Worm Farming
Another form of composting is worm farming. A worm farm can turn all our kitchen scraps into an excellent solid fertiliser (castings) and a liquid (sometimes called worm juice) that will help to give your garden a boost.
Did You Know?
- Worms are hermaphrodites. This means they prefer to breed with other worms but will also self-fertilise if necessary.
- Worms breathe through their skin.
- Despite the old wives tale, cutting a worm in half will NOT give you two worms, but will kill the worm!!
- Worms can consume up to half their body weight of food per day.
- Compost worms live on or near the surface of the soil. They are different to earthworms that aerate the soil.
- Compost worms eat our organic waste and produce a liquid as well as a solid waste called castings. The worm liquid and castings are an excellent source of natural fertiliser for our gardens.
DIY Worm Farming
It is very easy to make your own worm farm. One way is to use foam/ polystyrene boxes from the grocery store!
- Collect three grocery foam boxes. These will naturally sit on top of one another. In the bottom box, cut a drainage hole in the bottom edge and cover with mesh.
- In the second box, cut a series of small holes in the bottom to allow the worm liquid (worm juice) to pass through. Add bedding material to the bottom of this box, such as a layer of cardboard and coconut fibre (coir) for example.
- Add your compost worms (and their castings), some food scraps and then cover with a layer of damp newspaper or moist carpet.
- Cut small holes in the bottom of the third box and place this on top of the second box. Cover with a lid or another piece of carpet/ cardboard.
- The liquid will drain into the bottom layer and through the drainage hole. Place a jar under the hole to collect this worm juice. This can then be diluted with water and added to the garden as fertiliser.
- The second box will fill up with solid worm castings. When this is full, stop feeding the worms for about a week giving them chance to eat up all the remaining food.
- Start filling the top box with food scraps, the worms will crawl into the third box through the holes and the process will start again. The solid castings can be used as a fertiliser on your garden and the empty box placed back on top (the upper and middle boxes are interchangeable allowing the cycle to continue).
FAQs
How much will worms eat?
This depends on the size of the worm farm and the number or worms in it. Worms can eat up to half their body weight every day and can double their population every few months. Start a worm bin with about 1000 mature worms and they will consume about 250 grams of scrap per day. As they settle into their environment it will become more obvious what their rate of food consumption is.
How can the worms be encouraged to eat more?
The worms will eat faster once they have adapted to their food source. Finely chopping or blending the food scraps will make it easier for the worms to eat. Maintaining a temperature of about 24C will also improve the worm farm's performance. Worms will leave acidic food until their preferred food source has been consumed. A handful of garden lime every couple of weeks will help balance the effect of acidic food.
Will I get too many worms?
The worms will reach their optimum population within 2-5 years. The population will then self regulate to the confines of available space and food.
What about severe temperatures?
If the temperature rises above 30C, hose the worm farm down (leaving the drainage tap open) and place in a cool location. If temperatures fall below freezing, place the worm farm into a garage, shed or laundry.
How do I keep ants out of the worm farm?
Ants are often a sign that the worm farm is too dry or acidic. Add water to raise the moisture content and add lime to reduce the acidity. To prevent ants getting in your worm farm, rub vaseline on the legs or place each of the legs in a small container of water.
The worm farm has an unpleasant odour. How do I prevent this?
An unpleasant odour indicates a lack of oxygen in the worm farm and a build up of uneaten food scraps. Stop feeding the worms and stir the waste in the feeding tray adding some lime. This allows air to enter the organic material and will allow the worms to move easily through the farm. Start feeding the worms again when the odour has disappeared.
What do I do about flies in the worm farm?
Flies are often a sign that the worms are being overfed and the flies are being attracted to the rotting food scraps. To eradicate flies, reduce the amount of scraps being fed to the worms on a daily basis. Make sure no meat or dairy products are being placed in the worm farm.
What do I do when I go on holiday?
An established worm farm can be left for 3-4weeks without feeding. Feed the worms about 1/3 of a tray full before you leave. Leave the worm farm in a cool area with the drainage tap on. Lay wet newspaper on the top of the worm farm to ensure the bedding does not dry out.
Where do I buy compost worms from?
Compost worms are available at a number of hardware shops, some garden nurseries also sell compost worms.
Composting worms can also be purchased from the following local suppliers. It is recommended to ring first to check availability.
Worms Downunder: Ph: (07) 5439 6349 or www.wormsdownunder.com.au
Landsborough Earthworms: Bob and Jenny Lewis. Ph: (07) 5494 1512.
Worm Power: Rob Nicholls. Ph: (07) 5441 5467 or wormpower@hotmail.com
Setting up a Worm Farm
You can buy a worm farm from Ipswich Waste Services, hardware stores and some garden nurseries.
Once you have brought your worm farm, setting it up is easy. Most worm farm ‘kits' come with a detailed instruction manual.
Here are some additional key ‘setting-up' tips:
- You can buy a ready-to-use ‘box' of composting worms from your local hardware store, garden nursery or a local supplier. If you are keen there are also actual worm farms where you can go and ‘harvest' your own worms?!
- Make sure you select a cool and shaded location for your worm farm. The worms do not like direct sunlight and the farm will quickly dry out.
- The worms do not like direct light, so to encourage the worms to enter their new habitat quickly, leave the lid off your worm farm for a short while during set-up.
- You can start feeding your worms straight away. It may take them a while to adapt to their new food source so just keep an eye on the amount of food being eaten. Do not overfeed your worms as this will cause the old food to decompose and start to smell.
- Worms do not like to be too wet! Covering the worms with a moist hessian bag or damp newspaper will keep their environment moist and dark and your worms happy!!
- Keeping the lid on your worm farm at all times will encourage the worms to come to the surface to feed (their natural habit!). This will also prevent other unwanted critters from getting in!!
- The Home Garden WaterWise Rebate Scheme is a Queensland Government package of new incentives designed to support householders throughout Queensland by making their gardens more water efficient during this time of severe drought. This includes encouraging gardeners to compost and worm farm.
Composting worms- Local suppilers details
Composting worms can be purchased from many hardware stores, garden nurseries or the following local suppliers. It is recommended to ring first to check availability.
Landsborough Earthworms: Bob and Jenny Lewis. Ph (07) 5494 1512
Worm Power: Rob Nicholls. Ph (07) 5441 5467 or wormpower@hotmail.com
Worms Downunder Ph (07) 5439 6349 or www.wormsdownunder.com.au
Worm Castings
Both solid worm castings and worm liquid (worm juice) are an excellent source of pure, natural (organic) and neutral fertiliser for your garden and plants, packed full of nutrients! Castings even help build a healthy soil structure.
The liquid that drains off the bottom of your worm farm from your worms is excellent for plants. However it is a good idea to dilute this worm juice with 50% water first before giving your plants a treat!!
The solid castings will act as a great plant/ tree/ lawn fertiliser. A little will go a long way, so small regular applications are best.
Worm farming is helping to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfill. Not only this, but worm castings and worm liquid will improve the garden and save you money as well as being kind on the environment.
Worm Facts
Composting worms (Tiger Worms, Indian Blues and Red Wrigglers are most common) are the only species of worms that live, work and breed well in a worm farm. Earthworms from the garden will not survive as well because earthworms pull their food down into their burrows. Compost worms on the other hand are surface feeders and will feed on the organic scraps placed on the surface of the worm farm. They are therefore ideally suited to a worm farm environment.
Most worm farms will need around 1000 composting worms to get started (depending on the size of the farm) and the worms will then double their number naturally in a few months.
In order to keep your worms happy, working hard and breeding, make sure their environment is kept cool, dark and moist with a steady supply of food!!
Worm Feeding Time
Composting worms are not particularly fussy eaters and will eat nearly anything that was once living, in other words, organic waste.
Compost worms like diversity and prefer their food chopped or shredded into small pieces, mashed or food processed (remember, worms have no teeth and only small mouths!!). Do you know. worms will eat up to half their body weight everyday!
A La Carte Worm Menu
A little of everything will keep the worms happy; the secret is moderation...
Fruit peelings (apple, banana, pear, nectarines, watermelon...to name a few)
Veggie scraps (carrot peelings, potato, pumpkin, broccoli, avocado skin...and plenty more)
Shredded and soaked newspaper or cardboard
Crushed egg shells
Sawdust
Coffee grounds and tea bags (this also helps to keep the farm moist)
Seaweed
Bread, cake, biscuits (in small amounts)
Hair clippings and vacuum cleaner dust (Yum!!)
Worms do NOT like:
Onions
Citrus (orange peels, lemons, limes etc)
Meat (this can smell when rotting and attract vermin!)
Oil, fats or bones
Dairy (cheese, milk, yoghurt can also attract vermin).
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