Tote Worm System

by Scotty
(TN)

I use the tote bin system. I have them in my cellar. I raise european nightcrawlers.

I sell them as fishing bait and I can sift them sometimes for their castings (about every 2 months)to use in my compost tea for my garden.

I've been doing this for 1 1/2 years. It's hard to keep up because I sell most of them, but they are breeding fast. I will have to buy more Euros from Worm Farming Revealed next season.

For the bedding, I used leaves that I raked up in fall from my yard, then I added some shredded paper recently since I'm out of leaves, and they are eating them. I once tried using peat moss but they didn't like that at all.

I love eating watermelon and cantelope and I save the rinds in a freezer bag in the freezer. Then I put about 2 handsize pieces into each of the bins once a week. I used to keep lids on the totes, but lately I noticed I have less crawl out if I just keep the lids off.

I sprinkle them with water once a month (about 1/2 cup) for moisture, they get some moisture from the melons. No drain holes so I'm careful of how much water I put in.

The reason I didn't cut drain holes is because Euros are deep burrowers and I was afraid they would crawl out the holes. But they seem happy with my system.

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Aug 06, 2014
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Tote Worm Farming System
by: Pauly

Thanks Scotty and very informative. This helps others feel a little more comfortable about raising European Nightcrawlers in a plastic container with no holes on the bottom.

I imagine that you would not need much moisture since you feed watermelon and cantaloupe rinds.

Great idea to leave lid off if you want them to stay down in the bedding. They don't like a dry environment and will stay in the bedding/food source.

Thanks again and all the best,
~Pauly

Sep 03, 2014
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Tote bins
by: Dale Robinson

It is a nice system to get started with. I like to put the melons through the blender to feed them. The melons only last a day or two when they are all chopped up and ready for them to chow down on.

The main problem with any bin of this type is that the can get too wet or too dry and it needs to be monitored fairly closely. Also, I've seen how some people like to divide out the bins when they get over crowded. How you do this will make a difference on how well you will continue to get fishing sized worms out of the system. Simply dividing the worms with the liter will result in getting nothing but little worms in an over crowded bin.

The best way to divide them is to remove all the worms from the compost and start the bins over with only about 1000 worms per bin. I just remove the top layer with the most worms in it and use a light table to separate them.

Sep 03, 2014
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Easy Way to Remove Worms from a Worm Bin
by: Pauly

Connie has shared with us her way of removing worms out of her worm bin.

Although this method has been around, her idea of using the netting was ingenious :)

Simple Garbage Can Worm Bins

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