Vermicoast

I receive many questions either via email or on the phone regarding this issue. Here are some of them.

Questions  regarding the bedding for worms in their bins has been an ongoing and recurring theme.  Since the bedding is a vital component of the worm bin, this a good place to start.

Q: Can I use office paper once it is shredded?

A: Yes, all papers will work in the worm bins. The smaller the particle size the faster it will be consumed by the worms. I always keep both dry and soaked paper on hand, as I find that one bin will be too damp or even wet and another will be in need of wet paper as it has dried out. Just about all inked paper is soy based ink now. You can shredded glossy junk mail and magazines to use as bedding and it works well. Glossy paper is made with a ceramic slurry base, which when you soak it is removed and safe for the worms. Soak it for at least 24 hours before you wring it out and fluff it up for your bin use. The left over water can be used over again many times to soak more paper. When you think of your home and all the paper which either goes to the landfill or to your recycle bin, IE, paper towels and their cardboard inserts, it is the same for toilet paper roll inserts, you will find endless sources of paper for the shredder.

Q. Why is the paper bedding so important to the worm’s bin ?

A.  For a variety of reasons: the bedding is a site to bury their food in.  It is a place for them to mate in, leave their cocoons to mature, a haven when it may be too hot or cold outside the bin for the worms to be insulated within.  Finally it is a food source for them.  You will find that when the bin is ready for harvest in 4 to 6 months the bedding will almost all have been consumed by the worms.

Here, at Vermicoast, I have found that the worms I raise: Eisenia Fetida, have grown accustomed to newspaper and junk mail, as it is plentiful supply.  The worms  have adapted so well to it that I encourage my clients, who are first time worm bin users to continue to use it no matter what their worm bins have provided for them as a bedding material.  Newspaper over peat moss, office papers over coir fiber,  as I have found the worms will adapt readily to their new bin with what they have been accustomed to, especially in new bin surroundings.

Q. Why do you wring out and fluff the bedding once it has been soaked?

A. The worms prefer their bedding to be between 55to 75% moist.  This enables them to slide by each other in order to mate, find their food with ease, deposit their casts. There are many, many reasons for this.

I soak the paper for 24 to 48 hours and have another pail or the bin ready to receive  paper.  I wring it out.  As I do this I gently pull it apart allowing for air spaces, this is what I mean by ‘fluffing’.  It is then placed into the bin.  Since it is very moist,  it will reduce in size or depth as you add more paper to the bin.  The soaked paper when you first begin your bin should come to within 1″  of the top of the bin.

Q: How often do I add soaked, shredder paper to my worm bin?

A: Once the process has begun in the worm bin, more bedding will be added as it is consumed. If, after 1 month, the paper level has lowered by 2″ to 4″, add enough bedding to bring the level back up to within 2″ of the top of the bin.

Q: Are there any types of paper which I should not use when I first start my bin?

A: No. Once you have soaked the shredded paper long enough, either 24 or 48 hours, all papers are fine in the worm bin. Just be sure that you have wrung it out well and fluffed it up for your bin use, before you add it into your bin.

Q. Can I use coir fiber in my worm bin?

A. Yes, this is a renewable resource and the worms will eventually consume it.  However, I have found over many years, that the red wigglers I raise prefer newspaper and all waste paper from the home.  Newspaper, et al, is also a renewable resource, which generally is delivered to your home daily.  The red  worms I raise are used to paper and do their best work when they have plenty of soaked bedding to have their food wastes buried in it.

Q. I was away for about two weeks, maybe three and I had put enough of the soaked shredded newspaper bedding into the bin to fill it to the top, before I left along with the worm’s food. When I came back and looked into the bin after a week the casts were all gray in color.  Is this normal?

A. Yes, it is normal. However,  it does sound like the worms may have run out of the organic wastes you buried into the bedding,  and then had to make do with the newspapers alone as a food source. This would account for the casts all being gray and not a deep, rich brownish-black. A balanced diet will give your worms a better all round food source and will give you higher quality casts from them.

I hope this information helps you.

Enjoy your worms!

~Shel