Worm Factory360 Black US Made Composting System for Recycling Food Waste at Home

El producto muy bien, pero no llegaron las lombrices para comenzar el proyecto. Tuve que adquirirlas por mi cuenta.

This is the perfect set up if you are tight on space and want something visually appealing. Instructions cover everything you need to know and there are a ton of Youtube videos on this specific unit. I have read some complaints on these Amazon reviews, but it's obvious most did not research or read the instructions when setting it up. Make sure you add a layer of newspaper on the very bottom to help prevent your red wrigglers from getting into the lowest part of the worm box. Also, don't wait too long before starting another layer. About 3 months should do it. I think I waited too long and now I need to distribute some of the lower castings to a higher tier as it's a bit heavy. If your bin smells, ADD SHREDDED NEWSPAPER. the smell will come from what you are feeding your worms and if that food is exposed. It will not smell if the food is burred under shredded newspaper. Happy farming!

(As the process continues, the review will update.)Hi, I'm Michelle, and I have worms.A few weeks ago I made the decision to give vermicomposting a try. I live in an area that supports recycling, but we still have to take the items there. The rest of the trash costs us per weight, and ends up decomposing in a way that is not healthy. Why not reduce the trips to recycling, the money spent having someone else take away the rest of it, and end up with healthy compost for our plants? Hey, when it's January and you live in one of the coldest states, you start thinking about gardening so that you don't go all Jack Torrance.I read a lot on the topic, including a lot of advice on making my own bin. However, DIY bins almost always involved work in getting your slimy friends to go to The Other Side of The Bin. I decided to make the investment and buy a stackable unit, because they're made and used in a way that the worms migrate up and leave the finished compost behind. I thought it was well-worth the money now for the convenience and the anticipated money saved.Set up of this unit was very easy, and I choose to follow the advice of many to set it up a week or two before the worms arrived in order to introduce them in when the environment was ideal for them. Worms, come to find out, don't care about your rotting food and yesterday's paper so much as they care about the microbes that care about these things, and so setting it up allows those microbes to show-up and chow down. The kit gave everything I needed, including shredded paper, with the exception of table scraps and the recommended dirt to introduce grit and microorganisms. Dirt is not readily accessible in Minnesota in January, but I managed a couple tablespoons of mud. (Besides, when the worms showed up, they brought some dirt with them and I had some, er, well-aged scraps.)Yesterday -1/27/10- the worms arrived and I introduced them to the bin. While they were well-packaged, shipped next day air, and held at the post office, they'd still been through a lot, and were initially sluggish (is calling a worm sluggish a mixed metaphor or just possibly defamatory?) but after a couple hours much more active. They're mostly the surface and do seem to be attracted to the areas with the scraps.While it's early, and I intend to update this as the process continues, I'm quite happy with the bin and the very detailed instructions or setting up the bedding, etc. It's also very simple looking and attractive enough that, had I not a basement, it would be acceptable upstairs. A nice feature, and you can see it in the picture, is that the lid has quick guide to what scraps are best and offers some great tips.I'm new at this, but I'll happily answer any questions I can in the comments about my personal experience or understanding of things. If you email me, I also might post that to comments -- referring to you as Ann on a Mouse, if you're shy. YouTube has lots of videos, but you will feel weird confessing to people that you've spent hours watching people fiddling with worms. (Trust me, I've been there.)***2/3/10Going well. Learning to not over -- overfeed, overworry, over-nose-around. The worms are still adjusting, but the environment seems to be working, and they're going at the scraps. Because I cook most nights, and make lots of veggies, I think it'll be a while before they'll be able to handle what I could give them, so I'm holding back.! There has been a day or two where I've not added to it, and let them catch up. Been grinding the scraps up in a chopper -- anything to start them out right. Also, upping the amount of fiber -- newspaper, mostly. Only 1 has tried to go "over the wall."I continue to read up on the topic and my friends are either genuinely interested or humoring me until someone can show up with my injection.***2/07/10Hubert Hawkins: The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.Griselda: Just remember that.The Court JesterA mortar and pestle is a great way to ground up dried egg shells. The worms use them for grit, which aids in digestion, it's a source of calcium which could help with reproduction -- or not -- and it prevents the soil from being too acidic. This is the one I have: Harold's Kitchen 3-1/2 Inch Round Mortar and Pestle, but I picked it more for looks than practicality. If you've saved up a number of shells, I've read you can use something like a plastic bucket, or dishpan, and a mason jar. A lot of folks just crumble by hand or toss the shells in whole.***2/14/10Happy Valentine's Day, and what's more romantic than a bin of worms?Things are going fine. I've found a warmer spot in my basement, and now the bin is at about 65F, which is the best I can hope for this time of year unless I want to move the gang to the guest room. I've also ordered more worms. We're just creating too much waste right now and could use the help ... and I'm impatient. We have a freezer in the basement and I have a good size Tupperware container to freeze excess, but there's only so much room.As kitchen scraps accumulate I use Norpro Ceramic Compost Keeper (in red.) It works well, and has a filter to stop your kitchen from smelling. The handle is shoddy though, and it arrived chipped -- I'll be honest and say I should have gotten a metal one. Whether you chose ceramic or metal, there are attractive designs out there though, that'll look okay on your counter. Compost keepers also allow scraps to age for a few days, which means they attract attention faster in the bin. Freezing scraps, or microwaving them, also breaks them down and has a similar effect, with the added consideration of killing off fruit fly eggs or mites that might have hitchhiked from the grocery store. Most mites are actually beneficial, but I think most folks are more comfortable not having stow-aways. One last note on the counter compost keeper: mix it up a little and be aware of how old the oldest scraps are so that you don't end up with a stinky mess at the bottom. After a week or so, maybe less, it's time to freeze or make sure the oldest stuff is what's for dinner in the bin!***2/15/10I should mention that the Worm Factory comes with a lot of stuff. There's coconut coir for the base bedding, and a lot of people swear by it and continue to use it. It's sent as a brick and you soak it in water until it's hydrated and smells like earth and clean soil. There's shredded newspaper, also for bedding, and other related materials. (Paper and cardboard serve as food & bedding, and the addition of them throughout the process keeps smells down, helps if you end up with extra moisture, and it vital to the process.)There's also a hand rake and a scraper. I've never used the scraper. There's also a thermometer which my husband wrote WORMS across so that there are no mix-up with the one in the kitchen -- I supported him in this. There's also a detailed instruction manual, which helped put me at ease. (This is what I received and what they offer currently -- I'd look at the product description to verify this is still accurate when you order.)The WF (Worm Factory) is designed with a spigot to drain out extra liquids that might fall into the collection tray -- which is different from your working tray with the bedding, worms, and scraps. How moist a bin should be is the matter of some debate and nothing I feel experienced enough to speak to. There are also many discussions on what to do with this liquid -- which is called leachate, but some people call it worm tea. Most experts call worm tea something else -- a deliberate effort to create a mixture to pour on plants which I'm too early in the process to have done. I will say that my bin is moist, but not so moist that there has been drainage. I've rescued the odd worm from the collection bin, but not more than a drop or two of liquid. Since bins evolve, this might change. The design is also made for worms who fall down there to be able to crawl back up.I'm adding updates enough to see this will get unwieldy before too long, so I'll announce them here, but place them in comments. :)***Latest update, 10/26/10, see first page of comments.

I've owned this for maybe a year or two ago or so. Bought a couple extra trays. Overall, it's a good system. One should never, in all honesty, require more than the number (4?) of trays that it came with. Does what it says, no muss, no fuss. Lid came a bit warped, but that made no difference to the worms. If you'd like to try vermicomposting in your home, this is a good choice, I tended to mine with reasonable care, meaning that I didn't hover above it, but I also didn't let a week go by without checking on it. The worms seemed happy, and the trays were tight with almost clay-like dense black castings, each weighing about 20-25 lbs each. When mixed with soil, the house plants grew so much that I had to limit how much of the stuff that I added. As far as my garden goes, this surely played a part in my garden's excellent condition. I think that I payed in the neighbourhood of $100 at the time. I'd do it again.

I was very pleased with the wealth of information provided with this worm bin. I was initially expecting to only get a simple worm bin with a few bedding materials and a few instructions on how to set it up. But instead it comes shipped with a FULL booklet on just about EVERYTHING you need to know to get started in vermiculture. I appreciate the fact that these sellers are committed to the success of their customers by providing so much useful information. The booklet details how to troubleshoot and identify problems that may arise, how and what to feed your worms, how to properly maintain the bin over months, how to harvest the castings from the bin when it's ready, anatomy and life cycle of worms, how to keep your worms happy, and so much more! Receiving this booklet was definitely a breath of fresh air compared to all the small sheets of papers I get with broken translated English printed on them.I also like how you get enough bedding to fill two trays so you will be set for several months before you need to go get some additional materials for bedding (if you don't already have some).Currently, the worms have been quite happy in their new home (as far as I can tell). I've had the bin for about a month now and it has worked well for me. Obviously I will need more time to fully access this product, but so far, it's been easy to use and useful.A word of caution for those that are new to vermicomposting: When you add your new worms to the bin, make sure the environment is just to their liking (how to do this is explained in detail in the manual that comes with this item). When I received my worms in the mail, they were obviously stressed from the cross-country trip they had to make so they probably weren't the happiest of worms. After putting them in the bin, they WILL go exploring and this worm bin WILL NOT contain them. The bin is designed to allow proper air flow so it is far from being completely sealed. If the worms are not happy and want to explore the world around them, they will! Since I had to immediately leave after I added the worms to my bin, I came home to several worms (around 10) crawling around on the floor around the bin! It is suggested to turn on a light right above the bin to discourage them leaving, and I thought turning on the kitchen light would be enough. I was definitely wrong! I highly recommend getting a very bright desk lamp of sorts to shine *directly* above the bin for the first few days. After I got this bright lamp in place and adjusted the moisture levels of the bin, the worms were much more cooperative in staying inside. Now that the worms have acclimated to their new environment, I have no issues with them staying inside the bin and have no more need for the bright lamp.So to recap, when you get your worms, make sure you've got a little pile of food waiting for them and make sure the moisture levels are proper (not too dry, not too wet). Then make sure you've got a bright light to setup up directly outside of the bin that you can shine on it. If you do these things, you will not end up like me and find a bunch of worms crawling all over your floor and walls. Unfortunately, I lost a handful of worms due to my initial problems (they can dry out pretty quick and will die if left outside the bin), but the worms that are left are happily crawling around their food now.I would highly recommend ordering your worms after your worm bin so you have time to get things situated. More importantly, you'll have time to read through booklet that will ensure you know what you're doing when the time comes! Definitely read through the booklet since its got so much good information.I've been very happy with this product and would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in vermicomposting. The bin does not stink if taken care of properly, and I haven't even gotten any fruit flies yet! The worms mind their own business and just eat and poop all day--exactly what I want them to do!