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Frequently Asked Questions About The Can-O-WormsTM
Following are the most commonly asked questions about the
Can-O-WormsTM system. Experts from the field of
vermiculture have been consulted to provide answers and hints that will ensure the most
efficient use of your Can-O-WormsTM system.
Print this page for a handy reference!
Most retailers of the Can-O-WormsTM
bin also sell worms. Some, like the Happy D Ranch Worm Farm, offer the Can-O-WormsTM and redworms as a specially-priced unit. If you are interested
in obtaining worms yourself, there are a number of worm farmers in most states. These can
be found through searching the Internet, through ads in magazines or the Yellow Pages.
Some local nurseries may sell them or advise you or even your local municipal offices may
promote worm composting and be able to direct you to a local supplier. We recommend that
you purchase a minimum of 2000 compost worms (2 lb)
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This depends on how many worms you have. Worms can eat up to half
their own body weight every day and can double their population every few months. If you
start your Can-O-WormsTM with 2 pounds of mature worms
(identify mature worms by a distinct ring shaped swelling around their body) they will
consume up to half a pound of food waste per day. After a few months you should have
double your population and you can feed them more. The baby worms, however, won't eat much
and will take about 3 months to mature. As you become familiar with them you will learn
their rate of food consumption.
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Worms will feed at a faster rate once they have adapted to any new
food source. Worms will also eat more if food waste is cut into small pieces, mashed or
processed. Controlling temperatures to around 70 degrees F (24 degrees C) will improve the
overall performance of your system. Worms will leave very acidic food such as onions and
orange peels until after they have eaten their preferred foods. A handful of garden lime
(or crushed eggshells, oyster shells, or ashes from a fire) every few weeks will help to
balance the effect of acidic foods. The regular addition of worm fattener (the recipe
includes agricultural lime and is included in the Can-O-WormsTM
instruction booklet) will encourage stronger, fatter worms. Since they consume up to half
their own body weight each day, the fatter they are the more wastes they will eat.
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Be careful what you feed your worms, particularly if you are unaware
of it's source. Manures , for example, from horses, cattle or dogs often have vermicides
still active in it that were designed to kill parasitic worms in the animal. They can kill
all your worms in one day. If you use animal manures make sure you know when worming is
conducted and avoid using the manure for a few weeks. Stay away from meat and meat by
products.
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Not usually. The Can-O-WormsTM is
designed to break down soft organic waste. Slow composting organic wastes, such as garden
refuse are best dealt with by conventional aerobic composting methods. After
conventionally composting, the worms will convert the material to worm castings and
vermicompost for you.
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The worms may be eating your bedding material if you have used
manure or compost in addition to your Can-O-WormsTM
bedding block. If that is the case the worms will eat through this before eating any
introduced food. If just the bedding block is used, the worms should readily eat
introduced food waste, even though they do also like to eat the coir fiber. Also, make
sure the holes at the base of the upper working tray containing the food are in contact
with the bedding in the lower tray. If there is no contact, the worms can't get up to the
food (they are terrible jumpers!).
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Do not pour water through the Can-O-WormsTM system. Food wastes are about 80% water, which is released as the worms break them down. This will tend to stay in the bedding for a long time before eventually draining out. Any dry material such as old manure, newspaper or cardboard should be presoaked before being added. It is important to keep moist newspaper or a moist burlap/hessian bag over the freshly added food to encourage the worms to move up to the surface to feed. This will provide a dark damp shelter for them. We recommend that you leave the tap in the open position with a bucket underneath so you can catch the castings "tea" as it develops and not risk making a bathtub in the collector tray for your worms. To make more worm tea, take one cup of castings from the lowest working tray and soak in a gallon of water overnight. The next day shake this liquid to aerate and use within 24 hours.
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No, you can never have too many worms. They will regulate their
population to the confines of available space and the amount of food you give them. Worm
concentration should reach capacity (about 15,000 to 20,000 worms) after 2 - 5 years.
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Only if you have a thick surface layer of mulch in your garden.
Compost worms require moist conditions all year round because they don't tunnel deep like
the "earthworker worms" (Nightcrawlers) to find moisture. If you cannot provide
this environment in your garden, don't introduce compost worms into it.
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This situation can arise in two ways. First, you may be adding new
food too soon before the worms can eat the previous food. This will result in a lot of
uneaten wastes being distributed throughout the system and general reluctance by the worms
to migrate upwards while they can still access material lower in the system. BEFORE ADDING
NEW TRAYS, STOP FEEDING THE WORMS FOR AT LEAST A WEEK TO ENSURE THAT ALL EXISTING FOOD IN
THE LOWER TRAY HAS BEEN EATEN. Worms will then move up to eat from the surface as this is
their natural behavior pattern. Secondly, you may not have waited for the level of worm
casting to pass the support ribs on the inside of the tray before adding the next tray.
This will create a gap preventing the worms from reaching the top trays.
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Worms will tolerate a wide temperature range from about 50 - 90
degrees F (10 -30 degrees C). If it gets much hotter than this, make sure the Can-O-WormsTM system is in a shady cool position. Take the lid off and hose
the whole unit down keeping the bottom drainage tap turned on so it doesn't flood. If it
gets much colder and freezes, put your Can-O-WormsTM in
the warmest possible position, an example being your basement, laundry or shed. If it is
on a balcony or in the yard, cover the unit with a couple of old carpet pads or old
blankets to keep some warmth in. Feed them a lot more food wastes which will create some
warmth as the food decomposes. The best place to have your Can-O-WormsTM
is indoors, where the temperature always stays the same.
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What you are noticing is the worms sensitivity to pressure changes
in the weather. They will often go up into the lid even before it rains. In nature this
takes them out of the soil to stop them from flooding and drowning. Move the Can-O-WormsTM out of the rain. Take the worms out of the lid and replace them
in the bedding if needed.
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Ants may enter your Can-O-WormsTM
if you have a lot of them in your yard and particularly if you have let the bedding become
too dry or acidic. Add water to raise the moisture level and add a liberal quantity of
garden lime or crushed eggshells to where the ants are gathering. This should discourage
them. If they persist, remove them physically and smear some vaseline around the legs or
place each leg of the Can-O-WormsTM in a container of
water to isolate the system. An ant trap temporarily placed in the bin will also help in
keeping the ants away.
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No, the Can-O-WormsTM is fly-proof
against household flies. Sometimes the very small vinegar fly (often mistaken for the
fruit fly) gets in, but these do not harm. However, very large numbers of the vinegar fly
may indicate that you are feeding your Can-O-WormsTM too
much and may be a prelude to problems such as offensive odors. To eradicate vinegar flies,
slow your rate of feeding to what the worms will eat on a daily basis and ensure that
freshly added wastes are covered by a moist newspaper or burlap bag.
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The only smell associated with a well maintained Can-O-WormsTM system is a pleasant rainforest odor. If your Can-O-WormsTM has an offensive smell, it is an indication that anaerobic
bacteria have built up in the system in uneaten food wastes. Stop feeding the worms and
stir the wastes in the tip tray lightly with a garden fork , adding garden lime as well.
This aerates the organic material and allows worms to move through it more easily. Repeat
this aeration procedure regularly to prevent recurrence. Start feeding again when all
smells are gone.
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Leaving an established Can-O-WormsTM
for 3-4 weeks without constantly adding food is not a problem. Just feed the worms a good
quantity of food waste (1/3 of a tray full) before your leave. Make sure that you leave
the unit in a cool place under cover and leave the tap open with a container under it.
Putting a soaked newspaper on top of your burlap will give added protection against their
bedding drying out.
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This includes:
- Left over vegetable scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings
- Manure (well aged)
- Tea leaves/bags and coffee filters and grounds
- Vacuum cleaner dust
- Hair and nail clippings (also pet)
- Torn up newspapers, egg and pizza cartons (soaked first)
- Shredded cardboard (soaked first)
- Crushed egg shells (these will help with the pH balance)
- Compost
The greater the variety of material you use, the better the casting
will be!!
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There are many people selling the Can-O-WormsTM
but the best price is probably at The Happy D Ranch Worm Farm.
Not only is the Can-O-WormsTM bin inexpensive from the
nice folks at the Happy D Ranch, but they also have super
package deals which include the Can-O-WormsTM system, worms, and educational books for a super low price!
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C - Change of habitat
If worms have been raised with a particular feedstock or bedding material and are then transferred to a system that uses completely different material and feed, the worms may crawl away from the new, shockingly different habitat.
A few good questions to ask the grower that you purchase worms from are -
What species of worm they raise, what bedding are they raised in, and what is their primary feedstock? It would be best if a buyer gets worms that are raised in a similar environment that they intend to use.
To keep worms in the bin so they'll adapt to a new environment, keep them in a place where you can leave a light on. Since worms are sensitive to light, they'll stay in the bin to avoid the light. It is imperative that the light stay on at night or you may wake up to a mass vermicide.
If you've had your system in operation for a while and the worms crawl off, perhaps you've changed their habitat by adding too much salty, oily or acidic material. Some people have used lime to adjust the pH and caused more harm than good. Crushed eggshells work very well to help balance your system and provide grit for the worm's digestion.
R - Rain
Just before and during a thunderstorm or any low-pressure system, it is natural for worms to crawl up and around the lid of a plastic worm bin. Worms are great natural barometers.
A - Absence of Air
Overfeeding, too much moisture, poor bin design, or not enough ventilation can severely reduce the amount of air available to the worms. Anaerobic bacteria live in the absence of oxygen. If there is a foul smell in the bin it may indicate the presence of large numbers of anaerobic bacteria. If this occurs, the environment may lack enough oxygen for the worms to breathe and they may crawl outside of the bin seeking air or die. Be sure there are enough ventilation and drainage holes in your system and aerate the bedding promptly if a bad smell occurs.
W - Water - too much or too little
Too much water can cause the bedding to become so compacted that there aren't enough pockets of air for the worms to breathe. Putting wood chips, strips of cardboard, straw, etc., within the bedding can ensure that there is enough air throughout their environment.
Not enough water can cause your worms to try to escape, also. Lack of water will cause your castings to dry out and harden. The population of important microorganisms is lower when the castings dry out, thus diminishing their effectiveness. In order to produce the most useful castings, be sure to manage your moisture carefully.
Don't pour water through your vermicomposting system to make worm tea.
To make worm tea: take a cup of castings, soak overnight in a gallon of water, shake to aerate, and use within 24 hrs.
L - Lack of food
If you don't feed your worms regularly they may go looking elsewhere for needed sustenance.
But please DO NOT OVERFEED!!!
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T - Temperature
- Optimum is between 68° - 77°F
- At 40° F the worms are less active.
- Worms become stressed at 85° F.
H - H20 - Moisture
- Optimum is between 75%-85% moisture.
- Bedding should have the same moisture as a wrung out sponge.
- Squeeze a handful of bedding, 1 or 2 drops should be released.
- Drainage is extremely important in any vermicomposting system.
R - Recycle organic material only
Anything that was once alive and is now dead:
- Fruits
- Cereals
- Pastas
- Egg shells
- Coffee & Filters
- Tea bags
- Paper - shredded
- Limited citrus
- Beans
- Breads
- Aged manures
- Vegetables
No dairy, fish or meat products. Worms will eat it but these items can smell bad and attract pests.
Oily or salty foods can harm worms.
Recycle pet waste in a separate system.
Add more food only when you see that the worms are completely involved in the food that is already there.
DO NOT OVERFEED!!
I - Invertebrates & Microbes found in a healthy system
Beneficial creatures that are harmless to you, your worms, and your plants:
- Enchytraeids or pot worms
- Flies and their larvae
- Bacteria (Aerobic)
- Fungi
- Gnats and their larvae
- Millipedes
- Molds (beware of allergies to spores)
- Mites
- Nematodes
- Protozoa
- Spiders
- Springtails
Invertebrates and Microorganisms to avoid:
- Anaerobic Bacteria - characterized by a bad smell, caused by too much moisture & or overfeeding (lack of oxygen) - aerate bedding ASAP
- Ants - bedding too dry
- Centipedes - carefully remove
- Beetles - remove
- Planarians or flat worms - remove & destroy
V - Ventilation
All the creatures in the system need AIR and lots of it!
E - Environment
- pH 5.5 is preferred.
- Worms tolerate a range from pH 4 to pH 9.
- The worms are sensitive to light so keep it dark.
- Good bedding can be any combination of aged manures, shredded paper products, coir (coconut fiber), decomposing leaves, straw, wood chips, peat moss, a handful of soil to seed bin with microorganisms, etc.
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