What do worms eat in a worm farm? Learn how to build a worm farm with videos in this blog, c'mon let's do it!

Worms are a simple complicated small animal, hard workers
most of us don't realize they are underfoot working hard.

This blog is an explanation on how I construct Worm Farm bins from easily obtainable plastic totes, the same ones we purchase for storage of our Christmas decorations. They are available at all hardware stores and many big box stores, it is best to purchase a set from the same store due to differences in manufacturing. A bin may be rated as an 18-inch box at two different outlets and because of the manufacturing methods the lids are not interchangeable, and they will not nestle together properly. Both are directly related to the success of the colony. Purchase the darkest color possible, do not use clear boxes worms don't do well in the light.

Use new bins, I have three used bins that I am now using, they were a challenge to clean properly. They were difficult to clean because I did not know what was in them, these had dry goods in them for many years in my neighbors' garage, he tossed them in the trash heap and I rescued them. If you do choose to use containers that stored something else, clean them well, and perform the "triple rinse".

One of the totes had a problem, after cleaning it and setting it up to receive the first group of Red Wigglers I added them in. They were obviously avoiding one corner of the bin, it was a space about 4"x4", the bin is 20"x24". The affected area was not large in comparison. I decided to feed the worms at the opposite end of the enclosure and as the castings were produced move them into that corner, burying it. That worked, it was about a year ago and today the colony is thriving with a few thousands of worms in it. I did not clean the bin completely and unfortunately did not find out until the worms rejected it, that's part of Vermiculture.

A typical worm farm constructed of
plastic totes, notice the cups and the
drip pan under the boxes.

So let's get going on building some worm bins:

We need two totes, they will both be built identically alike, they work together. The tools you will need are

1- A drill motor.

2- 1/4 inch drill "bit"

3- A marker suitable to be seen on plastic and

4- A straight edge 2-4 feet long.


5- We need spacers to place under the bin for air flow. Nothing fancy, just equal size spacers, old children's blocks work great, as do empty medicine bottles. Paper cups were used in the photo above.

The first thing we do is to set the bin on a flat table of comfortable height, remove the lid and flip the box so the bottom is facing towards the sky or ceiling. Holes need to be "laid out" and drilled, it is recommended no less than 20 holes on the bottom, I more than double that. There are 4 important requirements for raising worms, Water, Bedding, Food, and abundant Air. Warm air accumulates in the bin, rising to the top and out the holes, the natural draft draws fresh cool air in through the bottom holes, proper aspiration will be achieved when the holes in the bottom equal the holes in the top.

The Lid laid out for holes.

The top and bottom should have the same amount
of air holes.

Laid out with 2-inch centers, the bin above is ready for the holes, drill at each intersection. Make holes in the center of the squares on the lid until an equal number as the bottom.

The inlet must equal the same total open area on the top and bottom or the air may stall in the box. In this 18 inch box, I laid out and drilled 45 holes, on the bottom they are on 2-inch centers. Start on one edge of the box, place a mark 3 inches from the edge of the box from all 4 sides, a small dot will do. Next, draw a line from one dot to the next forming a square on the bottom. Determine how many holes you choose to drill, some commercial boxes have 100 or more holes, I feel 30-40 is an optimal amount. Determine in the square the spacing of the holes, draw the lines the long side and the narrower ends, measure the desired spacing draw the lines and at every intersection drill a hole. Now let me toss a wrench in the works, determine how many holes you want and eyeball them, no measuring just drill 30 to 40 holes randomly, you, and the worms will be OK with that. I laid out and drilled the holes for demonstration purposes, normally I don't go to great pains to lay the holes out, I draw a few lines and begin to drill, I do it that way because if I don't the holes have no symmetry at all, I am not artistic in the least. Now take out your pocket knife and knock the "Irish Pennants" from the inside of the bottom.

Second is the lid, In the same manner, lay out the holes on the lid, it's a little more of a challenge due to the reliefs formed in the plastic making the lid not flat. Drill 25 holes in the top, again knock the Irish Pennants from the far side of the lid. For future bins, this lid may be used as a template for the top and bottom. I have a heavy plastic box I constructed a plywood lid for, I drilled the holes in the same pattern as above, I use it as a template.

(This Link will lead you to my video demonstrating how to build worm bins.)

Now we need 20 more holes, these will be drilled on the outer top edge of the box. Measure an inch or more below the outer lip of the box, mark equally spaced marks on the line, drill a hole at each intersection, more holes are better than less. Drill holes around the entire circumference of the container, remove the plastic "burrs" from the inside of these as well.

It is not shown on my video or a photo but the bottom sides need holes drilled as well. 4 inches from the bottom draw a line around the circumference and scribe a mark every 2-3 inches then drill a hole at each spot. I had a bin that the worms were looking sickly, the moisture was correct, the bedding was OK, and they had food. It pointed to a lack of air, I made a decision to drill more holes, it was successful the worms are doing fine

The lid laid out, any pattern will work, the photo above shows the cover of the bin laid out and ready to drill.

Do not use a drill bit over the diameter of 5/16 inch, my nemesis is mice, I had a bad experience with them. I saw a bin floating down the river, being the borderline hoarder that I am, (I am still in the "collector" stage), after several attempts with a rope I got it. It looked like it was a worm bin, how was lucky that? The holes were just a little oversized is all, but heck it'll do just fine. I cleaned it up, made some bedding, added a bit of food and then added some nightcrawlers that I was raising in plastic 5-gallon buckets, there were about 2,000 worms in total. The bin had 1/2 inch holes drilled in it, way too big, but this is how we learn isn't it? The next morning all of the bedding was scattered all over the garage floor and my worms were gone, how many mice were involved? I have no idea, but either a few had big appetites or many had just a sampling, I don't know. I replaced that bin and had to start all over, at the very maximum use 5/16 inch holes, I strongly recommend 1/4 inch, if a worm will fit through them they will work fine.

Make the second box to match the first, we need one to start, in fact, it will be a few months until the second bin is needed, we can wait to make it, I generally do just that. Before adding our worms to the bin there are a few more things to do, add bedding, moisture and a bit of food. Worms literally eat their way through their environment, the bed must be edible for them, several materials can be employed, I will explain how I make mine.

Worm bedding is made up of "Carbon" and "Protein", the carbon consists of organic material such as coconut coir, cotton fiber material, paper, cardboard and tree leaves. The protein consists of foodstuffs, vegetable, some fruit, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, and all other human food. Avoid citrus, hot peppers, an overabundance of fruit, onions, meat, fat, oils, bones and scat from meat-eating animals. What the worms are fed depends on what kind of castings are desired, I do not use animal scat, meat or bones ever due to the possibility of creating Pathogens, when spread on the vegetable garden Pathogens could cause serious illness or worse. Some worm farms exist to compost that type of waste, I use my castings on vegetables, I won't take the risk of contamination.

(This Link will lead to my video demonstrating how to add bedding to the completed totes, one a transfer bin, and the second is a starter bin)

Dried leaves make up most of my bedding, but there are some to avoid: Green Bay leaves, Eucalyptus leaves and Citrus tree leaves are the main ones. I use a large amount of Bay Leaves after they are crunchy dry when green they have an oil on the exterior that may harm the colony. My first choice is Pecan or Black walnut, although any leaves will do fine with the exception of those 3 listed, it's the shiny waxy covering on the leaves that cause the problem with the worms. I have not used Eucalyptus or Citrus, that would be an experiment I don't care to begin. I place the leaves in a large vessel (bucket), I chop up the eggshells as fine as possible and toss them in the bucket, I tear or cut clear cardboard into 1-1/2 inch or smaller pieces, sometimes I will shred them if I can separate the layers of cardboard. I toss in the coffee grounds and the filter, add a few tea bags, I then add water to the bucket, about 1/2 full, mixing the bucket contents by hand and then let the bucket rest for at least 24 hours for the leaves to soak up as much water as possible. The next day I drain the water from the bucket and mix the contents until everything is wet. I always add finely chopped eggshells to the bed, there are two reasons 1) The calcium is a neutralizer, if the bed becomes acidic they will neutralize it. 2) Worms have gizzards, they use the eggs shells to grind their food. It's the same reason I use the leaves, first growth vegetation has a lot of silica in it, sand, they use it in their crops as well. Coconut Coir and Peat Moss work equally well in the bed mixture, they don't have much nutritional value for one and secondly, they have to be purchased. One of the goals of raising worms is to spend the least amount of money as possible, most of us are in this to get to zero waste as inexpensively as we are able to manage. That is actually one of the fun parts about this endeavor, making an initial investment and receiving a return in the form of fertilizer, fishing worms, and soil amendments for a low cost.

A photo showing the top vent holes, an equal number needs to
be drilled on the bottom, 4 inches up.

We have constructed the beginning bin, a piece of cardboard now needs to be laid covering the bottom holes so the worms won't leave through the bottom, cut the cardboard to fit and place it in dry. This is the only time the bottom will have to be blocked, from now on it will only be used when it is time for the worms to move from the bottom bin to the top. The wigglers will consume the cardboard on the bottom, and some of it will compost, by the time the castings are moved from it that bottom shield will be gone. 

One more piece of cardboard will be needed to be placed on top of the bedding to keep it moist A newspaper is preferred by many worm farmers, I use cardboard and a section of the newspaper, I soak them until they are soaking wet. Normally I will let it soak while I feed the worms and add bedding.

On top of the cardboard add compost at any level of decomposition, mixing it with a pint of castings if they are available will "jump start" the composting process. Castings are desirable but if they are not available don't fret, the first few worms will add some and the beneficial micro-organisms will catch up. A layer of organic compost 1 inch thick will not be an obstacle to the colony, they will consume it as well.

(What do the worms eat? Follow this Worm food Link.)

Red Wigglers live above the completely composted organic material, moving between the near compost and the freshly laid bedding above it. It is my goal to imitate the natural environment of the worms, all of my bedding with the exception of shredded paper is cut to the size of leaves. I am fortunate I have time to sit and cut up cardboard with scissors, ripping it up works as well, it is rough on the hands. 

The final step is the bucket of bedding needs to be spread over the compost on the bottom to form a 6-inch layer of bedding. Place a small amount of food on one end of the bin, don't bury it, cover it. I use the coffee filters (used) laying one under the food and one covering the food then cover this with the leaves on the bottom. Be certain the bedding is moist, take a handful and squeeze it, two drops of water shows it is the correct level. After a short while with experience moisture content is easily evaluated by touch and sight. Symptoms of too much moisture is excessive condensation on the inside of the lid, and an extreme amount of leachate in the drip pan under the box.

Under the box place spacers, I show a 2x4 that I split to use, anything as long as they are equal in size will work, we just want an air space. Place a drip pan, a tote lid or plastic sheeting under the box to catch the leachate, it may be used diluted in the garden as well.

Wood blocks are used as spacers in this photo.

Now is when we add the worms, leave them in the center of the bottom, they may be balled up, resist the urge to pull them apart. Set the entire ball in the center on the top, close the lid and don't bother them for seven days, their stress level is high as shown by their being balled up, a normal activity until they relax. There are a number of theories people have on why they ball up, one reason is stress and the reason I leave them alone. A scientist in Norway has done studies about why they do it, his hypothesis is that is how they communicate, it could be so, they do communicate somehow, but that's another blog.

A parting bit of advice, just like Motel Six, leave a light on, the worms won't venture into the light. Some worm farmers have a situation where the worms crawl out of the farm and in the morning are all over the floor. I have found when that happened to me to leave the garage light above the boxes on all of the time. That is not my original idea, I read it online in one of the forums.

Thanks for reading and sharing my blog, leave a comment, suggestion or story, do you raise worms? How do you make your bedding, what do you feed your herd? Let me know, Thanks again.

jacquesandkate EmergencyKitsPlus.com