I'm curious to know just exactly how much you wind up composting on a weekly basis, when you have all 4 trays going.
Response:
Great question! These are always started with only one tray to establish the worm colony and then materials added to a second tray until that tray begins to mature.
Composting worms do best and they concentrate on the upper 4-6 inches of the bed. the content below that contains cocoons that hatch in 4-8 weeks. By the time your 4th tray goes into service, which could be 8 weeks - 90 days, the bottom tray is ready to harvest. It will be completely converted to castings. Only add fresh food to the top one or two trays. If odors or fruit flies develop just hold off on fresh food for a few days. The worms aren't keeping up with you.
As to weekly volume: the Worm Factory 360 and the Cam of Worms worm farms (CommpostCritter.com)are designed to handle one - two pounds of worms. Worms can consume 1/2 of their weight per day, so when operated properly, which takes two to three weeks with a new farm, each stack should consume one to two pounds of food per day. Within limits...
Food has to breakdown or be a consistency that the worms can eat it... they don't have teeth. Bananas will be ready for the worms within hours. Lettuce can take more than a week. Wet old leaves go quickly. The process for any food can be sped up by microwaving, freezing or shredding. Look for our earlier post about cooking for your worms. It's not a necessity but can speed up the capacity.
