Wooden or plastic?

Hi, I am about to start on the vermicomposting adventure, so have been reading this forum like crazy :) One thing I would like to know: which type of bin works best? wooden or plastic? I am leaning towards a wooden bin, but would love some input.
Thanks so much!

I first started raising red wigglers in wooden bins which were constructed similar to bins made by a commercial worm grower who raised African night crawlers for bait suppliers. After a really bad experience with the wooden bins I went to the plastic tubs. I have not tried the newer tiered bins which I presume are made of plastic, but they seem fairly popular among the vermiculturists. If you still plan to use wood and wish to construct your own bins, you could post your ideas on construction and we can give you some feedback.

? hoogie..how big project do u want to get into vermicomposting?
mraider will know more than me..:) i would think considerations for u would be..living in SC..heat in summer..
ive never tried a wooden box..more for personal practical reasons..i use big 37 gal rubbermaid tubs.. bought on sale (home depot)
they're easy to clean out..which i havent had to yet..not sure when i would need to.. the bins stay smell free.. i change out the castings
enough..could be better at that..lol
the tiered bins mraider refers to..for me. they seem practical.. i just wonder how much castings ya really get.. i can use all i can get my
greedy hands on..:) plus.. those commercail tiered ones.. are alot of $$$$... again.. im cheap.. LOL :)
morgan..? u thinkin up some great ideas for this garden season... i know ya are.. :)
any more thoughts on going big on worms? you would be the guy to do it !!!!
tomatoes are going ganbusters!!! had to raise the lights.. LOL.. must be doing something right..
i will transplant them into 4" pots in couple weeks.. then into gal pots..then out int he garden they go.. sometime
early june..

I went to a 20' long wooden bin after my plastic tote experience bombed 10 years ago. Wood breathes better and I have never had a problem. There are a lot of plastic users doing fine, but I'm on 2 acres of clay and rock and the bigger bin gives me the quantity I need.

trop - I am getting started on a small scale. Just enough to supply my plantings. Wooden seems to be a better choice for me because I feel that it would breathe better and keep the worms cooler. I plan to keep them under my outdoor work table, which should provide plenty of shade AND a good airflow. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!!!

hoogie.. very cool.. you will become hooked.. :) i see in all the seed/plant catalogs.. vermiculture is the thing to do..
guess alot of people have caught on how valuable worm castings are as soil ammendment.. :) good stuff..!!!!
wow mygardenoasis !!! im jealous.. 2 acres.. sigh.. i only have just less than 1/2 acre..
i use my castings in potting up my plants.. they really respond to the addition...
also..i make an aerated tea with the castings as well.. from postings here.. im sold on it !!!!
hoogie..you will find what works best for u... i would love to have an outdoor worm area.. but weather here in utah is so cold
in winter..moderately hot in july/aug.. i dont think the worms would live.. :( bummer..
good luck to you ....

hoogie, I agree with Dave and mygardenoasis on the outdoor bins. Wood works fine for me. One bin is constructed of untreated lumber and above ground. It sits against a concrete wall under my deck and I use red wigglers to break down horse manure. The other bin is actually a raised bed made with treated lumber which is 4'w x 8'l x 16"d, and dug down approximately 4 feet. It is filled with cow manure and straw mixed together and European and Canadian night crawlers. I dug down into this bed and found a number of worms which had started working their way back to the surface. I added three five gallon pails of garden refuse (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.) which were in an adjacent bed and had just thawed out. These outdoor bins have covers over them to keep them warm during the winter months. Although the surface material in these bins actually freezes the worms appear to be doing well. As for my four indoor plastic bins, like Dave I use these exclusively for composting table scraps with red wigglers. Red wigglers do not do well in the garden but I do add several hands full to each tomato, cucumber, squash and pumpkin hole, Since I use about a 50:50 mix of composted manure in each hole along with top soil from the top six inches of my garden, the red wigglers do their job or aerating the soil during the growing season.

One point on the untreated, above ground bin I staple plastic sheeting to the insides of the wood. This bin has been in place for about four years and shows no sign of rotting. The top cover is made of 1" x 4" untreated lumber framing with 6 ml plastic sheeting attached. The raised bed vermicompost bin is covered with old window panes. I also use a piece of plywood on the surface of each of these bins in the winter months. The raised bed bin gets occasional sunlight in the winter so the plywood board is painted black on the exposed side.

This is the information I got off of the Clemson Extension Office website:

Homemade Bins: A wooden box (1 ft deep x 2 ft wide x 3 ft long) with drainage holes drilled into the bottom and a hinged lid for access is probably the most well-known type of worm bin. Wood bins breathe and have few odor or excess moisture problems. The main drawback is their weight. Installing wheels on the bottom of wooden bins makes them easier to move. Plans for homemade plastic and wooden bins are available on the internet at http://www.ca.uky.edu/enri/enri312rev.pdf and can also be found in Mary Appelhof’s book Worms Eat My Garbage (Flower Press, 1997). Be sure to avoid pressure treated wood for worm bins as the chemicals are toxic to the worms. Also, if you paint the exterior of the bin, leave the inside unpainted. White paint on the outside of the bin will help lower temperatures during the warm summer months. Suitable construction material includes exterior-grade plywood or construction-grade lumber.


Homemade wooden worm bin.
© 2007, PSA Publishing, Clemson Univers

I am also eyeing this bin in ebay. Doesn't seem outrageously priced and a whole lot easier to get started!

http://cgi.ebay.com/White-Cedar-Worm-Bin-Compost-/250782896570?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a63d351ba

Well, I found a 36 gallon bin for $10 at Big Lots tonight, so I am going with plastic!

Morgan, I saw in another thread that you sometimes share starter worms. Would you be willing to send me some when I get my bin ready? I am more than willing to pay shipping costs!

Sure, check your D-mail.

hoogie..welcome to worm culture.. LOL :)
like plants..i think raising worms is addictive..
i put a stop to 4 bins for me.. if i could raise them outside..id go wild. but alas..its utah..sigh
ive seen the major benifits from adding castings to my potted up plants..in spots where i put plants
out in the gardens.. and as a tea..
thanks to all here for your encouragement..and insights..
of course morgan ROCKS !!!!!! :)
this week it "suppose" to get over 60F WOW!!! finally..
of course that means i "get" to haul all my tropicals out for basking in the
natural sun.. oh my aching back..LOL
my tomatoes are doing great !!! they are overdue for 4"pots.. so that'll be another
thing to do outside on one of those "supposedly" warm days..
hope spring is showing up to all northern areas alittle....

Of course morgan rocks Dave, can't wait to show you my rock collection. Had an interesting problem develop with my germination mix for tomatoes and peppers. I wanted to plant some extra flats of old cole plant seeds for one of my covered raised bed experiments and I mixed fifty percent of soaked and drained peat moss in with the spent worm media which I normally use straight for the germination process. Well none of the seeds sprouted!!! The peat moss I used was actually the fines from the bottom of the bucket when I made up a batch of new media for the indoor worm bins. Apparently these fines made the germination mix too compact for the seeds to germinate. It's been four weeks now and not a single seedling developed. I replanted in straight spent media and my tomato seedlings are just popping the surface in five days. Hot pepper plants typically take longer. I lost about two weeks in the germinating process but I doubt that will really matter much. With all the games Mother N has been playing with the weather, I think caution on spring planting would be advisable. As bad as this winter has been across the country I predict many gardeners will be anxious to get started and that could mean disaster. So get your seeds early and have some reserves on hand.

lol morgan.. im always thinking wow..how come i didnt think of that..when you share a new project u are up to !!!
bummer on the seed germination..
i agree on to anxious on getting gardening.. there was a good article by lari ann while back..at best gardening is
patience.. i think theres wisdom there..
around here(utah) people are always planting out their tender plants (pumpkins,tomatoes,peppers,cucs,etc) end of may..
i never do.. i wait for 1st part of june.. my plants are "usually" real nice size..and id hate to have to start over..
even my tropicals.. i wont put out till 2nd week of june.. they go out on nice days here..but not into the soil..
good luck to ya on your gardening!!!
ive been saving back my harvesting of castings last couple months..
they will be used up fast in a month or so...
dont seem to have enough.. even kicked around idea of starting another bin.. its not hard..and ive got the space..
just lazyness i guess.. LOL

One trick I use Dave is to let the medium get a little drier than usual so I can harvest double the spent media from the tops of the bins when I feed weekly. Like you say Dave, never enough of the good stuff! I still have plenty of time for tomatoes and peppers outdoors, but I have been gearing up for a more intense winter gardening indoors. The other thing I plan to do is save more seed from this year's raised bed and container gardening. I saved a great article on making sieves out of PVC and wire mesh, which was published here in DG and I'm planning on adding this to the todo list for summer/fall projects. I can't believe how the price of seed just keeps going up and the packages have so little seed in them, especially the ones we get from the hardware stores and departments.

new here! i want to start a nice compost bin here in CNY, and already am saving table scraps coffee grounds etc, and a friend of mine is going to give me horse manure.

now! i read this, i want worms. i don't want to be a worm farmer per say, was not in my 5 year plan, never even thought much of worms till today reading this. so! can i just pick worms out of my yard to live in my compost? i feel they'd probably do better than imported ones, best of all they're free! then i can just dig and sink the bin and bury it in leaves over the winter? i really want nice compost for my plants, but i don't know the first thing about worms.

Hi Outlaw,
There is a thread on here about using worms from your yard. That would be a good one to read. Good luck with the worms, you can get "hooked" very quickly! I know I did!!!
hoogie

hoogie.. LOL true dat... :)
yea.. this time of yr with me harvesting more of my precious worm castings for potting up plants..etc..
goes thru my mind...mmmmmm??? maybe i should start a couple more bins... LOL
not a stretch for me..i have plenty of worms to start a couple more bins..and i have plenty of space in basement for
couple more bins..
ive given away probably 5# of worms to 3 friends in last yr.. didnt make a dent in my castings production..
wow.. 2 days in a row of sunny/warm weather here!!!
could it actually be the start of warming up????
bring it on... :)

I use a wooden flow through bin. I have never had worms crawling out, they just can't slide like they can on a plastic bin.