Cocoon Bin

Check out the adolescent hanging on my finger in the bottom right corner

I've been slowing starting some seeds indoors and making my own potting mix.  I hadn't planned on making my own potting mix but if that's what I want to do, I need A LOT more vermicompost than what my worms are making.  Which means I need more worms.  I can't purchase them for another 1-2 months unless I can find a local vendor, and I haven't run into many people that compost with worms.  It's too cold to ship here for another 1-2 months.

To hatch as many cocoons as possible, I need to provide the most optimum bedding conditions. To do that, the cocoons should be harvested separately. This will allow me to provide a warmer temperature of about 80 degrees, which is ideal for red wigglers and European night crawlers cocoons. Normally the worm bin likes temperatures from 60-80 degrees. But if it's too cool, a cocoon can hibernate for several years.  I want to provide conditions that will ensure all viable cocoons will hatch to increase my worms and vermicompost.    

Soil Blocks
I made the potting mix here with 4 cups vermicompost, 4 cups peat moss and 2-3 cups of perlite.  In just the 4 cups of vermicompost, I pulled out at least 50 baby worms.  And this was in my completed vermicompost bin, from all the cocoons that were still in the bin.  Let me know if you want to know how I made the soil blocks.  So easy and incredibly convenient that I don't have to keep buying or saving containers. 

My husband graciously agreed to help me pull cocoons out for an hour last night.  I say graciously because not only is this NOT his thing, it's the last thing he would ever want to do.  But he did it for me.  What a keeper!

Harvesting
We starting harvesting the cocoons but piling on a cardboard flat. Eventually, we just started picking through the bin.  Cocoons are usually found near the food and my food is always put at the bottom of the bin.  So that bin got some great aeration last night. 

I didn't keep count but I think we pulled about about 50+ cocoons.  We didn't have a chance to get to the store to get a 10 gallon Rubbermaid container to make a permanent home so this is the temporary worm motel.  I added some existing bedding from one of my bins as well as a few rotting strawberries. 

Cocoons
Did I miss any? 

Tonight I transferred the cocoons to their new home and I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the cocoons had already hatched.  I'll try to get a photo op with the new little guy.   

Temporary Worm Motel

How I Became A Worm Farmer

I started worm farming May 2013 because my outdoor barrel composter wasn't processing fast enough. Translation: I couldn't figure out how to get my bin hot enough, consistently, for it to process our waste. Believe it or not, we started out outdoor composter May 2012 and it STILL WASN'T DONE!  What was I doing wrong?

What I did decide is I needed to stop adding waste to the composter but I couldn't bring myself to just throw it away.  I needed to figure out an easier way to compost until I could figure out my outdoor composter.

Much to my husband's dismay, worms were ordered.  I actually think I ordered the worms and THEN told him about it.  He's a real handy guy and will jump in and do just about anything but worms aren't really one of his favorites.

My first order was for 1,000 red wigglers the small but mighty worm and best composting worm.  I made an an outside 18 gallon rubber maid worm bin.  The bin sat uncovered in my kitchen for the first five days (Did I mention what a great husband I have?) with the light on so they would learn to stay in the bin.  From there, they went out on our covered patio.

A month later I realized we had more food than 1,000 worms could handle.  So I ordered 1,000 more but this time I bought European Night Crawlers so I'd have my own stock of fishing worms.  The following month I decided to add more and I found a local guy and purchased 1,000 more Red Wigglers. From this stock I took about 100 worms and started an in-ground doggy worm bin to handle the waste from my two little dogs.

Authored by Connie Watts