How Do I Set Up My Worm Bin?

Once you've selected a commercial worm bin or made your own, you'll need to set up the bin so that your red wigglers flourish. These compost worms seek food, a quiet and stable environment with the right level of moisture and temperature, shelter from light, access to other worms to mate and delicate handling. Several factors can guide you in providing these essential elements.

  1. Location

    • Place your worm bin in an area relatively free of vibration and noise, which stress the worms. That means it's not ideal to put the worms near your refrigerator. Make sure the bin is convenient for you to tend, since you will be carrying food scraps to the bin and occasionally sprinkling it with water. Locate the bin near an electric outlet so you can hang a worklight over the bin.

    Temperature

    • Find an area where the temperature remains ideally in the 60s or up to 77 degrees F. Temperatures below 55 degrees F or above 80 degrees F can be harmful to worms, according to "The Worm Book."

    Bedding

    • Fill the bin three-quarters full with bedding. This loose organic material provides carbon for bacteria to break down the food scraps. You can use several different types of bedding in the same bin. For indoor worm bins, use sawdust, hand-torn strips of cardboard or newspaper or shredded regular white paper, free of heavily inked pages or glossy stock. If you are willing to pay for your bedding, you can use coir, made from coconut fibers, wood chips or peat moss. Use leaf mold, already composted grass clippings and aged manures for outdoor worm bins.

    Food

    • About a week before your worms arrive, add a cup of chopped, frozen and thawed kitchen scraps to the bedding. Pull the bedding back with a three-tined hand cultivator, place the scraps in the pocket and cover them up again. Allow bacteria and fungi to begin to convert the scraps into a form the worms prefer to eat.

    Worms

    • Order the worms from a mail order provider (see Resources). They will ship on a Monday or Tuesday and arrive in two to three days by Priority Mail. Try to have the worms ship to an address where you can promptly accept them and get them into their set-up worm bin. Place them gently on top of the bedding and spritz them with water from a spray bottle. Close up the lid and let them acclimate in darkness to the worm bin. Turn on a worklight hung in the space above the lid to keep them from wandering away.