Instructions for a Wriggly Wranch Worm Bin

The Wriggly Wranch Worm Bin, standing 27 inches tall, features four stacking trays that nest together and allow worms to migrate from the bottom to the top as they compost food scraps. Wormdigest.org notes worms congregate in the most biologically active area, usually within 6 to 8 inches of the top of bedding, which contains bacteria, fungus and rotting food to munch on. So worms sort themselves, simplifying the harvest of their castings, or manure, from the bottom tray. Triformis Corp. makes the Wriggly Wranch Worm Bin, and often is sold to consumers at municipal composting workshops.

  1. Set-up

    • Place your coconut coir (fiber) brick in a bucket of water to soak while you assemble the Wriggly Wranch bin. Screw the tap onto the collection tray to trap potential leachate (liquid that may drip out of the coir bedding). Clip on the four legs. Snap the air vent covers onto the lid.

      Place one of the three perforated working trays, which lack a tap, on top of the collection tray. Lay a piece of cardboard in the bottom of the working tray. Remove the coir from the bucket and place half of it evenly on the cardboard in the working tray. Make a pocket in the coir, bury 2 cups of roughly chopped food scraps in it and cover the pocket with the rest of the coir. Allow food to ripen and mold for about a week to convert it to the form preferred by red wiggler compost worms.

      Add worms gently to the top of the coir and spritz with water. Cover the tray with the lid.

    Feeding

    • Feed the worms fruit and vegetable scraps, crushed eggshells, coffee grounds and filters, and tea bags. Do not feed them meat or dairy products, bones, fish or greasy foods, or citrus fruits or rinds.

      Don't overfeed your worm bin. After the initial feeding, wait to add more food until the worms consume the first batch. This may take as long as three or four days, depending on the size of your worm population.

      After six to eight weeks, place the next tray on top and add food and a layer of fresh bedding. Add new food scraps to the top tray only. Do not add cardboard as this will prevent the worms from migrating up into the new tray. Arrange bedding in lower working tray so that it mounds up to touch the bottom of the higher working tray and the worms can migrate upward. Repeat this process in another six to eight weeks, adding a third working tray.

    Harvest

    • Harvest the bottom working tray when the contents look like dark soil or coffee grounds and most worms have migrated up. This may take two to three months. Place the exhausted tray on top of the stack and add bedding and food scraps to repeat the process indefinitely.

    Tips

    • Mix the mineral-rich worm compost with garden or potting soil to benefit flowers, vegetables and houseplants. Dilute 1 part leachate to 3 parts water and use as a mild liquid fertilizer.