Worm Condo Composter

Step 4 Setting up the condo

The untouched bin goes in the bottom. Put the small plastic containers in the corners to act as risers. Stackable containers don't allow for much room between bins when they're stacked one inside the other. Also, worm bins do generate liquids and if you give it melon rinds and ignore it, it can generate a lot of liquid!
Place your first full bin on the risers and add your worms. If you put a lid on it, your worms are less likely to escape. As you fill bins, add them to the stack. Need compost or run out of bins? Take a look in the bottom bin. It should be compost and ready to reuse. If you're just setting up and the bottom bin is still scraps, you'll need to acquire and perforate more bins. An established worm colony can eat through my garbage in under a month. I've heard it can take about 3 months to establish a colony.

Comments

[richiebleu]

If we are composting outside, would it be fine to have a tray just collect the drippings or is there some benefit for the worms to have a bottom bin that has no holes.

[marmandec]

The bin with no holes just catches the drippings. A tray would work beautifully too :)

[marinekid]

How do the worms get from the bottom to the top? They can't fly (can they?? jks).

 

[Pizzapie500]

So the middle bin you put newspaper (can i put packing paper??) the top bin u put food and the bottom one is sewage? On a utube video i saw that they used two bins, same way you did it except 1 bin carried the newspaper, also can u use cardboard?

[cinderbelle]

I have a question for you. What do you do with the bins that have been eaten through by the worms? Is there any way to clean them out and reuse them versus buying more bins? I'm also curious as to how long this method of worm composting has worked for you. Are all the castings and liquid found in the bottom bin with the risers?

[marmandec]

The content if the bins that have been eaten through gets added to my garden and I reuse the bins. Only the liquids (and sometimes some small worms) are in the bottom bin with the risers. I've been using this worm bin system for about 7 months now. My decision to expand my system is based more on laziness than anything else. I've been toping up the bins in the basement instead of doing a bin shuffle. More bins means the worms have more time to eat through the layers and you get compost sooner.

[cinderbelle]

Thank you! That clears it up for me.