Info to help you look after your new worms
Worm composting, also known as vermiculture or vermicomposting,uses composting worms to turn kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps into nutrient-rich compost for your plants.
Composting worms are different from earthworms and live closer to the soil surface. They do not have teeth so they feed by sucking on moist and rotting waste and the bacteria produced by the decomposition process.
Composting worms are particular about the temperature of their environment, and will work best for you if you keep them between 4 – 24 degrees Celsius. However, this also means that they will not survive in a normal-type compost heap as the temperature generated in those types of heaps far exceeds 24oC.
Obtain a worm-bin.
The most effective worm farm is a multi-story bin complex. The aim is to collect the liquid in the bottom container and keep the worms in the upper container(s).
Cover the bin to conserve moisture and provide darkness. Use a solid lid to keep out unwanted scavengers and rain, and weight it down (with a brick or a pot-plant) if you live in a very windy place.
Prepare the bedding for your worms
This can be made of shredded paper, cardboard, coir, coconut fibre or aged compost and should be about 4- 6 inches deep. Soak the bedding, squeeze out excess moisture and place in the container you intend using. Worms must have a moist environment because their bodies are 75 to 90 per cent water and their body surfaces must be moist for them to breathe.
Shredded paper or cardboard should be added to the worm-farm periodically – optimum decomposition needs both ‘green’ (nitrogen) and ‘brown’ (carbon) material in a ratio of about 5 parts green to 1 part brown. Soaked corrugated cardboard is especially good as the worms like to burrow into the corrugations.
Add a little food
Worms feed by sucking on moist and rotting waste. The major thing is not to overestimate the amount of food initially. Feeding lightly and often will produce more worms which is good when starting a new farm. When established, worms can process as much as their own body weight in organic matter each day in good conditions.
Add:
vegetable and fruit scraps tea leaves / tea bags,
coffee grounds (+ the filter paper) dead flower heads
soft stems from plants, banana, avocado & pineapple peel
Also add:
crushed egg shells, (boil for 1 minute in microwave first to avoid salmonella), and
some soil or sand to provide grit for worms' digestive process.
Avoid:
onion skins and citrus peel (worms don’t like them)
bread (it brings rodents)
meat, fish & dairy products (same as above and also brings maggots)
Also avoid:
Pet manure – no ifs, no buts, no maybe’s on this one.
Periodically sprinkle lightly with garden lime to keep the acidity down and to keep the worm farm sweet-smelling.
Water
Worms need to be kept moist (but not soggy). If watering your worm farm try not to use chlorinated water. Chlorine will dissipate from tap water if you leave it to stand (in a bowl or bucket) for a day or two.
Add your worms
Add the worms to their new home. If you leave the lid off and the light on, it will encourage the worms to burrow down and get comfortable in their new home.
Once a week use a garden fork to gently lift the bedding to aerate the composting mixture and aid decomposition.
Increase your worm population
The way worms reproduce is via a ring that appears when the worm is an adult. Worms are neither female nor male. They lay on top of each other, over each other's ring and exchange a liquid that will become worm cocoons. An adult worm will lay worm cocoons every 2 weeks. They are several worms in each cocoon.
Harvest
Vermicast is a good organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. It is produced by the decomposition of organic matter. Add vermicast to potting mix – 1/3 vermicast & 2/3 potting mix or add directly into garden soil.
To collect the vermicastmove the finished compost over to one side of the bin and place new bedding in the space created. Place food waste in the new bedding and the worms will gradually move over to the fresh bedding and food waste. The finished compost can be harvested. Fill the space created with new damp bedding.
Use the worm liquid (worm wees) to water pot-plants, lawns, vegetable & flower gardens, fruit trees etc. Dilute to the colour of weak tea before use, and try to use fresh if possible. It is not a product which improves with age.
You can also try spraying a weak solution of diluted worm tea on ornamental plants as an insecticide. Reputed to kill virtually all insects including white fly, aphids, ants, fleas, ticks, & mosquitoes, to name a few.
Handle with care as worm tea is nondiscriminatory. It will kill beneficial bugs as well.
And lastly:
To raise fish-bait worms
Worm Fattener Recipe from Reln Plastics Pty. Ltd. (Can-of-worms).
On the web: www.reln.com.au/
MIX:
chicken layers pellets 50%
wheat or corn flour 10%
powdered whole milk 10%
bran or wheat meal 20%
agricultural lime or dolomite 10%
Mix ingredients together and sprinkle lightly on the food waste every couple of days.
Enjoy your worm farm and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me, Diane, via email at [email protected] .
Composting worms are different from earthworms and live closer to the soil surface. They do not have teeth so they feed by sucking on moist and rotting waste and the bacteria produced by the decomposition process.
Composting worms are particular about the temperature of their environment, and will work best for you if you keep them between 4 – 24 degrees Celsius. However, this also means that they will not survive in a normal-type compost heap as the temperature generated in those types of heaps far exceeds 24oC.
Obtain a worm-bin.
The most effective worm farm is a multi-story bin complex. The aim is to collect the liquid in the bottom container and keep the worms in the upper container(s).
Cover the bin to conserve moisture and provide darkness. Use a solid lid to keep out unwanted scavengers and rain, and weight it down (with a brick or a pot-plant) if you live in a very windy place.
Prepare the bedding for your worms
This can be made of shredded paper, cardboard, coir, coconut fibre or aged compost and should be about 4- 6 inches deep. Soak the bedding, squeeze out excess moisture and place in the container you intend using. Worms must have a moist environment because their bodies are 75 to 90 per cent water and their body surfaces must be moist for them to breathe.
Shredded paper or cardboard should be added to the worm-farm periodically – optimum decomposition needs both ‘green’ (nitrogen) and ‘brown’ (carbon) material in a ratio of about 5 parts green to 1 part brown. Soaked corrugated cardboard is especially good as the worms like to burrow into the corrugations.
Add a little food
Worms feed by sucking on moist and rotting waste. The major thing is not to overestimate the amount of food initially. Feeding lightly and often will produce more worms which is good when starting a new farm. When established, worms can process as much as their own body weight in organic matter each day in good conditions.
Add:
vegetable and fruit scraps tea leaves / tea bags,
coffee grounds (+ the filter paper) dead flower heads
soft stems from plants, banana, avocado & pineapple peel
Also add:
crushed egg shells, (boil for 1 minute in microwave first to avoid salmonella), and
some soil or sand to provide grit for worms' digestive process.
Avoid:
onion skins and citrus peel (worms don’t like them)
bread (it brings rodents)
meat, fish & dairy products (same as above and also brings maggots)
Also avoid:
Pet manure – no ifs, no buts, no maybe’s on this one.
Periodically sprinkle lightly with garden lime to keep the acidity down and to keep the worm farm sweet-smelling.
Water
Worms need to be kept moist (but not soggy). If watering your worm farm try not to use chlorinated water. Chlorine will dissipate from tap water if you leave it to stand (in a bowl or bucket) for a day or two.
Add your worms
Add the worms to their new home. If you leave the lid off and the light on, it will encourage the worms to burrow down and get comfortable in their new home.
Once a week use a garden fork to gently lift the bedding to aerate the composting mixture and aid decomposition.
Increase your worm population
The way worms reproduce is via a ring that appears when the worm is an adult. Worms are neither female nor male. They lay on top of each other, over each other's ring and exchange a liquid that will become worm cocoons. An adult worm will lay worm cocoons every 2 weeks. They are several worms in each cocoon.
Harvest
Vermicast is a good organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. It is produced by the decomposition of organic matter. Add vermicast to potting mix – 1/3 vermicast & 2/3 potting mix or add directly into garden soil.
To collect the vermicastmove the finished compost over to one side of the bin and place new bedding in the space created. Place food waste in the new bedding and the worms will gradually move over to the fresh bedding and food waste. The finished compost can be harvested. Fill the space created with new damp bedding.
Use the worm liquid (worm wees) to water pot-plants, lawns, vegetable & flower gardens, fruit trees etc. Dilute to the colour of weak tea before use, and try to use fresh if possible. It is not a product which improves with age.
You can also try spraying a weak solution of diluted worm tea on ornamental plants as an insecticide. Reputed to kill virtually all insects including white fly, aphids, ants, fleas, ticks, & mosquitoes, to name a few.
Handle with care as worm tea is nondiscriminatory. It will kill beneficial bugs as well.
And lastly:
To raise fish-bait worms
Worm Fattener Recipe from Reln Plastics Pty. Ltd. (Can-of-worms).
On the web: www.reln.com.au/
MIX:
chicken layers pellets 50%
wheat or corn flour 10%
powdered whole milk 10%
bran or wheat meal 20%
agricultural lime or dolomite 10%
Mix ingredients together and sprinkle lightly on the food waste every couple of days.
Enjoy your worm farm and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me, Diane, via email at [email protected] .