Dianna asked 6 years ago
Hi Brian, I\\\’ve been vermicomposting for about 8 mths. I came across your site while I was researching vermicomposting and downloaded your free guide to worm farming. Since then I have begun using your layering method of bedding. I wondered what are the benefits of layering the bedding instead of mixing it all together. Is there any evidence to support this form of bedding? Thanks so much for your free information. It sounds like you are very passionate about worm farming and devote a lot of time and energy to promote it. Regards Dianna
wormadmin Staff answered 6 years ago
Hi Dianna
Do you mean bedding to start a bin or the pocket feeding method?
All the evidence I need is that my methods work for me (I maintain many forms of bins and farms so I can teach about them) – and they seem to work for many others that I’ve taught through facebook and my website 🙂
There are a hundred ways to feed raise worms and at least 73 of them work – the trick is finding one that works for YOU 🙂
Presuming you mean pocket feeding, as you talk about “mixing it all together” – if you mix food into the bedding, you risk overfeeding as you cant reliably see when theyve eaten the food you added.
Continually mixing the bedding around in an established farm to mix further food into it can also lead to issues with the worms, they don;t like being stirred around so much 🙂 You may also physically harm the worms doing this.
You could also make food anaerobic quite easily (lacking in air) – and while the worms would happily eat it that way, the risk is alcohol, acidity and ammonia build up in the bedding and harm the worms.
Pocket feeding is best for many reasons, but it’s not the only way you can do it.
Especially for beginners, pocket feeding has advantages as you can see what the worms have eaten to replace it, so you’re not overfeeding.
Thanks for asking your question
Regards
Brian