too much space

[austinpcherry]

Is there such a thing as too much space? Would the worms have trouble if there were too few worms in a bin?

[vermiman]

Too much space could limit the contact between the worms and inhibit breeding.

An overly dense population could be good or bad depending on other conditions(temperature, food, air, ph balance and so on).

[Jay Blair]

On their own, bin confined Eisenia fetida tend to achieve a population density of about 50 fertile breeders per cubic foot with a mixture of newsprint , leafmold and processed food stuff.

This population density will adequately dispose of a households kitchen wastes with about two bins per person and keep offensive odors down.

Feeding predigested manure wastes will make cubic foot populations three or four time higher, but its a smelly situation if you do it in your basement or back room and can contribute to the list of differences listed as grounds for divorce if you happen to be in a marriage with a shaky future.

The main determinant in "too much bin space" would depend on how much time you have to dedicate to bin maintenance or want to.

[vermiman]

admin said:

On their own, bin confined Eisenia fetida tend to achieve a population density of about 50 fertile breeders per cubic foot with a mixture of newsprint , leafmold and processed food stuff.

If that's true it would take about 20 cubic feet to house 1 pound of worms. Since Eisenia fetida are top feeders shouldn't you be talking about a square foot of surface area? With that I would say about a half pound per square foot of surface area.

[Jay Blair]

A 2 by 2 by 5 foot bin provides 20 cubic feet of bedding space.

regardless if a worm is evolutionarily a surface feeder, when confined in bins with artificial confinement lighting they will feed subterranean away from the barrier lighting.

Bin fed worms are generally catered to more by feeding of predigested foodstuffs to provide maximum feed and moisture more readily while keeping them confined.

Although some vermiculture proponents have over the years have attempted to present bin confinement farming as a natural environment, it is still an artificially maintained environment.

Use of the artificial bin confinement farming and providing readily available food source will result in a more sedate worm and higher population concentrations can be achieve than occur normally in a natural outdoor environment.

Processing of the foodstuffs for maximum effectiveness will often result in excessive odors.

A company in Australia is marketing modified septic systems that use confined E.f. to process sewage in the concrete septic tank.