Hungry Bin mixing?

Vermicomposting uses worms to create nutrient-rich worm castings that significantly improves overall plant health.
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steve_miller
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Hey do you guys recommend giving the top layer (few inches on top and into the soil material) of your hungry bins a little mix?

Im wondering if this will speed up the decomposing material on top if its buried a little bit.

Thoughts?
MForest
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I’ve had my hungry bin less than a year, so I’m no expert, but I can say that the worms find their food as soon as they (and the food) are ready for each other. For me, it seems like I can add some nearly everyday and if it’s warm enough and the food is chopped finely enough, within a week the worms seem to have gone through what I put down the previous week. I’ve never mixed anything as there always seems to be worms within the top couple inches and I don’t want to hurt them! Andrew for sure can direct you better than me though.
jack oostenbrink
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The only time I mixed was when I dug down and felt that everything was a little to mushy and going anaerobic a week after a feeding with quite a bit of greens. I worked the mush layer up a bit to let in some air and added some shredded paper...other than that I never mix
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Andrew
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steve_miller wrote: Sun 09-Jan-2022, 19:47 Hey do you guys recommend giving the top layer (few inches on top and into the soil material) of your hungry bins a little mix?

Im wondering if this will speed up the decomposing material on top if its buried a little bit.

Thoughts?
I do not recommend this unless you have overfed your bin and it has gone anerobic.
ElysseG
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Half the time I blend up the food before I put it in my bin. It breaks down quicker and the worms love that
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CoastRichard
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thanks Steve for asking the same question I had on HB mixing. Couple more HB questions to add to this thread from HB 1-month newbie.

[HB as vermicomposting upgrade from rubbermaid bin system. Worms are active at the surface, some moisture on lid, a few roaming worms, leachate is becoming darker at 1L+ per week].

1. Do you add shredded newspaper as per the HB instructions (says about the same weight as the food) each time? Leaning towards no, as seems to become soggy mess mixed into vermicompost as I found with the bin system. Or just use a piece of cardboard on top?

2. Can the food be blended too fine? Ie. blending to a pulp vs just finely chopped.

thanks for these or any other HB advice,
Richard
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Andrew
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1. You can safely follow the HB instructions -- they do work as long as you are not overfeeding. This is the number one challenge with a new bin and being a new worm farmer is knowing how much to feed. The HB if started with 2lbs of worms takes about a year before it can handle 2KG per day, so scaling up how much you feed slowly is a good practice.

2. Food that is blended really fine is perfectly fine, but I do recommend adding some grit once a month like some sand (just sprinkle a tbsp or two) or biochar if you've got it.

The key with any worm bin is not to overfeed. How do you know if you are overfeeding? If the bin begins to smell is the #1 hint. How do you remediate? Just remove some of the food, put into freezer and then re-add once you see ALL the food has been eaten. Note how long this took, and then feed them, note how long it takes this time. You will begin to get a sense for how much your worms can handle as the population scales up to their capacity.
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