When to add trays?

I am new at composting with worms and want to know when/ howto add The second tray to the worm farm type composter. I got a few worms when I bought the worm farm but I don't have the patience to wait for them to multiply so I ordered 2000 more worms and should recieve them this week. The first tray is about 3/4 full of shredded paper, saw dust, dirt, etc. I don't have access to much soil at this time.(4ft of snow). Any advise will be appreciated. Chuck

I don't use that system, but there have been many threads by people who do, and what I've picked up from reading them is that you need to put the next tray on when the first tray is mostly castings (worm poo). If you have all those worms on the way, that shouldn't take too long. Good luck!

thanks Gardenza, The worms are still on the way. I purchased them from Uncle Jim Dec 27, and was notified (while I was gone yesterday) the Po attempted to deliver them so I don't know if I have live worms or compost.
Chuck

I think they should be fine, since they will probably be kept in an A/C'd room. The bedding they are shipped in shouldn't dry out that fast, and those are the two things to worry about.

Well, I recieved the worms Wednesday and they are all fine, no dead ones, they have all dispersed and feeding just fine.
I called Uncle Jim's and was told that because of the holiday they were not shipped until Monday 01-04-2010 and they arrived here the next day but I was not at home.
Thanks for the info.
Chuck

Chuck

you need soil in your mixture... go to a lows, home depot and pick up a bag of manure or good top soil and mix the two together and use with your shredded paper

I'll be setting mine up in a few months, as I have a local guy who has a HUGE worm composting business and I've been learning from him... even talked him into joining our local garden club...LOL

Janet

Thanks Janet,
Any idea what the ratio should be?

my guy told me to look at it as 1/3 shredded paper ( I get what comes out of the shredders from work) 1/3 composted manure and 1/3 good top soil.

Then he just adds in his kitchen scrapes each day.

This is what I'm going to do when I get started in a few month.

Janet