Rusty dust outside compost · 🌱 Living Soil with Cherene

14d (edited) • Worm Bin Progress & Setups

Rusty dust outside compost

Hello everyone, Ronald from California here!

I wanted to give you all an update on my different worm setups. My main goal for the indoor bin is to double my worm population. I’ve been watching some videos that suggest using a smaller container; the idea is that it helps the worms find each other more easily, which should lead to more cocoons. So far, I estimate I have about 30–40 cocoons inside!

My outdoor setup has a different goal—creating high-quality compost for my plants. Interestingly, the outdoor bin seems much more active than the indoor one, and I’m already seeing a lot of baby worms growing in there. Sometimes I see spiders and slugs that I keep in them in control for the outside bin.

I’ve also noticed that the worms seem much happier and more active in a soggy, litle wet (when I tried to squeeze but by my hand it may be drip few water) rather than a mushy one.

I did run into a small issue with the outdoor bin recently—it started smelling a bit sour and funky. I suspect I might have added too many coffee grounds and eggshells. I added more cardboard to balance it out, and that fixed the problem; it smells earthy and like real compost now.

I do have a question for you all:

I’m seeing what looks like little golden flakes or rust-like bits in the outdoor compost. Is this safe, or is it something I need to address?

Since I’m still pretty new to this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If anyone here lives in California and has experience with worms, do you find they are also happier when things are extra soggy? I have box of Lipton boxes that experid, can I add that to the bins?

I’m very open to any suggestions or positive criticism. Thanks in advance!

3:15

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Rusty dust outside compost