Red Wiggler Worm Compost Bin

This post is about how to make a red wiggler worm compost bin.  I will show you how to make the bin and what items to put in it.  The parts used are two plastic tubs or bins, two 4×4 blocks, brown compost material, green compost material, a little water, and red wiggler worms.

Drill Holes

The first thing you need to do is drill some holes for the worms.  The holes will only be drilled in one of the bins.  The other bin will have no holes at all.

On my system I put six holes on the bottom of the bin to drain the liquid out of the top bin into the bottom bin.  This will prevent the worms from drowning if there is an excess of liquid.

In the upper part of the bin, I drilled 16 holes, four on each side, so the worms get some fresh air.  I also drilled 12 holes on the lid for the same reason.

Put 4×4 Blocks In

Now put the two sections of 4×4 blocks (about 6 to 8 inches long) in the bottom of the bin with no holes.  Then put the bin with holes into the bin with no holes.  The 4×4 blocks will hold it up in the air by almost 4-inches.  This allows the air to get into the upper holes and allows any liquid to drain into the bottom bin.

Layer Browns and Greens

Now layer the browns and greens in the upper bin with the holes in it.  Browns are items that are high in carbon like shredded cardboard or paper, brown leaves, or straw.  Greens are items that are high in nitrogen and include items like vegetables and fruits, coffee grounds, and green leaves.

For mine, I did about four inches of paper, followed by kitchen scraps, then another four inches of shredded paper.  I then cut up a watermelon and put the watermelon rinds in for the next layer.  Then I put in four inches of shredded paper and went out in the yard and pulled some green leaves off of various plants.  Then I put one final layer of shredded paper on top.

Wet The Top

You will need to wet the very top layer of brown.  Using a spray bottle is the best way, but I did not have one at the time.  So I just dipped the shredded paper in a bowl of water and then rung it out and put it in the bin.

Kick Start

The last step of the layers is to put a little compost or good soil from under leaves on top of the layers.  Just a couple of handfuls or so.  This is just to kick start the microbial action to help the compost get started.

The Worms

I ordered 1000 red wiggler worms on Amazon from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm.  They arrived about a week after I initially layered the compost material in the bins.  The worms came in priority mail and were shipped in dry Pete moss.  They instructions said to pour ½ cup of water on the Pete moss and let them sit for just a bit before adding them to the garden or compost bin.  I used bottled water that was at room temperature.  I didn’t want to use tap water because of the chlorine.

After about an hour or so I poured the worms on the compost material.  They seem to be lively and moving around well.  I will do another video in a couple of weeks giving you an update on how the red wiggler worm compost bin is coming along.

Worms on Amazon

Here are the worms I got on Amazon except the ones below are 500 count vs. 1000:

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The Video

Check out the video below titled Red Wiggler Worm Compost Bin.

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