Vermicompost Bin Repurposed from A Metal Bath Tub

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I started this worm bin from a repurposed metal bath tub in early May 2020. Due to a tight budget, I only spent RM 45 for 100gms of ANC worms. 3 months later, the worms have grown by leaps and bounds. However, the sizes are diverse with many little ones but a couple of super big fat worms.

My SOP for maintaining them is two words: Neglect and Underfeed. Due to my busy schedule, I only check in on them at least once every 2 weeks. Truth be told, they are doing well. But perhaps because I don’t feed them much, they are not growing fast enough; albeit their increased in numbers. Also, it’s best/safer to underfeed than over. Perhaps it’s time to turn up the notch on food intake.

I’m currently only utilising the vermitea on small durian and mangosteen trees as I do not have enough to go around. More upcoming bins in the works. They have to be at least each, 3 times bigger than this metal bath tub and I need to have at least 4 units of them. That only calls for perhaps a custom made box.

Wire mesh weighed down with bricks to cover drainage hole.
Wire mesh weighed down with bricks to cover drainage hole.
Start with the bedding at the bottom.
Start with the bedding at the bottom.
Dried vetiver grass.
Dried vetiver grass.
Regular dried leaves, grass and partially decomposed fine particles of star fruit tree leaves and its fruits.
Regular dried leaves, grass and partially decomposed fine particles of star fruit tree leaves and its fruits.
Mushroom compost (light brown powdery substance), chopped star fruits and kitchen waste (not much at the moment), just the former two.
Mushroom compost (light brown powdery substance), chopped star fruits and kitchen waste (not much at the moment), just the former two.
Plugged drainage hole at the top with rolled up mesh and stuffed with a branch to keep rodents out but yet maintain airflow.
Plugged drainage hole at the top with rolled up mesh and stuffed with a branch to keep rodents out but yet maintain airflow.
Occasional adding of egg carton boxes, covered with burlap sacks. All to be watered down and kept moist.
Occasional adding of egg carton boxes, covered with burlap sacks. All to be watered down and kept moist.
Liquid gold: Vermicompost tea collected in a bucket under the drainage hole. This has already been partially watered down depending on how much water I use to drench the pile occasionally. From this batch, I will proceed to water it down further (no fixed ratio, just by gut feel) before using it on all the young trees. It's best to have more vermitea so that I can apply as large-scale spraying around the farm to also benefit the bigger trees.
Liquid gold: Vermicompost tea collected in a bucket under the drainage hole. This has already been partially watered down depending on how much water I use to drench the pile occasionally. From this batch, I will proceed to water it down further (no fixed ratio, just by gut feel) before using it on all the young trees. It’s best to have more vermitea so that I can apply as large-scale spraying around the farm to also benefit the bigger trees.

I’m also currently applying spent organic mushroom substrate (mushroom compost) to feed the worms and I can see they absolutely love it. I would also soon be trying out tea leaves as I read somewhere that they do exceptionally well as compared to spent coffee grounds.

The burlap sacks are to lure the worms to feed on the surface area (when I dump food) by blocking the light out as the worms prefer darkness. However, they have since been broken down quite badly and may need to be changed soon. To cover the bin (optional), I used an old plastic door and kept a small gap for airflow. Small enough to not let any unwanted intruders in.

Vermicompost Bin Repurposed from A Metal Bath Tub

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2 thoughts on “Vermicompost Bin Repurposed from A Metal Bath Tub”

  1. Hi, just wanna share. Oyster Mushroom SMS (spent mushroom compost) produce exudates that retard growth of some plants. Some like sweet potatoes and roses however thrives in them. Big trees don’t seem to mind. Other plants, veges not so much. So use them with care.

    I found this from readings (Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets is a superb book) and through hard experience. I had almost a dozen worm bins with SMS before I learned about it.

    After about a year (some sources suggest one and a half year to two years) though they might be fully degraded but why take that chance.

    But yes, worms LOVE them! I put fresh ones in bins and soon I have found free worms in there!

    Reply

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