User Guide for a DITO’S WORM BIN Mauritius – Box Model

Thank you for purchasing a DITO’S WORM BIN! You have made the right choice in enhancing your own home made compost. This manual is intended for the worm people that have already acquired their worm bins and had a personal session with me on how the worm bin is used.

For those curious reading in and interested, the DITO’S WORM BIN – Box Model looks like this:

As we can only retain so much when doing a training session, this user guide below can help you as a guideline whenever you aren’t so sure about managing your worm bin. Which you can also read before and after acquiring your setup. Your suggestions are also welcome which I can add. This guideline is a summary of own experience in setting up a worm bin in the tropical Mauritian environment.

On one side you will be able to process and recycle some of your food and paper waste which you’ll be able to return back to the ecological life cycle of mother nature. On the other side you’ll be able to improve your overall composting process and end product at home. The worm bin setup is an add-on to your existing composting process if you already do composting at home.

Where do I place the worm bins?

Place the worm bin setup in a shaded area. The summer sun is hot and direct exposure will make the worm bins warm up which will disturb the worms. Your worms will thrive better by not being directly exposed to the sun. It can be exposed to rain.

If it’s only a few hours sunlight exposure during the day, for example the morning sun, or only part of the bin gets some sunlight, this can be all right. If you observe where the sun is shining on the bin, try to create shade by for example putting cardboard and some branches around it for support. Or add some more geotextile around it. It really makes a difference by keeping the setup shaded and humid.

How much compost will the DITO’S Worm Bin Box Model produce?

One box will produce up to a volume of 88L which are 4-5 x 20L buckets. Sufficient for a small backyard garden. It should be ready at intervals of 6 months each with a thriving worm bin!

Why should I feed the worms kitchen waste? Isn’t the manure, compost, cardboard and leafs enough?

Your bulk material for the worms is definitely manure. They love manure. So why the kitchen waste?

Kitchen waste offers the worms a diet variety. While worms can survive on manure alone, a varied diet is beneficial for their health and reproduction. Kitchen waste provides different nutrients than manure.

You will have a continuous supply of kitchen waste to feed them. We will discuss the intervals below. Worms constantly process their bedding. Even if they have manure, they’ll eventually consume it all. Adding kitchen waste replenishes their food supply. At some point you will have to add a new layer of manure once you see they are through, you can alternate with the aged horse and cow manure layers.

Bedding vs. food: The manure serves as both bedding and initial food. Kitchen scraps are primarily food, helping maintain nutrient levels as the manure is consumed.

Waste recycling: Feeding kitchen scraps to worms is an excellent way to recycle organic waste that might otherwise go to landfills.

Population growth: A diverse, plentiful diet can support a larger worm population.

When feeding kitchen waste, remember to avoid adding meat, dairy, oily foods, or citrus in large quantities.

The following is recommended from internet sources which I will contradict:
Chop scraps into small pieces and bury them in the bedding to prevent odors and pests.

DITO’S recommendation:
I would recommend you at the beginning of your worm initiation not to bury anything (yet) only if you are sure the worms have already processed the bedding material (manure) to avoid hot composting. I do not have issues with odors and pests by just layering it on top of the existing bedding material. I will prefer to bury and mix everything in the worm bin after I see it’s all properly decomposed.

Kitchen Waste

I keep my kitchen waste that is organic matter (things that can decompose) in 2 small buckets. Obviously no plastics or papers with wax and plastic coatings.

Bucket 1 is for the kitchen waste that can be fed to the worms.
Coffee grounds, tea bags, tea leafs, leafy vegetables, fruits, veggies, paper scraps, paper tissues, food remains. (No meat and bones!)

Bucket 2 is kitchen waste that cannot be fed to the worms.
Oignons, garlic, citrus fruits, oranges. I will use this more in my raised beds, which I just throw on the top. I believe it can act a bit as a repellent for undesirable insects and rodents.

Paper Waste

Printed office papers, newspapers, tissues, cardboard, etc. The worms also like the glue material that holds together cardboard. Tear it into small pieces before giving it to the worms. Also wet it. The worms can also process the ink and reduce the heavy metals that would else just go back into the soil. Getting some shredded office paper is also great, means you do not have to do the tearing.

How much kitchen waste do I feed the worms and at which intervals?

The DITO’S WORM BIN comes already setup with bedding material which can consist of horse manure, cow manure, some paper & cardboard pieces, a piece of banana trunk & coconut coir and some brown leafs at the top. The worms included with the worm bin will not need any additional food for at least a month when a new bin is kick-started.

Here is a ratio:
250 worms will process 20L (bucket size) volume of material within 1-2 months.

The worm bin is split into 2 halves, we pile up the manure to the left (or right, can alternate), and leave a more shallow layer to the right (or left) where we place the banana trunk piece and optional a dried piece of coconut coir. There at the start of your bins life cycle, it might also contain some paper & cardboard scraps and all covered with brown leafs. The banana and coco coir is a humidity backup for the worms just like the leafs on top create a layer of insulation and protection.

In this photo you can see how the worms like the banana trunk! I learnt about this from a vermicomposting tutorial from Tamilnadu.

By splitting the worm bin into 2 halves, we reduce the risk of creating an unfavourable environment for the worms. The worms can migrate to the other half if there is something they do not like or also come up into the leafs if the leafs are kept humid enough. They do love wet leafs! Similar also if they are finished with “eating” one half they’ll migrate to the other half where there is food, for that instance it can be the kitchen food waste.

Risks you will have to deal with and minimize from happening is:

Hot composting

This can happen when you mix food waste with manure. It can become hot. That’s why you only lay scraps of food waste into the worm bin, at the lower side. That’s why we also split the worm bin so that the worms can migrate to the cooler half should hot composting happen. Your risk of hot composting will be very minimal if you don’t overfeed them and also don’t feed them too much in short intervals.

Overfeeding them

It is a common occurrence at the beginning when you manage your worm bin to overfeed them. Overfeeding can also cause smells as the food pile up and it turns anaerobic which in turn can also start hot composting.

In this photo you can see that only a layer of food waste has been placed in the right side of the bin. As long as it hasn’t completely decomposed and the worms are not done with it yet, do not add more food waste!

Time intervals

Once you have fed them a first layer of kitchen waste, give them a break 😉 Come back in 1 week and see how things look. Is there still some food waste left? Come back again in another week. Then add new food waste.

What can I do with the food waste that I have in surplus?

If you were already maintaining a compost pile, continue to do so with your excess food waste. Once this turns into compost, you can also transfer this compost to the worms for them to fertilize additionally and turn it into amazing worm castings! If you aren’t maintaining a compost pile, I would encourage you to do so.

When do I water the worm bins and how much?

The worm bins are built as such that if there is too much water, it will flow out at the bottom. You might want to capture that flow out with a tray or bucket to water your plants. If your worm bin is near fruit trees, you can also just let the water flow through just fall on the ground and your fruit trees will benefit. I’ve stopped collecting this liquid which is called worm leachate and just let it fall close to the banana trees. These trees now look very healthy! From stagnant growth to fruit bearing trees is testament to how good the worm castings are!

In winter you can water the worms every 2 days and if it has rained you can give them a break for another 2 days. Just use a small watering can. Its better it’s more wet than too dry! In the past I used to water them only every 5 days and with a spray, the result was that my worm bins didn’t thrive and the worm population only grew very slowly.

In summer I would recommend you to water them daily.

Even if it rains, at times the rain will not moisturize the corners of the worm bin, so when you water the worm bin, also water around the corners. If you have a jute bag on top, every now and then lift it up to give more access for the water and also wet the jute bag.

Worm leachate is not worm tea!

“Worm leachate” (often misspelled as “lycheate”) is a liquid byproduct produced during the vermicomposting process. Here’s a brief overview from the internet with some of my words in italic:

1. Definition: It’s the liquid that drains from a worm bin or vermicomposting system.
2. Formation: Leachate is created when excess moisture from food scraps, worm activity, and decomposition processes seeps through the bedding material. (DITO’S: Also the water you water them with!)
3. Composition: It contains water, dissolved organic matter, microorganisms, and some nutrients from the decomposition process.
4. Color and odor: Typically dark in color and may have a strong, earthy smell if the bin is well-maintained. A foul odor can indicate problems in the bin.
5. Uses: Some people use diluted leachate as a liquid fertilizer for plants, though its quality and safety can vary.
6. Caution: Raw leachate can be harmful to plants if used undiluted, as it may contain pathogens or be too concentrated. (DITO’S: not for seedlings, not for green leafy veggies that you will eat, but great for example for egg plants, fruit trees, chilli plants etc.)
7. Collection: Many worm bins are designed with a tap or drainage system to collect leachate separately from the solid vermicompost.
8. Management: Proper moisture control in the worm bin can help regulate leachate production. Too much leachate often indicates overwatering or excess moisture in food scraps. (DITO’S: Don’t worry too much about this, that some water will flow out your bin when you water it is normal. You will prefer your bin to be more wet than too dry!)

It’s important to note that worm leachate is different from worm tea, which is a deliberate brewing of finished vermicompost in water (DITO’S: with an aquarium air pump).

Let’s FLUFF! When and why should I mix all the worm castings, bedding’s and food scraps that are nearly decomposed with my hands?

As part of your worm bin management routine comes the time to fluff it! Or that is to go through all the material and give it a good mix with your hands! You can do it with or without gloves. I’m a firm believer that touching soil and organic materials from mother nature with your hands is healthy! We do wash our hands after anyways! You get the point.

So, when would be a good time to do that? I would say somewhere around 1-2 months. When you see that the worms are through with the bedding, and the kitchen food waste looks well decomposed, give the worm bin a good mix! Why would you do that?

It helps to break down compaction. Mixing aerates the bin. At the later stage when your worm bin is full, before harvesting and or adding the other box on top, to facilitate the migration of the worms from the bottom bin to the top bin.

It helps to discover and break down anaerobic pockets, areas that smell sour or rotten.

Why mix with your hands:

1. Gentle agitation: Hands allow you to feel the texture and avoid harming worms.
2. Observation: You can closely inspect the bin’s contents and worm health.
3. Even distribution: Ensures food and moisture are spread throughout.
4. Aeration: Introduces oxygen, promoting aerobic decomposition.
5. Break up clumps: Prevents matting of bedding or food scraps.
6. Worm redistribution: Helps spread worms evenly in the bin.
7. Moisture control: Allows you to feel and adjust moisture levels.
8. Temperature check: Your hands can detect hot spots that need addressing.

When do I know the worms are done with the bedding material?

You will see that the manure or bedding material will look different. It should have a uniform texture. The more your observe your worm bin, the more you will be getting that intuition to detect and sense these changes.

You can tell the worms have finished processing their bedding material when you observe the following signs:

1. Texture change: The bedding will have transformed from its original state (e.g., shredded paper, cardboard, leaves, manure) into a dark, soil-like substance.
2. Uniform appearance: Most of the bin contents will look like fine, dark granules – this is worm castings.
3. Original material gone: You’ll see little to no recognizable pieces of the original bedding material.
4. Reduced volume: The overall volume in the bin will have decreased significantly as the worms have consumed and compacted the materials.
5. Worm behavior: Many worms may be congregating at the top or sides of the bin, searching for new food sources.
6. Earthly smell: The bin contents will have a pleasant, earthy odor similar to rich soil.
7. Worm castings abundance: You’ll notice an abundance of small, dark pellets which are worm castings.
8. Time frame: Depending on your bin size, worm population, and initial bedding amount, this process typically takes 3-6 months. (For a whole box, the layers of bedding that you add will take shorter time frames! Keep in mind the ratio of 250 worms will need 1 month to process one 20L bucket of bedding material. Even when your worm population doubles it will still take a month, it’s only after they double again that you will see the progress is faster!)

Keep in mind that decomposition isn’t always uniform throughout the bin. You might find some areas more processed than others. If you’re unsure, you can gently sort through the bin to check for any remaining unprocessed bedding.

When you notice these signs, it’s usually time to harvest the castings and provide fresh bedding for your worms.

When do I add more bedding material to the worm bin?

Latching on to the topic above, point 8. Once you see that they are through with the layer of bedding material that’s in your worm bin and you have mixed everything up. You can add a new layer.

How much to add? I would suggest you give them a full bucket of 20L volume for the DITO’S Worm Bin setup. Or the full amount that is in the bag that came supplied with the worm bin, it is exactly a volume of 20L. Once you have poured in the manure, you can pile it up to the right or left of the bin and keep a shallow layer at the other half of the bin. Then you can add some paper & cardboard waste and level it up to the level of the manure. The worms are now well fed with the bedding material and will not need kitchen food waste in the immediate. Count like 2-4 weeks until you start feeding them some kitchen food waste. It really depends how you see them progressing. If after 2 weeks you see that the worms look well fed in the manure and still have plenty to do, give them some more time.

How do I harvest the ready to go vermicompost?

Once your box is full and the bedding material is ready, give it a good mix, it’s okay if you cannot reach till the very bottom of the box as it’s full. Then add the other box on top. Start adding some bedding material on one side and food waste on the other side of the new box on top to attract the worms from the bottom to come up. Gradually most of the worms will migrate. There are cases where nearly +90% of the worms will migrate and cases where some that were at the very bottom do not migrate. Give it a 1-2 months and then start harvesting the vermicompost of the bottom box. You just remove the top box, and start digging out gently the vermicompost into a bucket. You can then place that vermicompost on a tray and go through it to pick out the worms which you can then use to either make a new worm bin and expand or throw them back in the worm bin that was at top and has not rotated into the place of the bottom bin. It’s also okay to have a few worms in the vermicompost that you will mix with the soil around your plants.

Conclusion

The steps listed above are a guide line to help you run successfully your worm bin and make it thrive! It will become intuitive once you put them into practice and everything will make sense and be logical. You’ll know at some stage when to do what and why. I wish you all the best on this journey and glad to you have you being part of the worm people!