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Worm bins and coffee grounds.

OZZZ

OZZZ

I have a very well established worm bin with several levels and have been harvesting worm castings regularly. At my work, we go through a massive amount of coffee grounds.

While we all know used coffee grounds are great for adding to worm bins, Im wondering if I was to add that amount of coffee grounds to the worm bins if it would negatively affect the PH of the worm castings and in turn negatively affect the soil mix PH when I use it.

For example, Ive definately run into problems when using used coffee grounds straight into soil mixes. Ive experienced this first hand they definately can alter the soil PH to much and cause problems, but when adding them to a worm bin I havent run into troubles.

The thing is, we are talking about a LARGE amount of grounds. As in 1 - 2 gallons of used grounds per day. Im considering feeding the worm bins only the used coffee grounds exclusively with the idea being the worms would be able to eat through the grounds extremely quickly due to the small particle size. The worm bins may become extremely productive and I could probably harvest in half the time if not even quicker.

Im just wondering if feeding a worm bin 1 gallon of used grounds per day... and only those grounds, would the castings themselves become very acidic or would the worms digestive system neutralize it??


What do you guys think??
 
Wow those little guys will up allllll night and talkative as hell. Hope you get the some crossword puzzles to help relax them. :lol:
 
FYI-

If you have a very well established worm bin- I personally would try to expand it IMO, you cant have enough worms.

According to this the PH of Worm casting is 7-

worms PH

Brewed Coffee runs from 5-7 ph (Rrmember peppers also like something between 5 and 6.5) so the coffee is actually lowering it slightly, but that assumes that the coffee is full strength- but in your case it is not- you are just using the remaining grounds. I don’t think you would have any problem using 5x the amount and it is not going to change that much. Make it easy on yourself and go get a soil PH meter and start testing it.

Martin
 
I really need to get a PH meter for sure. I think its the single most thing I missing in my growing.

When I say established, I guess I should clarify, the bin is easily a year old. I started with 1 lbs of worms in an 18 gallon rubbermaid, then I added a second about 6 months later and harvested the bottom bin. I must say that I only add things when I think about it. However I have added some very slowly digestable objects and there always seems to be a little organic matter in there for them to feed on even when Im neglecting them. I may not add anything for a month, then I add quite a bit... other times Ive added small amounts regularly for a few months ... it just depends and when I think about it I do it.

They always seem to be doing well.

Now, I have converted to 5 gallon buckets. I like the setup better. My current "bin" consists of 5 x 5 gallon buckets stacked in each other. The bottom bin I harvest, then replace it on top with fresh bedding. I feed the top bucket and periodically check the bottom bin, when it seems ready to harvest I harvest it and start over. In the middle theres buckets with varying degrees of finished product.

Im not sure what you think about this technique. Im not really sure how many worms I have total now. Its been easily over a year.

Also, when the bottom bin looks like its time to harvest I always have to sift through to make sure theres no worms. Theres always tons of cocoons... and usually not many worms but there is some in there ... maybe 20-30 in the bottom five gallon bucket.

Does anything seem off here? Im not sure if Im using my worm bin to the best of its ability, thats the reason for this thread. I thought if I used - used coffee grounds, the worms might be able to produce castings faster.
 
I am not sure you are feeding your worms correctly. You should have a ton more than you have by now.

My orginal point was that I think you should concentrate on growing and harvesting the worms and their casting instead of concentrating on if the Coffee grounds and the resulting casting will be too acidic (Most Worm Tea is diluted anyway) — Yes too many coffee grounds will make the bin a bit more acidic -----but that is what is needed for peppers to grow.

Martin
 
I would love to see pictures of this 5 gallon method you described that I just can't picture in my head.

I have a big styrofoam worm box that my dad used to keep earthworms in for fishing. It sits empty because I would like to have worms and collect castings but have no idea how I would separate and collect the castings.
 
XLNT said:
I am not sure you are feeding your worms correctly. You should have a ton more than you have by now.

My orginal point was that I think you should concentrate on growing and harvesting the worms and their casting instead of concentrating on if the Coffee grounds and the resulting casting will be too acidic (Most Worm Tea is diluted anyway) — Yes too many coffee grounds will make the bin a bit more acidic -----but that is what is needed for peppers to grow.

Martin
Click to expand...


I think your probably right. I was under the impression neglecting them is ok, and often times preferable, but that does mean that sometimes I dont add food for over a month or maybe even longer, then Ill add food regularly, then sometimes a bit to much food and then I just lay off for awhile. Basically I just add whenever I think about it. Should I be on a REGULAR feeding schedule? How do you guys take care of your bins feeding wise? Also, I bet I have 3 of those 5 gallon bins that need harvested... and they have just been sitting there for a long time. The thing is, as I mentioned above theres a bunch of worms still in the castings that never seem to migrate up... either that or they are new hatchlings from all the cocoons that are in there. Either way I have to sift through the castings to get all the worms out. Are you guys finding that you have to sift through the castings when you harvest??


Justaguy .... Heres some pics of the bin. As mentioned, its 5 - 5 gallon buckets stacked on top of each other with holes drilled into the bottoms of the buckets for drainage (with the exception of the bottom bucket soley used to catch runoff). The idea being as I feed the top bin, the worms move up through the bins to where the new food is, and I can harvest the bottom bin, then add fresh bedding to the top bin and feed the new, top bin.



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Worms main diet really shouldn't be coffee grounds, but a small amount say 1/2 cup a month is fine. Any more than that will cause problems with acidity. If you use coffee grounds don't use orange or lemon peels as they are also acidic and will be too much for them.

Do feed your worms...

* vegetable scraps
* tea bags and filters
* limited amounts of old bread (no butter, mayonnaise)
* Fruit peelings
* Melon rinds
* unsweetened cereal, and pasta (plain)
* Cucumbers
* Lettuce


Do not feed your worms...

* meat
* fish
* dairy products
* greasy or oily foods
* pet wastes


I started a worm farm almost 2 years ago and only had 1lb of worms. Now I can probably pick at least 10 lbs of worms at any time. I continually sell my worms to fishing buddies and even selling them I still have more than I need as they reproduce very fast. If you farm is thriving you should so small worm egg cacoons in your bin all over the place. Because worms can eat their weight in food every day you need to feed them or at least check on them once a week.
 
I have a 7 tier worm farm. I introduce new food to the top bin only. I usually feed them once every 2 weeks. Worms are very hungry and can eat their weight in food daily so they will naturally navigate through the bins toward the top in search of food. As they do this the lower bin on the bottom will almost never have food after 6-8 weeks so I simply harvest from that tray and rotate the empty tray back to the top and add bedding / soil and food. It's a cycle that never ends.

fourtrayhiplain.jpg
 
Justaguy said:
So do you have a screen to sift it through to get the castings????
Click to expand...

With this system, you dont need to screen the castings and the bottom tray will have nothing but castings in it. All the food has been eaten and the worms have moved upto the next layer looking for more food.
 
hmmm SO the above shown setup with 5 gallon buckets(I have about 20 sitting around) How would you set that up???? Anyone know of a guide? Depth of material in each??? Holes, size, number??
 
The 5 gallon buckets are super simple. All you do is use a bottom bucket with no holes, then take the other buckets you want to use and drill 1/4" holes in the bottom, I drilled maybe 20 in the bottoms of each. The worms move through the holes in the buckets from one to the other.

It works fantastically, the top bucket is the only one with a lid. My problem, however, is that Im not taking care of them. Plain and simple. Ive neglected them for months at a time only to come back and see them doing fine. I agree they probably arent breeding properly, although theres tons of cocoons in the castings when I do harvest.


The neglect is about to change though....... I just built a new flow through bin and am going to transfer the 5 gallon bucket tower to it with a ton of new fresh bedding. Im thinking that Im going to harvest the bottom two bins, and put the top two bins in the new flow through bin. Then add a ton of bedding and a small amount of food at a time until they breed and populate the container more as I believe I need a TON more worms ;)


I think this will make harvesting the castings much easier. Although, Im not really sure if this trash can is sturdy enough to hold the amount of weight that will end up being in it. I used 50# test fishing line to make the grate at the bottom, and the trash can is a 45 gallon trash can.

Soon Ill try it out I have to get a ton of bedding first.



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See a new toy to get lost in for me. But back to the buckets, how full do you fill them before stacking them???
 
I just tear up a bunch of newspaper, old bills, cardboard boxes, etc,etc and wet them down in the sink. Squeeze out the excess water and then fluff it up in the bin and add a little food of some sort.

Google "how to build a worm bin" and you will have a ton of information ;)
 
Buckets are the same concept as a pre-made farm. Just make sure you add some type of drain valve in the last bucket that will allow you to drain the excess water. Since worms breath through their skin if the soil/bedding is too wet they will essentially drown.
 
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