Adding second tray in cold weather

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Smallthings
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Joined:Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:50 pm
Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Smallthings » Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:24 pm

Wondering about when to add next tray! Have had wormery 10 weeks now so been feeding for the last 8, just small amounts twice a week which are being eaten. Lots of shredded newspaper/card and some old dry leaves on top and all seems fine, appears to be quite a lot of vermicompost under that (black and crumbly?) so maybe it’s time to start second tray. But as the temps are about to drop for a while I’m worried that the worms won’t want to move up to it because it will be colder, and so if I put food in it, it might not get eaten and may go anaerobic. The wormery is in shed so not freezing but likely to be below 10 degrees in there over next few weeks. Would it harm the worms if I don’t add a second tray yet? Or would you suggest I try it anyway? If I move some of the bedding materials up into it I assume they can still choose to burrow back down to the bottom tray for the winter if it’s too cold in the top one - but will they go hungry? I feel a bit nervous about making this change!
Any thoughts/advice much appreciated, thanks!

Lilwriggler
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Lilwriggler » Fri Nov 16, 2018 9:51 pm

Following advice here, I have put a bedding only tray underneath and on top and all my worms seem happy, I must be about 8 weeks in now, but am nowhere near a second tray yet, you must have pretty hungry worms!

Smallthings
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Smallthings » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:07 pm

Many thanks Lilwriggler - that sounds like a good idea, I think perhaps I should try that - gives them a couple of extra 'rooms' to explore if they fancy a change of scene too! I imagine there's probably still some coir bedding in the bottom of this first tray but I haven't wanted to disturb them too much to check it all through. Where I bury the food in the corners it definitely does seem to have turned into compost already, but I've only been feeding a small handful of food twice a week so really not that much in total (just glad they eat it all!) I feel so responsible for them!

WillyWorm
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by WillyWorm » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:24 pm

You pose a number of interesting questions in one. Firstly congratulations on getting your wormery up and running so well. If there is some nice castings mixed in with the most resent bedding you have put in the current tray then you can add a new tray at anytime, some worms will remain in the old tray until all the food and bedding is converted to castings.

You are absolutely right when you say your worms will travel up and down between the trays dependent on temperature and food availability.

The best way to ensure that you do not over feed your herd is to use the four corner feeding technique, you will find it mentioned many time on this forum, let us know if you can’t find it.

There is a danger if the temperature drops to freezing that the worms will drop below 10c in a wooden shed. In sub zero temps it would help to put an old blanket/carpet over them.

No harm will come to your worms if you don’t add another tray. Worms regulate their population dependant on the space available in their immediate environment. So if they get crowded they will stop breeding.

At this time of the year your worms will be fine without food for six or more weeks. The four corner technique will tell you when to feed.

Hope that helps
Willy

Smallthings
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Joined:Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:50 pm

Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Smallthings » Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:24 am

Many thanks Willy for the advice and reassurance - I'll do as you suggest and wrap the bin in a blanket if/when it gets very cold. Thanks to reading through this forum's posts I've been using the four corner feeding method too and it's been a great way to keep track of things. I may leave them in the one main tray for now for feeding, and reassess the situation about adding second layer after any cold snaps - but perhaps add bedding only trays below and above as mentioned to help insulate as well, depending on the weather :)

WillyWorm
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by WillyWorm » Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:21 pm

Your doing a great job, your worms are lucky to have such a diligent farmer looking after them.
I’m sure your worms will be fine.

Have fun
Willy

Lilwriggler
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Lilwriggler » Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:52 pm

Hope everyone and their worms had a good Christmas. We got a hamster in early December and since then I have a new source of carbon in the hamster bedding which is far better than the shredded paper I had been using. The food and poo is also well loved and I’m not bothering with the wood shavings for now. I switched my bottom insulating paper tray too the top (it had some castings in it) with the top tray and now the worms are transversing between all 3. I am pretty paper/bedding material heavy with coir level seemingly the same as when I started. They seem happy, I’m assuming that layer will build up more in the summer when herd is bigger and temperature is higher.

WillyWorm
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by WillyWorm » Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:34 pm

Lucky worms getting hamsters for Christmas lol. The hamsters will contribute a lot to the worms, the bedding, food and poo will all be welcomed by the worms and it’s a great feeling converting it to goodness and not having to put it in the council rubbish bin. (I think your right not to add the wood shaving at the moment).

I find coir is slow to break down, the block which came with my last bin (3 years ago) remains in the shed unused 🙃

When the temperature gets up to 15c during the day and over 10c at night things will speed up dramatically in your worm bin. The worm population will grow, scraps will be converted to casting really quickly. You will be complaining about changing trays all the time.

Willy

Lilwriggler
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by Lilwriggler » Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:51 pm

I can’t wait till then, I’m not having any impact on all the veggie waste we generate yet. Going outside with a small handful of cabbage is just getting a smile from the wife!

WillyWorm
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Re: Adding second tray in cold weather

Post by WillyWorm » Sun Dec 30, 2018 1:47 am

Try giving them softer stuff at this time of year. Things like banana peel, tomato ends, apple core, melon rind and seeds (the seeds grow in your bin pull them up and drop them on the top tray, worms love them) I find root veg and cabbage can be a bit slow. The worms seem to like half a slice of bread now and again in the winter and they love cooked veg if you have any.
My worm bins could never deal with the amount of veg waste we generate, the worms get the pick the rest goes to the garden and allotment compost bins 11 of them in total lol

Willy

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