Introduction to the Continuous Flow Through (CFT) worm bins

thebigsweed (64) · 7 years ago

Made a worm box last year. Have a pond on our farm and find it easier to get the worms from the worm box then digging for them when the grandkids visit. Boy do they get excited when the hook into one.

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3 votes

ryan313 (57) · 7 years ago

Especially excited when they hook 3 huge ones in a row😃👩‍🌾🤠🍺

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2 votes

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

Sweet! What type of worms do you use ?

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iamstan (62) · 7 years ago

I wonder if you have tried using EM-1 bokashi to speed up the composting process.
I have used them and they work well and it smells nice kinda sweet.

Teraganix is the only place I know you can purchase them I have been using them for more than 7 years with good results. I want to try to build a big bin and use both worms and the Em-1
Great Post thanks for sharing it!

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4 votes

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

Hello.
I have not used EM-1 but I have used LaB that I spray on the food scraps before covering them with fresh bedding material and it does help.

I’m planning to replace the regular way to make LaB with the whey from making milk kefir that contains LaB and other probiotic bacteria.

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minnowsupport (70) · 7 years ago

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guanyu (49) · 7 years ago

Greetings again Huy=)
I wanted to say thanks for your inspiration from this post! I had some time this weekend to build a CFT system from some of the info you provided. I made mine a little differently but same concept... check out my post here if you have time, let me know what you think!

-Paul

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quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

You did very well with the construction. You should use paint or a sharpie to make marks every 6 inches so you know the depth of the content. This will help in the future. You only need to reach 24 inches before starting to harvest, no need for more or it’s just wasting time.

As I asked on your post, have you filled half the barrel with bedding material?

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paulmozina (41) · 7 years ago

Very nice Huy. Do you add organic material like dead leaves or grass? Do you have any problems with bugs or flies feeding on the top surface of food scraps?

Here are my bins.

I have been using them for a long time, more than 15 years. They have good ventilation and I have set them up on stone to get them off the ground more. I used to have a real problem with little black flies feeding on my food scraps but now I just always have a layer of leaves, straw or grass on top and I add new material just under it. This keeps the flies out.

My system is not as efficient as yours. I fill one bin 2/3 full and then stop adding to it and let it cook. Then I switch to the other bin. It takes a year to fully decompose the contents and I remove it all at once. I do stir and water the bins regularly.

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

In this CFT bin, I use mainly kitchen scraps and occasionally horse manure and other garden waste. I don’t mind the bugs, they are part of the ecosystem. As for flies, they are controlled with various method combined:

in period of the year where the boom, I would use some fly trap around the worm farming area.
I also have a colony of black soldier fly larvae. They did out in winter and progressively come back when the weather warms up. As the colony is established, they actually lower the population of other types of flies including house flies by generating a pheromone which has a repelling effect on other fly species and by consuming all the food before the other flies’ eggs even hatch.
I use a lot of dry shredded corrugated cardboard and coffee chaff (husk) under the food waste and also covering it in thick layer. This absorbs moisture, add bulkiness and hence allowing better ventilation which in turn reduces odours. Additionally it makes it difficult for fruit flies to access the food to lay their eggs.

In your system, if you can get a good C:N ratio and control moisture and air then you should be able to raise the heat and increase the Composting speed a little bit.

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the-hearth (43) · 7 years ago

great work!! this is a new concept to me, but one that is coming at the perfect time. we have waaaay too much organic matter for the worms and i think we need some method to cool them off. they've been getting too hot and wet for us to maintain easily. will study this method/your post more! we have a lot on our plate right now, but really love aligning with the worms. resteemed @the-hearth, @mountainjewel's earth-centered curation. thanks @quochuy, glad to see a post from ya! :)

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

Hey long time no see. You need a larger system where you can mix the fresh organic waste with dry bedding material in order to control moisture and allow enough neutral space for the worms. If you have any questions, give me a shout

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Sustainability Curation Digest #8 🌜 🌽🍑 by Carpedimus - MSP

carpedimus (54) · 7 years ago

Hello again @quochuy, how are you doing my friend?

Wanted to let you know that you been picked up for my weekly curation digest on the topic of sustainability.

Your post will be Upvoted and REsteemed by @msp-curation bot on behalf of MSP.

Thanks for writing awesome content and if you have some time, make sure to check out some of the other posts from this week.

Keep up with the great work :) and thanks for sharing!

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

Hey! Thank you for the curation.
I will check the others too.

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carpedimus (54) · 7 years ago

You are welcome :)

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riverflows (72) · 7 years ago

this is amazing. I'm bookmarking this to come back to as a project. I've never been very successful at worm farming and I think it's because it gets a bit hot and I forget about them. I'd really like to give it anohter go, and this is the best set up I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing! Resteeming!

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago (edited)

Thanks!
If you often neglect the worms, then a larger system will help you. Even a simple large wooden crate.

Check out my ebook:
http://little.wf/e/worm-bin-setup

Also this one:
http://little.wf/e/10vermistakes

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riverflows (72) · 7 years ago

Thanks a ton.. I will check it out. You have superinspired me. I love worms!!!

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liberyworms (59) · 7 years ago

Love all the food you have in your cft. I can feed mine like that now that I precompost the greens for a week but even in the winter when I would top feed fresh greens on half the bin it would turn into a hot compost pile. How do you keep BSFL out of your CFT with that large of a screen on the lid? Really informative. I always look forward to seeing some good vermicomposting articles on here.

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

How thick of a layer of food were you adding? Mine does get warm but not hot.

On the lid is a chicken wire mesh not a screen. But even with a screen then BSF would lay there eggs on the top and side of the lid and the larvae would find their ways in. The only thing that helps a bit is a BSF bin nearby

liberyworms (59) · 7 years ago (edited)

I would feed a very thin layer on top but it would always get super hot even when it was in the 20's outside. I had to pocket feed just one section of the four but it would still build up good heat. Now that I precompost my greens it stays cooler then the outside does. Really like your CFT build though. I am going to start a few custom built ones to fit certain spaces I have available.

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brockolopolis (44) · 7 years ago

Thank you for all of the great info! It's ultra generous for you to provide the plans and all. Upvoted and followed!

guanyu (49) · 7 years ago

Hello @quochuy, thank you for this great information=) I am in the same situation with some smaller worm bins and was thinking about doing something like this.. I was wondering if you thought a bin like this could survive a cold winter outdoors? If not, do you think it smells more than the smaller bins or would attract bugs positioned indoors?

quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

Hi. It will depends on how cold the winter is, how long for and the size of your bin. You can always add extra insulation and increase the feeding as to generate heat. But there are limits.

As for smell it smell just the same as a small bin as long as you do things well. That is not overfeeding and always add sufficient amount of dry bedding material.

Check the following article for feeding method:
https://steemit.com/vermicomposting/@quochuy/how-to-feed-your-compost-worms

guanyu (49) · 7 years ago

thank you for the information @quochuy. I own a vegetarian food cart and we have a fair amount of weekly scraps to compost. I think a bin like this will help a lot with our waste and hopefully can keep it indoors to compost year round. I'm going to read through your previous posts and look forward to building something like this=)

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quochuy (72) · 7 years ago

@guanyu my pleasure, let me know if you have any further questions.

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offgrid-online (50) · 7 years ago

This post has been featured in the @offgrid-online Weekly Review curation: offgrid-online Weekly Review - Issue#2. Thank you for sharing you knowledge and experience :)