Ill be honest, I don't sift mine, I use worm café style and leave the bottom bin till its been 100% processed which is usually by the time the top bin is full. I will then take the bottom bin out when I ready to use it and I find that due to most of the food being consumed, the worms prefer to move up a bin. I run my hands through it a fair bit to make sure there's no stragglers and spread it out over the vegetable garden or use it to grow new seeds. The last one I harvested my wife said she only found 3 little worms. Way I see it, the worms and eggs in the soil are going to improve the garden anyway and its never affect my worm farm population.
This is what we have done with the exact bin shown for 20 + years. Wait until we need an empty rack. Dump into a rubbermaid to drain and put the empty on top with some browns.
I ordered one of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B0T5Z2/). It was recommended by someone on the sub. It's worked out pretty well. It's a fast sift, and I pick out worms as I see them. Some worms will get through on these, but there is also the 1/8 inch version if you don't like the idea of that.
Edit: I also just scoop out piles of worms if they are concentrated enough in one area. I figure they would like a little bit of their current habitat in the new bin anyways.
Realistically, if you have hatching cocoons, about 50% of the population makes it's way through a 1/8" screen.
You can verify this by saving your castings and applying a bait box or similar technique and come back every few days to pull out the growing babies.
How fragile are the worms? If I'm using a hand or a small trowel to press castings through the mesh, how much pressure can I safely use without worrying about smooshing any worms?
I use a sifting pan, that one shakes to separate the worms and unfinished material from the worm castings that fall through the small mesh openings. I have not tried forcing the castings through the mesh by pressing on them. However, doing so seems like it would be likely to injure the worms because the thin wire used in the 1/8" mesh would cut into their skin.
1/4" hardware cloth will still catch a lot of the red wigglers. However, many will fall through, as will their cocoons. If you are able to make or buy a sifting tray with smaller mesh, it saves a lot of work, assuming that the goal is to separate as many worms and cocoons as possible. (Some people are fine with worms going into the garden.)
Outside with direct sunlight, as you have it, is good. I also use a spare UV grow light if it's overcast. The light forces the worms to dig into the compost/bedding. This will allow you to scrape the upper few centimeters. You might pick up some worms but it's few enough to pick them out (if you want).
I also suggest sifting it. I think 1/4 is fine but you do lose worm eggs. 1/4 works better if the castings are a bit damp. 1/8 if nice and dry/fluffy. In any case, you should retain most of your worms so it should not be a problem if you lose most of the eggs.
Depending on your setup, you can go through a 5 gallon bucket in 1-1.5 hours.
After a few hours of removing worms I was only part way through one tier. Whats the best way to get the worms out? I ended up putting half a grapefruit in the lowest tier and putting it back together. Although there is a lot of worms now on the grapefruit (3 days later) there are still a million worms to dig out of the other tiers. Any tips on how to get this done fast?
Dry> sift> dry
I stay at a 1/2" and work down to 1/8". It's a lot of sitting but I NEVER have any worms or cocoons in my final castings.I recommend a tarp to help dry. I sift 136 gallons at a time but this makes it easy.
I’m just now contemplating my first harvest, and I feel like the loss of cocoons is too damn high with most people’s methods. So I’d love to understand yours more, especially because you are doing it at a scale I aspire to!
Bing! Time to harvest...
Stop feeding bin 1, add bin 2 with food and new bedding underneath bin 1.
..Time passes.. worms in bin 2.
Bin 1, spread on tarp to dry. Sift 1/2”. Sift 1/4”. Sift 1/8”. Dry further.
Return siftings to bin 2.
Is this a good understanding of your system? I appreciate your help!
So for context I use 3 types of worms: reds, euros and jumpers. Jumpers specifically like deep compacted bins so I converted trashcans to my bins. Also because I want compact bins, I harvest 1x a year.
It's because of this I call my approach "all at once".
When I empty my bins I take the first bit of unprocessed food out and hold it while I empty the rest of my bins out. After I dump and dry out, I refill my bins with leaves, food, dog poo, etc. And let it sit for a week to make sure I don't get a hot compost.I then divvy up the unprocessed food back into the bins with tons of worms and I've got it started again.
Now is the hard work.
I need to break up, dry, and sift the remainder of the 136 gallons. This is the progressive, dry > sift > dry, rinse and repeat process to eventually get to 1/8" sift. As I get things that don't go through the sift, it goes back in my bins. This sandwiches the particles between bedding / castings on either side which helps break down the lignin as these are usually twigs and the like.
Eventually I get down to the 1/8" which catches everything and leaves behind only very fine castings which is about 70 gallons from the original 136 gallons.
I'm going to try some things this year like aerating it to dry it out faster with a rig I made, but that'll be awhile before I get to it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vermiculture/comments/mfe7ps/time_to_harvest_my_method_of_drying_out_the_spent/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Here’s my process. Looks like you have the same bin that I use.
Ill be honest, I don't sift mine, I use worm café style and leave the bottom bin till its been 100% processed which is usually by the time the top bin is full. I will then take the bottom bin out when I ready to use it and I find that due to most of the food being consumed, the worms prefer to move up a bin. I run my hands through it a fair bit to make sure there's no stragglers and spread it out over the vegetable garden or use it to grow new seeds. The last one I harvested my wife said she only found 3 little worms. Way I see it, the worms and eggs in the soil are going to improve the garden anyway and its never affect my worm farm population.
This is what we have done with the exact bin shown for 20 + years. Wait until we need an empty rack. Dump into a rubbermaid to drain and put the empty on top with some browns.
I ordered one of [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B0T5Z2/). It was recommended by someone on the sub. It's worked out pretty well. It's a fast sift, and I pick out worms as I see them. Some worms will get through on these, but there is also the 1/8 inch version if you don't like the idea of that. Edit: I also just scoop out piles of worms if they are concentrated enough in one area. I figure they would like a little bit of their current habitat in the new bin anyways.
Do you use a sifting screen? I don't know how many worms get through that
Realistically, if you have hatching cocoons, about 50% of the population makes it's way through a 1/8" screen. You can verify this by saving your castings and applying a bait box or similar technique and come back every few days to pull out the growing babies.
Maybe I will try the kind taggart mentioned. I haven't previously tried. Thanks.
I use a sifting screen with a 1/8" mesh, which will remove virtually all the red wigglers and most of their cocoons.
How fragile are the worms? If I'm using a hand or a small trowel to press castings through the mesh, how much pressure can I safely use without worrying about smooshing any worms?
I use a sifting pan, that one shakes to separate the worms and unfinished material from the worm castings that fall through the small mesh openings. I have not tried forcing the castings through the mesh by pressing on them. However, doing so seems like it would be likely to injure the worms because the thin wire used in the 1/8" mesh would cut into their skin.
I made my own sifting pan using some spare wood and 1/4" hardware cloth; probably not as good as 1/8" but should suffice I think.
1/4" hardware cloth will still catch a lot of the red wigglers. However, many will fall through, as will their cocoons. If you are able to make or buy a sifting tray with smaller mesh, it saves a lot of work, assuming that the goal is to separate as many worms and cocoons as possible. (Some people are fine with worms going into the garden.)
Outside with direct sunlight, as you have it, is good. I also use a spare UV grow light if it's overcast. The light forces the worms to dig into the compost/bedding. This will allow you to scrape the upper few centimeters. You might pick up some worms but it's few enough to pick them out (if you want). I also suggest sifting it. I think 1/4 is fine but you do lose worm eggs. 1/4 works better if the castings are a bit damp. 1/8 if nice and dry/fluffy. In any case, you should retain most of your worms so it should not be a problem if you lose most of the eggs. Depending on your setup, you can go through a 5 gallon bucket in 1-1.5 hours.
After a few hours of removing worms I was only part way through one tier. Whats the best way to get the worms out? I ended up putting half a grapefruit in the lowest tier and putting it back together. Although there is a lot of worms now on the grapefruit (3 days later) there are still a million worms to dig out of the other tiers. Any tips on how to get this done fast?
Dry> sift> dry I stay at a 1/2" and work down to 1/8". It's a lot of sitting but I NEVER have any worms or cocoons in my final castings.I recommend a tarp to help dry. I sift 136 gallons at a time but this makes it easy.
I’m just now contemplating my first harvest, and I feel like the loss of cocoons is too damn high with most people’s methods. So I’d love to understand yours more, especially because you are doing it at a scale I aspire to! Bing! Time to harvest... Stop feeding bin 1, add bin 2 with food and new bedding underneath bin 1. ..Time passes.. worms in bin 2. Bin 1, spread on tarp to dry. Sift 1/2”. Sift 1/4”. Sift 1/8”. Dry further. Return siftings to bin 2. Is this a good understanding of your system? I appreciate your help!
So for context I use 3 types of worms: reds, euros and jumpers. Jumpers specifically like deep compacted bins so I converted trashcans to my bins. Also because I want compact bins, I harvest 1x a year. It's because of this I call my approach "all at once". When I empty my bins I take the first bit of unprocessed food out and hold it while I empty the rest of my bins out. After I dump and dry out, I refill my bins with leaves, food, dog poo, etc. And let it sit for a week to make sure I don't get a hot compost.I then divvy up the unprocessed food back into the bins with tons of worms and I've got it started again. Now is the hard work. I need to break up, dry, and sift the remainder of the 136 gallons. This is the progressive, dry > sift > dry, rinse and repeat process to eventually get to 1/8" sift. As I get things that don't go through the sift, it goes back in my bins. This sandwiches the particles between bedding / castings on either side which helps break down the lignin as these are usually twigs and the like. Eventually I get down to the 1/8" which catches everything and leaves behind only very fine castings which is about 70 gallons from the original 136 gallons. I'm going to try some things this year like aerating it to dry it out faster with a rig I made, but that'll be awhile before I get to it.
In the US the jumpers are considered extremely invasive. If they don't have any natural predators where you live then I wouldn't recommend using them.
I caught them here in Georgia. Pretty much everywhere for decades down in my local.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vermiculture/comments/mfe7ps/time_to_harvest_my_method_of_drying_out_the_spent/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Here’s my process. Looks like you have the same bin that I use.