DIY Worm Farm for apartment

Earthworm and red wiggler are the most common worms that I pick in parks of New York. 

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Adult earthworms are much larger than red wigglers.

 Though, smaller red worms consume about as much food as large earthworms do.  

Red wigglers feed on the surface while earthworms prefer to dig in the soil. 

Both types of worms are suitable for making compost. 

Smaller sized red wigglers are better for feeding my pet newts. 

I have 3 adult Eastern newts that consume about a dozen worms a month. 

In my previous videos I shared with you where I find and keep worms before feeding them to pets.

Now let's build a worm farm for culturing worms in an apartment all year around. 

For this purpose, I am going to use disposable 16oz food containers with covers. 

Local restaurants sell meals in this type of container. 

Eat the meal and wash the containers clean. 

Use a hot soldering gun to make holes in the cover. 

The holes in the cover serve for air circulation.

 Make holes in the bottom of the container. 

Holes in the bottom of the container serve for liquid drainage and also for air circulation. 

I prepare four containers in exactly the same way. 

Now let's move worms from the compost bin shown in the previous video to the new bin. 

Or you can make a new bedding and add worms to it. 

Cover the container. 

Put the container with worms on the top of another container. 

Notice that the bottom container does not have holes in the bottom! 

The bottom container serves for collecting liquid. 

This is the only container without holes in the bottom. 

I stack four containers with holes on the top of each other. 

This stack of containers fits nicely on a standard Ikea shelf under my aquarium. 

And we need one more cover for the bottom container - later I will make holes in this cover. 

My first container with worms is already full. 

So, let's make a new bedding in the second container. 

Papers, newspapers, carton boxes and such works great as bedding for worms.

 Cut the paper and soak it in the water - I simply moist it this time. 

Add some food for worms to chew on. 

Banana peels also provide a lot of moisture - that's why I don't soak the paper this time.

 The container with new bedding goes on the top of the container with worms. 

All empty containers go on the top. 

Ah, one more thing! 

Put a cover with holes on the bottom container as well. 

That is where the drainage will go.

Container with worms goes on the top of it. 

I take a couple worms to feed my newts.

 My guppies and Endlers fish also eat worms. 

Well, I can add some banana peels here too. 

Cover the container. 

Put the container with new bedding on the top of it. 

Add some water if the bedding looks too dry. 

Worms need moisture. 

Excess water will go to the bottom container. 

Cover the container. 

Put all empty containers with covers on the top of the stack. 

All set and ready on October 6th, 2022. 

The next day I see worms already got into the container with new bedding. 

It takes about 3-4 months for worms to make compost.

 I feed worms 1-2 times a week. 

The more worms in the culture the more food you will have to add. 

Most green scraps from your kitchen will do. 

Red wigglers consume their own weight of food in a matter of a day or two. 

It takes 2-3 months for the population of red wigglers to double.

 My 3 hungry newts cannot wait so long... 

So, by the end of the first month I start picking 1-2 worms on feeding days. 

Cut a red wiggler in half - it's a perfect feeding size for adult Eastern newts. 

Earthworms on the other hand are much larger and thicker.

 It makes it harder for newts to eat even sliced earthworms. 

Here you can see a newt is hunting an earthworm. 

Earthworms and red wigglers stay alive underwater for over a week!

 Well, worms don't last that long in aquariums with newts and fish. 

My newts eat only live worms that they can swallow. 

Any dead worms get eaten by fish, snails, and scuds.

 By the end of the third month I set up the third container with new bedding. 

This time I use wilted leaves instead of paper for the bedding.

 Worms also like potato peels, yams and such. 

I give worms to try whatever is available to see if they like it. 

Remember to check the bottom container. 

Pull out any worms that may end up in the liquid.

 I use the liquid to water our houseplants.

Wash the bottom cover and stack it all back. 

Once in a while I add sand to all beddings. 

Sand helps worms to digest food.

 There are a lot of red wigglers here for my newts to enjoy :) 

Here is the first bottom container. 

I already moved it to the top of the stack to dry out.

 There are still some worms in this container. 

You can see the dark rich compost worms made in a matter of about 3-4 months. 

I use the compost to fertilize our house plants.

 Here it goes.

 And our plants like it!

 I keep this stackable worm farm on the shelf you can see on the back here. 

There is no bad odor - my wife would not let me have it any other way :)

 This small worm farm produces enough worms for 3 newts all year around. 

And you can scale it up! 

Have fun and happy worms :)