to do this then it must not smell. The school discontinued this practice when the teacher left for another job.

Rik ~~~

Unlike rural folks, I have no option but to construct or purchase a freestanding worm farm. Look where I live: New York CITY. I imagine I could dig furrows, in asphalt with a jackhammer. The agreement under which I am cultivating a community garden does not permit me to install any structures, such as raised beds, etc.

For my gardening situation, the Can~O~Worms has worked out very well, being the right size, and something I could move into my apartment as the weather cooled. My house plants are loving the humic acid I've been feeding them.

As you can see, the "worm penthouse" way to go for an urban gardener.

Adam.

Rik, I'm game for a co-op purchase, as I never got around to purchasing my worms last fall.

If you haven't already, I'd post the idea as a separate thread here, and one over in the co-op forum.

I received a Can-o-Worms for a Christmas gift. Now I am anxiously awaiting my worms. It was ordered from a firm in California. They are sending me 2# this week. I hope they don't freeze! I think to buy them separately, they are $20.00 a pound.
I would be interested in a worm co-op also.

Under about 40 F or so, your worms will enter a dormant stage.

If they seem NOT ALIVE when they arrive, do not throw them away. Be patient. A little warmth and moisture they will wake up. You will lose some, however.

The worms C~elegans, used is scientific research, are regularly frozen to -112 F (no kidding) and then defrosted.

Worms are hardy little critters.

Adam.

Thanx Adam! You probably saved me from panicking when they arrive! My son is home during the day, so I have him watching out for the mailman or Fedex. The people at work think I'm nuts for being excited about getting worms!!! LOL

Glad to have the positive response to the Red Worm Co-op idea. I'll contact the supplier and do the final agreement before posting it around. They couldn't grasp the one-time co-op idea, so we worked it out in accordance with relationships they already have in place. I'll jump through the necessary hoops to become a commercial distributor, then I'll be able to offer the co-op at the lowest wholesale price, including delivery, that they can agree to with my estimated purchase (i.e., co-op participation), which was 100 lbs. That's the background on the price mentioned above.

Others who are interested, please post here, or email me (once the co-op is launched, I will request restraint in personal emails) -- not that I need to know now, but it would be reassuring to know that I am not sticking my neck out.

Adam -- I'm familiar with your circumstances, having misspent 20 years of my youth in Manhattan, and unless your requirements are more strict than those I experienced on the 20th floor of a high rise, I still see no necessity for the expense of the costly worm penthouse ("Can-O-Worms" or similar). If I still lived there and had use for worm castings, I'd still keep the worms in 18-gallon Rubbermaid bins that I can buy for around $3.50. Besides their being inexpensive, durable and easy to move, clean, etc., they offer the option of low-cost expansion. On the other hand, if it turns out that small-scale worm-ranching is not my cup-O-tea, there are other uses for the bins.

Still, my choice of plastic bins over commercial worm habitats is based on what I consider authoritative advice, not on personal experience, which is yet to come.

I asked the weather question, too. I was unsure that it would be safe to ship to northern states now. The suppliers said that they monitor the weather at the destination and, when possible (depending on the carrier), at transfer points. They supported Adam's information -- red worms are hardy, and, though they will die if left completely exposed at subfreezing temps, that circumstance is easy to avoid. [I think that freezing and thawing living worms requires special means of rapid freezing that are not available to most people.]

The species they offer is our domestic red worm, Eisenia foetida (known hereabouts as red wigglers). They recommend them as the best for processing organic matter/generating castings. They will be bed-run, but are good-sized and most have the clitellum (the lighter band indicating sexual maturity). Personally, I prefer bed-run (a mix of juveniles and adults) over all adults. 1,000 red worms is the usual estimate for one pound of adults. Obviously, including sub-adults increases this number. Adults only, it seems to me, would be more likely to include higher numbers of worms whose best ... weeks are behind them.

I will also get a price for the gray (light pink) earthworms they offer, Einsenia hortensis or the European nightcrawler. Red worms tend to stay near the surface, which reduces their usefulness as garden worms. This species of nightcrawler burrows from the surface to three feet underground and can penetrate hard-packed soil. This aerates and loosens the soil and spreads castings to a greater depth than red worms. For garden use/improvement, they recommend calculating your needs based on seven worms per square foot.

Nightcrawlers reproduce more slowly than red worms and grow larger, so the cost is higher. One pound is approximately 450 nightcrawlers.

If there is any interest, pure castings could be added to a worm co-op in gallons or cubic feet.

I think the red worm coop idea is a very good one and would sign up for 1 ~ 2 pounds to get a second worm can going here. Thanks for taking all the time and trouble to get this figured out.

Adam.

Rik - count me in. I certainly have enough bins from moving this past year and have been wanting to do this for several months. One nice thing about co-ops is they do provide the incentive to get started!

They'll need to include gloves and earmuffs for my worms - 13 degrees outside right now!