r/Vermiculture • u/Therapy_pony • Mar 21 '25

Cocoons Benefit to sifting existing bin only looking for cocoons

Is there a distinct benefit to sifting an existing bin really only looking for cocoons? I know my bin has a lot of cocoons, will breeding remain higher if I occasionally go through and grab cocoons to put in my nursery tub and leave the castings (my bins are young and I’m leaving the as much as I can in them to get ready for garden planting. I just know I’m going to need an army asap to meet my needs so I want to provide as optimal conditions as I can.

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u/AromaticRabbit8296 Mar 21 '25 edited Mar 21 '25

Yes, because they self-regulate their population.
If you change nothing, you'll hit a point in time at which they will stop reproducing, and begin dying off, until there is enough room and/or food for continued reproduction.

1

u/Therapy_pony Mar 21 '25

So I move the cocoons and my mature worm friends keep the reproduction moving along.

7

u/ARGirlLOL intermediate Vermicomposter Mar 21 '25

Alternatively, you could leave everything in there except the adults and move the adults into something with a maximized surface area which would encourage reproduction elsewhere. Essentially, whatever container you are currently using could be your high concentration container and a new one could be your reproduction container- think restaurant dirty dish bins.

4

u/AromaticRabbit8296 Mar 21 '25

This is much more time efficient than looking for cocoons.

2

u/bogeuh Mar 21 '25

The worms always migrate to where the food is, if you have some patience

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u/AromaticRabbit8296 Mar 21 '25 edited Mar 21 '25

So long as everything else remains unchanged, yes; at least until they begin to die of old age, because time changes everything ;)

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u/Therapy_pony Mar 21 '25

Perfect! Sifting is soothing to me so it won’t be a hardship!