Easy Worm Castings Harvesting: Vermicomposting in the Philippines

About two weeks ago, I noticed that the contents of one of my small plastic worm bins are almost fully processed.  I figured I would try horizontal migration as a harvesting technique.  I brushed the contents to one side and then I placed a folded cardboard pizza box in the middle to act as a divider.  Then I added fresh bedding to the other side and food for a couple of days.  Since it was a small bin, it was easy to fill up.  Afterwards, I only moistened the "new" side because I wanted to dry up the the vermicompost side somewhat.  In fact, I even left the cover off during daylight to hasten the drying process.  I wanted to encourage the worms (African Nightcrawlers) to migrate to the side with "fresh" food and more optimal moisture.

I did help the process somewhat.  While fiddling with the vermicompost side, I moved one or two worms manually, but for most part I let the worms move on their own. True enough, within a week or so,  I couldn't find any more worms on the vermicompost side.  They all migrated.  Cool huh?  No more sifting.  So apparently, that approach works.

Nonetheless, I didn't use the vermicompost at once.  I placed them all on my flow through worm tray.  Why?  There might be cocoons and I didn't want to waste those.  Meanwhile, only pure vermicast (well 90% at least) falls through from the tray. I know because I see the worms hanging from the bottom to poop (check out my toilet trained African Nightcrawlers video).   It slows down the process a bit.  Still, I get almost pure vermicast while saving worm babies with this method. 

Tip: if you want worms to migrate, feed them their favorite foods!  Try melons and watermelons.

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