Setting Up A Worm Bin: The Worm Factory 360

Setting up a Worm Composting BinWhy the Worm Factory 360?

Americans throw away 34 million tons of food waste into landfills each year, more than any other type of waste (EPA.gov). While traditional backyard composting has its place, the process can take up to two years, and rotating it can become a chore. Worm composting uses worms to do the work of breaking down waste and is more efficient and easier to manage than a traditional backyard compost pile. In addition, its compact design makes it perfect for use in any household.

Worm composting makes it easy to recycle kitchen scraps, paper waste, and cardboard into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your plants, creating a more sustainable lifestyle by recycling and improving soil quality. The Worm Factory 360 houses thousands of composting worms in a compact space. These worms work 24/7 to efficiently produce highly beneficial, rich compost packed with microbes and water-soluble plant nutrients.

The work of the worms eliminates all the work of traditional composting and yields a much more valuable end product. Worm compost has been proven to have ten times the nutrients of traditional backyard compost. The more nutrients that are available to your plants, the larger they grow and the more bountiful your harvest is. This system allows you to enjoy organic vegetables, fruits, and flowers grown with the help of your kitchen scraps.

SETTING UP A WORM COMPOSTING BIN

Setting Up A Worm Composting Bin
At A Glance
Once your worm bin is set up it’s time to manage it. Managing your Worm Factory 360 takes less than 15 minutes a week.

Included with each Worm Factory 360 are a comprehensive instruction guide and DVD that make setup easy and give detailed tips on how to best manage your new Worm Factory 360 year-round.

Start with just the bottom tray and bedding material included. Add 1lb of composting worms and start filling the tray with household waste. The worms will process and recycle the waste into fine compost full of nutrients. When the first tray is full, stack another on top. Each tray has a grid bottom, so worms migrate upward as new food is added.

As waste is broken down, moisture filters through the system, taking nutrient-rich particles with it. This makes it possible to harvest organic liquid fertilizer right from the spigot.

Adding Food/Waste

Adding household waste to the Worm Factory 360 is easy; just open the lid and toss the food in. Fruits, vegetables, grains, paper, eggshells, leaves, coffee grounds and more can be added. Three foods to avoid are dairy, meat, and citrus items; these can be harmful to the worms and are difficult to compost. Feed your worms about 50 percent food scraps and 50 percent fiber and paper. This creates the optimal environment for worms and finished compost. The goal is to recycle what you usually throw away.

Don’t worry about feeding your worms every day. Some people feed them a handful a week; some people feed them a handful a day. The general rule of thumb is worms can eat about half their weight in food per day. This means that if you start with 1 pound of worms, they can eat a half-pound of food per day. Worms can survive up to two weeks without any additional food. Just feed them a bit extra before going on long vacations.

In a healthy environment, composting worms will maintain their population without over or under populating.

Odorless Year-Round Operation

Waste production isn’t seasonal and your composting efforts shouldn’t be either! Composting is no longer limited to the warm months. The Worm Factory 360 can be used indoors or outdoors, allowing year-round operation. When managed correctly, the Worm Factory 360 is odorless, making it the perfect composter for apartments, kitchens, condos, garages, porches and more! Because of its unique design, the Worm Factory 360 allows oxygen to flow through the system, discouraging stinky garbage odors.

It is important to note that worms are living creatures, and cannot tolerate extreme temperatures. Keep the Worm Factory 360 so that the bedding remains between 40 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or where you would personally feel comfortable.

The Worm Factory 360 is expandable vertically, allowing a high compost capacity while maintaining a very small footprint. When full, each tray weighs 12.5 pounds, making lifting and arranging trays effortless.

Worm Composting Cycle

Your first tray will take about three months to become fully composted by the worms. After the first tray is composted the other trays can take as little as a month depending on the waste added. Once you harvest your finished compost from the bottom tray, you will have an empty tray to stack on top again.

Nutrient-rich finished compost can be used in your garden, raised beds, container gardens, or on houseplants. Even if you’re not a gardener, the Worm Factory 360 helps you reduce your impact and provides an alternative to throwing your waste into the landfill. Worm compost not only adds vital nutrients to your soil, it also conditions the soil to hold water longer, prevent plant disease, and promote healthy root growth.

Take one step in the green direction with the Worm Factory 360 and create a healthier, happier environment.

Key Features

The Worm Factory 360 has a standard 4-Tray size which is expandable up to 8 trays, giving it the largest volume of any home composter.
the redesigned lid converts to a handy stand for trays while harvesting the compost.
Includes digital access to an instructional DVD, Manual, and a Warranty included after product registration.
The included accessory kit provides basic tools to make managing the Worm Factory 360 easier.
Built-in “worm tea” collector tray and spigot for easy draining.
The Worm Factory 360 has a standard 4-Tray size which is expandable up to 8 trays, giving it the largest volume of any home composter.
The redesigned lid converts to a handy stand for trays while harvesting the compost.