I have had my worm factory set up since Jan. and have yet to see anything collecting in the jar under the spigot. Do I need to unstop something or add some water? When can I expect to use the compost, as there doesn't seem to be much happening there?
801255
The spigot is just for the excess moisture in the worm casing/food scraps. Ideally you shouldn't see anything come out of the spigot. The worm casings should be what you find in your first tray, the bottom one, it should look like really dark soil and there should be no visible food scraps left. If you started in Jan. I would say you are probably looking at April before you have some nice worm casings in your first tray. I was a solid 5 months before I collected my first tray of worm casings, but I probably could have collected a month earlier, but I forgot about my worms. Adding water will just dilute your worm casings and make a habitat that your worms are not going to enjoy.
328132
I live in Colorado where it does get cold, but maybe not as cold as where you live. Nevertheless, I had to buy new worms year 2 because they seemed to die out by early June. I attribute that in part to the cold weather they endured here, but I will also tell you that I know people who have worm composts here that seem to regenerate very well every year. I think that if you keep the factory out of the wind and give the worms plenty of paper and other insulating materials, you might do just fine. After all, they do regenerate in the soil. It's just that you need to provide them with whatever you can to give them a fighting chance.
1259822
the buckets come with a plastic screen which fits snuggly in the bucket about 1" from the bottom. It allows the moisture to drain off of the composting material and collect in the very bottom. Its easily removed using the spigot on the bucket.
1909651
I have had mine for 2 years and I have only had to drain it once in all that time. As long as your compost is not dry then you are fine, I would not worry about it. I don't like to keep mine so moist that is lets the nats multiply.
1562649
I wouldn't use this in your situation. It would definitely stain the patio. I'd find a different design. Also you'll need to make sure you have enough dry material in the composter or it will stink if your compost is mostly kitchen scraps. In your situation I'd probably go for worm composting. My daughter made a vermicompost kit out of a couple of inexpensive storage bins at a camp a number of years ago. One has holes drilled into it and the other is solid so any worms or leakage will go into the outer bin. Here is an article on the subject: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/basics.html You need to get red worms or red wigglers from a bait store, not common earth worms from the soil for best results. I wouldn't use this in your situation. It would definitely stain the patio. I'd find a different design. Also you'll need to make sure you have enough dry material in the composter or it will stink if your compost is mostly kitchen scraps. In your situation I'd probably go for worm composting. My daughter made a vermicompost kit out of a couple of inexpensive storage bins at a camp a number of years ago. One has holes drilled into it and the other is solid so any worms or leakage will go into the outer bin. Here is an article on the subject:... » Read More I wouldn't use this in your situation. It would definitely stain the patio. I'd find a different design. Also you'll need to make sure you have enough dry material in the composter or it will stink if your compost is mostly kitchen scraps. In your situation I'd probably go for worm composting. My daughter made a vermicompost kit out of a couple of inexpensive storage bins at a camp a number of years ago. One has holes drilled into it and the other is solid so any worms or leakage will go into the outer bin. Here is an article on the subject: http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/basics.html You need to get red worms or red wigglers from a bait store, not common earth worms from the soil for best results. « Show Less
867585
I used 3 teaspoons full to 1 gallon of water. I water my 9 plants once a week. I did it forfour weeks and it did work. We haven't seen any tiny flies in a while now. The plants were infested by a new plant I bought at the super market.I should have kept it apart from the others until I knew it was clean but I didn't. But the natrol WDG worked.
1734422
I agree with the suggestion to water the plant before using the spike (I use a moisture meter to check the soil), and to be sure to soak the spikes for 15 min. before putting them in the pot. Before putting the lid on the spike I blow on it (with the tube in the water) to be sure it's not plugged; then I suck on it to bring the water up to the lid to start the siphoning process. However, the reservoir needs to be below the plant - not above it! I've had other problems with the spikes (tubes getting plugged, probes getting empty and dry for no apparent reason - but haven't had a problem with spikes emptying in a few hours. That mystifies me. Good luck!
1058301
Mine live in a box lined with a plastic bag, in the water heater closet. They are doing awesome in there. http://harvestsgardeningsecrets.blogspot.com/2014/04/ive-got-worms.html
1209864
I am just in the process of having it built. No tubs. The loam and dirt go in the garden bed. Reading the directions it suggests purchasing wire that is known as "Gopher Wire" to put on the bottom before you put in the loam and top soil. One of the things I read was it requires so much top soil that you can save a bunch of money putting loam on the bottom. I ended up with chicken fencing. plastic with small holes to hopefully keep out critters coming up from under the ground to eat the veggies and herbs.
809626
This system works great with red wrigglers ( thats what I raise ). Be sure to use RAIN water to wet the bedding,DO NOT USE TAP WATER,as it will make the worms sick and will die .Hope this helps you out.
950980
I buried mine in my garden, but other options might be to bury it deep in your compost pile or empty the trap into a bag and then dump into your yard debris recycle bin right before pick-up. (If your trash/recycling company allows you to add "food scraps" to your recycling.) One warning - new flies are attracted by the smell of the bait, so be prepared for flies to swarm around the empty trap until you get a chance to clean it and to be very interested in where ever you dump the old bait. (Burying it might sound like over-kill, but even a few inches of dirt seemed to make the new flies lose interest and go elsewhere.)
1762006
I goggled it and here's what came up: http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/fungus-gnats-in-worm-compost-bins/ and http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/fungus-gnats-in-worm-compost-bins/
568331
Don't know. Still waiting months later. Because the composter lets rain seep in, the material stays too wet to compost properly. I tried adding more dry material, but it just gets wet after the next rain and the barrel is extremely difficult to rotate when the composting material gets wet and heavy. Also, one of the bushings that the horizontal pipe goes thru is already cracked due to the weight of the wet compost. Don't think I would buy this one.
35752
I have this worm factory and started with 400-500 worms which seemed to be plenty. Don't forget they reproduce rapidly if kept healthy so you can theoretically start with even fewer. You're not going to get a ton of castings from a farm this size anyway but it's fun watching them move up through the levels leaving their castings behind. Enjoy!
2047350
Are you using this as a bedding material? I wouldn't. The only way I would use this in a worm bin would be to sprinkle a handful or two for them to eat. But I would rather just cut out the middleman and add it directly to the soil. This will help the mycorrhizae. If you are making worm tea, then you won't even need Azomite. But that depends on what you have been feeding your worms. As far as the pH is concerned, it's probably neutral. Most edibles like a slightly acidic soil.
883346
My husband handles this so I asked him. it should not matter. We water the yard where the worms are. Our neighbor uses them too. They seem to work and we had not put any out in awhile but my husband noticed we may have one again so he put the last one out and ordered more.
2191965
No. There are holes along most of the unit to allow the "compost tea" to drain and be collected. However, I have not have a problem with bugs.