r/Vermiculture • • 22h ago

Discussion Building a Commercial Worm Farm

Thumbnail
gallery
355 Upvotes

I finished moving! Here are some pictures throughout the move in process.

Among the first things was getting in the CFT. I had an older one from Terra Vesco (the same ones seen in the little big farm documentary) but I sold it so I could scale up. The new one is from Wormgear.

I had 14 racks of worm bins already in use at my old space (moving a commercial worm farm is no joke!), but with the additional square footage I built 7 more, placing my total bins a bit over 1,000. Each tray will have between 800-5,000 red wigglers at a time depending on where it is in the process.

Whenever I move the trommel in the back of my truck people say it looks like a rocket launcher haha.

And when you have 3000+ gallons of manure being decomposed in an indoor system, ventilation is key so I'm working on that currently but for now this shutter fan is doing the trick.

But I'd say we're totally moved in now and shipping off the healthiest red wigglers known to man!

I'll answer just about any question. The business is Hungry Worms and you can also find lots of info there on the website


r/Vermiculture • • 8h ago

Discussion Blatticomposting

6 Upvotes

Hello. This post might be removed but I think it’s related so will give it a shot.

Does anyone do blatticomposting (using very specific, non-pest, cockroaches). I’m in Canada and trying to find the appropriate cockroaches.

I’m pretty shocked that this isn’t happening more widely or to a larger scale because it creates a lot of great outputs including compost, feeder insects, a source of high protein, and starter colonies for others ( in addition to dealing with food wastes).

Any input and thoughts on this?


r/Vermiculture • • 8h ago

Advice wanted What is this in my compost?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4 Upvotes

The clump of wiggling dots is new. What is it? Friend or foe?


r/Vermiculture • • 3h ago

Advice wanted Few questions

1 Upvotes

1 i plan on using rubbermaid container as the worm bin i got air holes drill into it but what else should i do before adding worms

2 are red wiggler the best option the bin will be indoors a garage even during winter

3 are there any risk to using leaf litter as brown in worm bin


r/Vermiculture • • 17h ago

Discussion Starter pack (I’m three months in)

Post image
9 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture • • 5h ago

Discussion Taking the worms to an event in Tampa.

Post image
1 Upvotes

Do you take your worms to any events to educate others about worm farming?


r/Vermiculture • • 20h ago

Worm party Composting. These came out of nowhere. I am wondering what they are

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

13 Upvotes

So I've had a composting bucket for years. Just something I throw random food scraps in when I cook. Have never been able to get worms in it but not for lack of trying I once caught a bunch of earthworms after it rained and brought them home and threw them in and they disappeared. Recently I lifted the lid and saw all these fellows. The bucket has holes so it can breathe but they are on the sides and it's pretty compacted. The lid fits snuggly so it doesn't let out a strong odor as I live in an apartment complex. I'm wondering what kind of worms they are and if they are good or bad?


r/Vermiculture • • 7h ago

Discussion Help with identifying

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Hello guys,
Long story short i bought a package of Eisenia Fetida in july. Being a beginner, i just thought the larges part of them were dead from the package. Started the colony with a few of them in a box. A few days ago, when tilling the raised beds i found a "clump" of worms. The rubbish bin where i placed the container with the "dead" ones is near the greenhouse. Can you help me identify if what i found are nightcrawlers or EF.


r/Vermiculture • • 1d ago

Advice wanted This worm business isn't going too well

Thumbnail
gallery
17 Upvotes

I started vermicomposting this year in spring. I had a maybe a cup worth of worms from a friend, then enough for a bucket which can you see on the first picture. The soil I added had too much clay and small rocks as seen on the second picture. The thing on top is cardboard. I'd add coffee grounds, tea leaves and cucumber peels once a week and lately every time there would be around five earthworms on the lid. So now I added better soil and broke it up a bit...I expected a lot more earthworms though. They were mainly at the top...

So how bad is it, from your profession opinion?


r/Vermiculture • • 1d ago

ID Request Unidentified worm south Australia Adelaide hills

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

It had rained the night before. Soil rich and peaty with clay deposits, approximately 30cm deep when it becomes primarily clay.

Little thing looked very leech-y when they were moving, with the head sort of flattening into a... tapered shape; not in movement, but in body. Unfortunately didn't get any pictures of that :(

They moved a lot, unlike other worms which tend to still when handled in my experience. They were uprooted along with some seaside daisies. Eager to squirm back into the dirt when placed down. Had normal worm locomotion though, with the ability to contract and stretch their body despite the thrashing they were doing.

As you can see, they were quite dark on the dorsal side, almost purple; ventral side was a tan colour. No clitellum I can see. Might be a Planarian?

Please help. I wish I'd kept them.


r/Vermiculture • • 1d ago

Advice wanted Can I raise worms I find in my backyard?

2 Upvotes

I found I bunch under rocks and wood, and put them in a worm farm I made with a 5 gallon bucket. will they survive and breed? im gonna use them for fishing when there are the right size, and I don't think they are jumping worms because they were calm when I picked it up. I also asked AI but it said I should dump it out and buy some worms online which I don't want to do.


r/Vermiculture • • 2d ago

ID Request A worm with an axe-like head

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

112 Upvotes

Could you help me identify this little guy? I found it in Japan, if that helps. It was about a meter long.


r/Vermiculture • • 1d ago

ID Request What kind of larvae are in my bin?

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

The first picture is a leaf I froze and put in my bin. I noticed these little guys squirming around a few days later. My second picture is an apple core that was also frozen and placed in the bin. I think they might be fruit fly larvae, but they don't look like the pictures I have found. Can someone identify what's in either picture, and are they bad for the worms?


r/Vermiculture • • 2d ago

Advice wanted Are these Asian jumping worms

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

11 Upvotes

Bunch of different worms in my bin but I noticed these ones look different.


r/Vermiculture • • 2d ago

Discussion Which types of worm should I use?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, so I want to start my very first vermicomposting and confused to choose which types of worm should I use between Eisenia fetida and Perionyx excavatus. The kind of waste that will be dump into the bin are mostly rice (which not really good for worm's main food as I know), if anyone have other suggestions which worm I should use please leave it in the comment section🙇


r/Vermiculture • • 2d ago

Advice wanted Asian jumping Worms

Post image
2 Upvotes

Where do they come from? They have invaded my compost pile. I thought they were good earth worms until I uncovered one and it had a green sheen and flat band that looked odd. Pulled out slithered like snake and jumped when touched them.


r/Vermiculture • • 2d ago

Discussion Are earthworms bigender?

0 Upvotes

Like they hawe both male and female organs so i think we can asume they feal alined with both genders
this question is killing me can sowane smarter then me answer


r/Vermiculture • • 3d ago

Advice wanted Pre-compost potential fly infestation vector?

3 Upvotes

Hi! Recently acquired a new worm farm a handful of days ago so still figuring this out.

My current set up I have is a tumbler compost bin and a 3 tier worm farm/cafe. We’re dumping kitchen scraps into the compost bin with the aim to feed the worms from the composting bin weekly or whatever schedule works out best. Compost is roughly 70-80% browns to greens (lots of shredded cardboard/paper tissues).
Was planning on this setup since Ive read worms tend to prefer slightly decomposed bacteria laden scraps over fresh food.

My concern is I’ve noticed some flies and gants hanging around the compost bin. I suppose its to be expected and its nothing insane and its definitely not infestation levels but it got me wondering if Im setting myself up for failure here. By feeding from the composting bin do I introduce the risk of introducing a bunch of fly larvae into my bin and is there ways to mitigate this?
Or do i just do away with the precompost step and go straight to feeding the worms?


r/Vermiculture • • 4d ago

Advice wanted Help...solve the mystery...

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

...of what the heck I'm doing wrong? I have a worm factory 360, and I got the worms (half red wigglers, half European) from Uncle Jim's worm farm. They are kept inside the house (in the kitchen), and out of direct sunlight. I mince everything I put in, and the moisture is about damp spongeish. I will put a spritz of mist on the cardboard I'm adding, but nothing else other than food, usually about 1/2lb a week of scraps, or when I open the bin and nothing is visible.

However, for rhe last week, the worms have been dying. I come down every morning to 3-4 escapees dead outside the bin, and the castings tray is starting to be full of dead worms.

Help! What is going on??


r/Vermiculture • • 4d ago

Discussion Surf & Turf

3 Upvotes

Heading down to the coast this weekend and toying with the idea of bringing back a few buckets of seaweed to add to the worms food supply.

Apart from giving it a good rinse to remove the salt, are there any other things I should watch out for?

Keen to hear if anyone else is using seaweed in their setup and how they’ve found it.


r/Vermiculture • • 4d ago

Advice wanted Adding in worm food to keep more earthworm castings in a raised bed?

Post image
3 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture • • 5d ago

Discussion ANC’s Log: Entry #5

Post image
3 Upvotes

Much of the same. Babies are fine. Just fed some pre compost.


r/Vermiculture • • 6d ago

Video Nate Schmidt is very excited to talk about his worm farm 🪱

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

314 Upvotes

r/Vermiculture • • 5d ago

Finished compost Bokashi and Worms

12 Upvotes

After a few previous posts about having way too much food for my worms, I thought I’d give bokashi a go to help break it all down and spread out the feeding a bit.

The worms were happy and healthy before I added the first batch of fermented food, but now I’m wondering if I’ve made a mistake!

Has anyone else tried feeding bokashi to their worms? Keen to hear how others have gone with it and whether I’ve stuffed up here?


r/Vermiculture • • 5d ago

New bin New Compost

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

I've set up a garden compost bin and plan to put vegetable and fruit scraps, as well as cardboard and leaves, in it. I hope it works out.