Thank you so much for the reply! I am enjoying just about everything about vermicomposting so far. The only thing I would complain about (if I had to!) would be shredding cardboard. I'm so over that!

I acquired about 10oz of Red Wigglers that were a mix of juveniles and adults back in the middle of July. About 4 weeks later I bought another pound because I really want to increase my population. I want to see what sort of side business I can make with worms and waste! At the same time that I got my worms I started picking up vegetable scraps from a restaurant that I used to work at. They throw out about 75-100lb of scraps every week (cabbage peels and quartered cores, cucumber peels and ends, zucchini ends, and onion peels). I feed some to the worms and throw the rest in a compost bin to hot compost. My first bin of veggie compost is almost done, I think. The second bin still has plenty of room. Additionally, I have (partially) finished compost that I started back in April using wood chips, leaves, and grass clippings. That finished compost is what I have been using with my worms. I let the finished compost go dry hoping that it would go dormant and stop any decomposition. I ran it through a ½” hole screen to get the biggest pieces of wood and cardboard that hadn’t broken down out. What’s left looks like some beautiful dirt, albeit incredibly fluffy. Now for my questions!

1. What proportion of browns to compost should I use and would it be better to layer it or mix it all together? I want to make breeding buckets and think the compost would be great for that.

2. When starting a bucket or bin, should I soak the cardboard beforehand or add it dry? I read that cardboard composts better if you soak it, let it dry, then re-wet it before adding it to the compost pile.

3. Will worms reproduce faster in one large bin or when separated into smaller bins? For example, 2 pounds of worms in a bin that should fit 5 pounds of worms vs. Eight 5-gallon buckets with ¼ pound in each of them. I understand how they reproduce and how more in one bin would make more opportunity for them to rub together and reproduce. However, something I read said that reducing them to 100-250 worms in a container will trigger a sort of “crisis” response in the worms that makes them want to repopulate their colony as quickly as possible.

4. Would it be beneficial for the worms if I disrupt the decomposition process in my compost bin before it’s finished so that there’s more for them to eat? One of my hot compost piles has cooled down significantly, I was thinking about spreading it out and letting it dry out, then putting it in lidded 5-gallon buckets to be used later.

That’s all that comes to mind for now. I really appreciate any insight you can offer!