5 dollar, 1/2 hour Worm Composting Bin(s)

5 dollar, 1/2 hour Worm Composting Bin(s)
No flashing lights, bikes or iPods here. Just worms in a box. Eating.

Update: Due to popular demand for information about how to care for worm bins, I'm thinking about writing a small book about the subject. Please let me know if you'd be interested in having a little worm bin manual! (Yes, I know there is another such book. I'd like to do one in a slightly different style.)

Years ago, when I was poor and under-employed, I craved a worm bin (aka vermicomposter), famous for the fastest compost in the West. I did research on the web, and found that commercial bins were expensive, as much as US$200 for an Australian multi-tray "worm farm", which was way too big for my apartment-dwelling self anyway.

That winter, I visited my sister in Oregon nursery country, and she had the brilliant idea to use nursery flats as trays.

I've seen simpler versions of worm bins, a 5 gallon bucket, or a big Rubbermaid tub with a lid. They probably work as well, at least until you want to harvest your worm castings, which you must sift out of the newer bedding and food scraps. The tray version allows you to segregate old from new, in just a few minutes.

Mine has a couple of issues I have not gotten around to solving, more on that in the last couple of steps.

Update, Sept. '07: After all these years, I finally realized how easy it would be to separate the liquid from the food and castings. The castings I had been getting were thick mud.

Enter the filter! I lined the next to bottom tray with heavy shade cloth, usually used overhead for shading plants, etc. You'll see it in the shade plant section of the nursery where you go to get your flats. I'll post photos later.

Onward to the building part...

Update, : May 28, 2008 See step 7 for some info on how I harvest the castings.

Update March '09: There seems to be a steady stream of questions about how to maintain worm bins. People seem to want more detail than I have provided here, so I'm thinking about writing a small book.

Please let me know, preferably via comment or private message, what delivery method you'd prefer. Paper book?, e-book? I kind of like the image of an intrepid composter outside, muddy hands clutching a Kindle. ;-)

 
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Step 1Get your stuff together

Get your stuff together
I bought 5 nursery flats (the trays that hold a bunch of small, square pots. They are also used to grow ground cover and grasses in. (you buy the whole flat of plants). [people outside the US, please let me know what's used in your country].

A gruff old country nursery man sold me the flats for seventy-five cents each.

You'll need:

- 3-5 (or more if you eat a lot of vegetables) nursery flats

- a piece of heavy 3-5 mil plastic sheeting, big enough to line one tray with a couple of inches coming out over the top edge. This will be the bottom tray. Another piece to lay over the top as a lid is optional. Better yet, a piece of screen to keep pesky flies out.

- shredded or torn paper for bedding. I first used newspaper, then got a big bag of "cross-cut" shredded office paper from the Accounting dept. It works great, and I don't have to tear paper or put it through a home shredder any more.

- 1 small stick for spreading bedding and food scraps.

- about a pound ( a little less will do fine) of red wriggler worms

- optional lid to keep varmints and light out. I used a scrap of wood.

- food scraps, vegetable matter only! No fats. More on this later.
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103 comments
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Jul 21, 2011. 7:43 PMSIRJAMES09 says:
(removed by author or community request)
Mar 4, 2009. 2:05 PMKelly Williams says:
Thank you so much for this! I have been wanting a worm bin and couldn't understand why they were all so expensive. This is the perfect solution! I can't wait to get started. Where do you place your worm bin trays, out of the direct sun? Are they sensitive to temps?
Apr 13, 2009. 7:49 AMcallorama says:
Hi, I just made my own bin last week using empty baby-wipe containers. Used 2: placing one with some drainage holes inside the other one. Worms have been doing well there for the 2nd week. I am using a combination of backyard warms (about 120 of them) and red wigllers (60). So far so good :)
Feb 1, 2011. 7:38 PMNikNice says:
Oh cool! I wondered if I could but my multitude of backyard worms to work!
Mar 20, 2009. 10:14 PMKelly Williams says:
I think you should absolutely write your book!
Feb 1, 2011. 7:40 PMNikNice says:
I live in The Bay too!!! Should I keep mine on cement or can I put it in the dirt???
If you are local I would LOVE the name of the place to get the nursery bins as well! I do not yet know how to dens a personal message, can you send me one?
Jul 15, 2011. 6:34 PMcaarntedd says:
These trays are similar to those used by bakers to stack loaves in, and also greengrocers for the display of fruit and vegetables. I'm in Australia.
Dec 25, 2008. 9:33 PMbac512 says:
while I haven't done this project yet, I would suggest going to the hardware or paint store and buying a plastic drop cloth, make sure ya get one of the thicker ones though, and not the really cheap ones....
Nov 17, 2010. 12:10 PMDIY-Guy says:
Sometimes a plastic shower curtain is available at so-called "dollar stores" or "99 cent" stores. That would be in the u. s. of A., dunno about other places.
May 25, 2009. 11:22 AMmanatees says:
is it okay to use a nursery flat that has a closed bottom for the base?
Nov 17, 2010. 12:07 PMDIY-Guy says:
Would it be unethical to buy the flats for a crop of fast growing flowers, and then recycle the flats? Since they would be purchased for the purpose of growing flowers.... :)
Oct 3, 2010. 1:09 PMwisk778 says:
Way back when (2006) I posted a question about using non native worms because I was woried about them should they escape into the local landscape 9 (my property borders forest land). Your suggestion to start the bin in direct contact with the ground and "see what critters crawl up into it" was very good. It attracted worms and sow bugs (AKA wood lice- from the forest land) and they started right to work but it took a couple of months to breed to the volume necessary for the compost created by my family of 5. It has been going for three years and is still going strong. Many Thanks.
Jul 7, 2010. 9:19 PMRisingSun says:
A few people have commented that Red Wrigglers are an invasive species and you should avoid introducing them into your garden. Although freezing your compost to kill the worms and worm eggs is completely harmless otherwise to your soil in the case of red wrigglers it's not really a necessary step. Some information I found: "The worm predominantly sold for composting is the red wiggler or red tiger worm, Eisenia fetida. It has a rusty brown color with alternating yellow and maroon bands down the length of its body; a pigmentless membrane separates each segment. It grows up to three inches long and is highly prolific. Though the worm has established itself in the wild here, so far it has not been identified as a problem species. Another popular compost species, the red worm, Lumbricus rubellus, is causing trouble, however, and should be avoided. It also grows up to three inches long and has a history of being confused with E. fetida. This worm is dark red to maroon, has a light yellow underside, and lacks striping between segments. " Hope that helps to clear things up. :-)
Oct 13, 2009. 8:51 PMtreesneedtobehugged says:
They also have a company called terracycle who do just about the same thing as in India except they make worm tea and make several other recycled products for the home and garden check out there website at
Ctrl+Vhttp://www.terracycle.net/
Aug 1, 2009. 5:08 PMkidbullitt says:
my brother the fisherman... hahahaha
Jul 21, 2009. 10:04 PMgrruhrick says:
http://grr-uh-rick.tumblr.com/]This was a very informative instructable. Here's the bin that I made... It's working out pretty well, and it's been running for about 2 months. It's amazing how all these little organisms just appear out of nowhere.
Jun 29, 2009. 7:24 AMLynnieC says:
I saved the round, stackable dehydrator trays after my first dehydrator motor went out. You can buy the plastic screens that fit the trays perfectly if you want a smaller screen. The bottom is already solid eliminating the need to line with plastic. It comes with a lid that is flat. Perfect idea to recycle something that otherwise would be thrown out.
Jul 14, 2009. 10:59 PMLynnieC says:
-The holes are triangular and large enough for my worms to pass up and down on the various levels. - The edges are smooth...to make my trays deeper (because each dyhydrator tray is only about 2 inches deep) I actually cut the bottoms out of every other tray, used my dremmel to smooth the edges and glued the empty ring on top of the tray with the aerated bottom to make three levels. -The dehydrator I have has the motor/wires/electrical unit in the top and that I discarded when I burnt up the motor. There are no electrical wires at all in my worm farm. -And no...it is not more efficient to replace the motor...it was just as cheap to buy a new one and save the extra trays for rotation of dehydrating when I had my children at home...they are grown and gone and it was nice to find a use for the extra trays I had taking up space in my pantry. -Finally, I want to thank you for your web site as it was the only one that actually gave the "details" as to what it takes to have a worm farm. This is so fun! :0)
Jul 19, 2006. 7:29 AMIngerson says:
It's possible to make a wormery using a concrete slab and old car tires. Place slab on an even surface, put an old newspaper flat on it and place a tire on it. Scrunch up some paper and cardbaord and stuff it inside the tire. Then add some veg peelings/egg shells/untreated cardboard to it and then add worms. Apparently tiger worms work best in wormeries. As you tire fills up, add another one on top. Keep a board on the top to keep flies away from the rotting veg and when it is 4 tires high slide the bottom tire out and use as the contents as compost. Worms aren't too keen on onions or citrus fruit or meats but love all other vegetable/garden waste. Also egg boxes, hair (human or pet), egg shells, vacuum cleaner contents (as long as it is mainly dust and hair), newspaper. Have a look at http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/foundcategory.lasso?category_id=1&-session=shopper:8BB81E13118e220B26Yjrg4C2114
as that is where I got my worms and supplies from.

Jul 7, 2009. 1:03 PMjase_in_vermont says:
Red wiggler compost worms (Eisenia fetida) are also sometimes called red worms, redworms, manure worms, brandling worms, red wrigglers, and tiger worms. They're all the same species. They are by far the most common compost worms.

The only other species in common use is the European Nightcrawler, Eisenia hortensis. African Nightcrawlers, Eudrillus eugeniae, are also starting to become a bit popular.
Jul 19, 2006. 7:34 AMIngerson says:
"You need to be adding more fibre such as egg cartons and inside of kitchen rolls, or even newspaper. Aim for about a quarter of your waste being this type of material."
Jun 18, 2009. 8:31 PMjase_in_vermont says:
Howdy, nice alternative to the store-bought multi-level bins. Those things can be pricey!

I've been vermicomposting for about 5 years now, and I prefer to use a simple wooden box with about 3 square feet of surface area. I find that wood works a bit better than plastic or styrofoam. Wood breathes better, and also absorbs any excess moisture (helps keep the bin from getting wet and smelly).

I have photos up on my blog of the hemlock worm bins I build (sorry, no step-by-step on instructables, yet):
http://vermontworms.com/red-wiggler-compost-worm-bin/

Whatever material you use, enjoy vermicomposting. It's pretty neat to see your bin slowly filling up with the richest compost around!
Jul 7, 2009. 12:54 PMjase_in_vermont says:
Howdy Marcos, any chance you can email the name of that nursery flat manufacturer? We start a lot of veggie seeds indoors each year, and I've been looking for nursery flats sturdy enough to use year-after-year.

I do want to try a multi-level worm bin like you've built just to see how well they work. I'll probably make mine out of wood and galvanized 1/8" hardware cloth, however. That will let me make it whatever size I like, probably 2' square. I'll post an instructable if that works out.

As far as the work of harvesting worms/compost goes: it depends. The traditional method of building pyramids of castings and then letting the worms migrate downward into a clump of nearly pure worms as the pile dries is very easy and works pretty well, but does take some time.

I actually built myself a rotary worm harvester this past weekend, which works extremely well. It's a scaled-down and simplified version of commercial trommel screen worm harvesters like this:
http://www.jetcompost.com/harvesters/2430-2.jpg. Another potential Instructable, I suppose.

As far as posting my hemlock worm bin as a "commercial product", I don't actually sell them at this time. I recommend wood to new worm composters only because I've found it to be more forgiving than plastic. As I said, though, I haven't tried a multi-level bin like that in this Instructable, yet. I would guess that they're less likely to suffer from excessive moisture than the typical Rubbermaid bin that most people start with.
Apr 13, 2009. 7:45 AMcallorama says:
I just bought a container (45-55) red wigglers from a pet shot for about $4.29 USD- There was about 60 worms inside and many were about 1-2 inches long. May be 2-3 that were about 3 inches. Near a pond, a live bait seller sells 15 for $3 but they are much larger that the ones I bought. Just my 2 cents! :)
Mar 30, 2009. 10:42 AMAdrianaG says:
Other than in the bottom bin do you routinely add shredded paper to the top bins along with the vegetable scraps?
Feb 28, 2009. 6:23 PMCarolynW says:
You asked about what other people use in other countries, I lived in SA for 2 years and used old bathtubs (with legs), the drain hole provided the drainage for the worm tea, and I piled stuff on one end (ie 1/3 of the tub) then move to the next 1/3 and when i get to the last 1/3 I harvest the first 1/3. Its a good capacity bin!
Feb 28, 2009. 6:24 PMCarolynW says:
SA being South Africa
Feb 15, 2009. 9:53 PMmicorneus says:
Good Stuff! Some questions, tho. I see 5 trays in your pics, bedding on the bottom and food on the top, what about the middle trays. Do you put anything in those? Also, the food on the top is not covered? How do you harvest the castings on the bottom if the worms 'like that area for a living room'? Or did I miss something?
Jan 18, 2009. 11:53 AMsnooksmalone says:
You can also get red wigglers for a lot less at the a pet store. Usually near the live fish and lizard food.
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Author:Marcos
I love to design and make things; and am currently developing a variety of small consumer products. If you have business and marketing expertise to share, please contact me.