Composting Worms    

The Natural Way To Create Your Own Fertilizer

Worms Can Recycle Your Garden Waste, Yard Clippings & Garbage!

Millions of tons of food waste are buried or burned each year at considerable financial and environmental cost. This waste is compose of garden, landscape (green waste), and household waste. Instead of discarding your green waste and vegetable food scraps, you can recycle them with the help of worms. Vermicomposting (worm composting) turns many types of kitchen waste into a nutritious soil for plants. When worm compost is added to soil, it boosts the nutrients available to plants and enhances soil structure and drainage.

•  Using worms to decompose  green waste and  food waste (vermicomposting) offers several advantages: •  It reduces household garbage disposal costs; •  It produces less odor and attracts fewer pests than putting green waste and  food wastes into a garbage container; •  Vermicomposting saves the water and electricity that kitchen sink garbage disposal units consume; •  It produces a free, high-quality soil amendment (compost); •  It requires little space, labor, or maintenance; • Vermicomposting  spawns more free worms for gardening and fishing.

 The Worms

The two types of earthworm best suited to worm composting are the redworms: Eisenia foetida (commonly known as Red Wiggler, brandling, or manure worm) and Lumbricus rubellus.  We the offer the Red Wiggler. It is both cost effective and very reliable. They are often found in aged manure and compost heaps. Please do not use dew-worms (large size worms found in soil and compost) as they are not likely to survive.

Garden Composting, Do I Need A Worm Bin?

No, you do not need a worm bin if are adding worms to your garden compost pile or to a well composted garden. They will simply go to work breaking down the compost into a rich blend of worms castings, microbes, macro and micronutrients . In addition they will work in harmony with the other species of worms in your garden that will actually "rototill" the compost into the root zone of you plants. Add 4" to 6" of compost as a mulch to your planted garden add the Red Wigglers, keep moist and leave alone. The worms will do the rest

Starting the Process

To start your vermicomposting system, first select a location for your worm bin. Popular indoor spots are the kitchen, pantry, bathroom, mud room, laundry room, or basement. If you want to keep your worm bin outside, put it in the shade during the hot summer and shelter it from the cold in winter by placing it in a garage or carport, or putting hay bales around the bin to allow air to circulate around the bin, and keep it protected from flooding, because the worms can drown.

            Next, prepare the bedding. If you want to use newspapers, fold a section in half and tear off long, half-inch to inch wide strips (go with the grain of the paper and it will tear neatly and easily). Soak the newspaper in water for a few minutes, then wring it out like a sponge and fluff it up as you add the newspaper to your worm bin. Aim for the bedding to be very damp, but not soaking wet (only two to three drops of water should come out when you squeeze the bedding material). Spread the bedding evenly until it fills about three-quarters of the bin. Sprinkle a couple of handfuls of soil (from outdoors or potting soil) into the bedding to introduce beneficial microorganisms and aid the worms' digestive process. Fluff up the bedding about once a week so the worms can get plenty of air and freedom of movement. Gently place your worms on top of the bedding. Leave the bin lid off for a while so the worms will burrow into the bedding, away from the light. The worms will not try to crawl out of the bin if there is light overhead. Once the worms have settled into their new home, add food scraps that you have been collecting in a leak-proof container. Dig a hole in the bedding (or pull the bedding aside), place the food scraps in the hole, and cover it with at least an inch of bedding. After this first feeding, wait a week before adding more food. Leave your worms alone during this time to allow them to get used to their new surroundings. Bury food scraps in a different area of the bin each time. Worms may be fed any time of the day. Do not worry if you must leave for a few days, as the worms can be fed as seldom as once a week. Note: Do not be surprised to see other creatures in your worm bin, as they help break down the organic material. Most of the organisms will be too small to see, but you may spot white worms, spring tails, pill bugs, molds, and mites.

Harvesting the Worms and Castings

After about six weeks, you will begin to see worm castings (soil-like material that has moved through the worms' digestive tracts). The castings can be used to boost plant growth. In three or four months, it will be time to harvest the castings. Mixed in with the castings will be partially decomposed bedding and food scraps, in addition to worms. This is called Vermicompost. You may harvest the Vermicompost by one of two methods:

            Method 1: Place food scraps on only one side of your worm bin for several weeks, and most of the worms will migrate to that side of the bin. Then you can remove the Vermicompost from the other side of the bin where you have not been adding food scraps, and add fresh bedding. Repeat this process on the other side of the bin. After both sides are harvested, you can begin adding food scraps to both sides of the bin again.

            Method 2: Empty the contents of your worm bin onto a plastic sheet or used shower curtain where there is strong sunlight or artificial light. Wait 20-30 minutes, then scrape off the top layer of Vermicompost. The worms will keep moving away from the light, so you can scrape more compost off every 20 minutes or so. After several scrapings, you will find worms in clusters; just pick up the worms and gently return them to the bin in fresh bedding.

            Be on the lookout for worm eggs; they are lemon-shaped and about the size of a match head, with a shiny appearance and light-brownish color. The eggs contain between two and ten baby worms. Place the eggs back inside your bin so they can hatch and thrive in your bin system.

            You can either use your Vermicompost immediately or store it and use it later. The material can be mulched or mixed into the soil in your garden and around your trees and yard plants. You can also use it as a top dressing on outdoor plants or sprinkle it on your lawn as a conditioner. For indoor plants, you can mix Vermicompost with potting soil. For top dressing indoor plants, you may want to remove decaying bedding and food scraps from the castings. Make sure there are no worms or eggs in the castings, because conditions in a plant pot will not allow them to survive. You can also make a "compost tea" to feed to your plants. Simply add two tablespoons of Vermicompost to one quart of water and allow it to steep for a day, mixing it occasionally. Water your plants with this "tea" to help make nutrients in the soil available to the plants.

The Vermicomposting Container

We offer several vermicomposting containers. Check with us or your Applied Bio Pest garden center retailer for the current models and sizes. There are also some plans for constructing your own home made composting unit. A guide to size of container in Worms Eat My Garbage, Mary Appelhof suggests weighing your household food waste for one week (in pounds), and then provide one square foot of surface area per pound. The container depth should be between eight and twelve inches. Options to one large (and heavy) box are a number of smaller containers for easier lifting and moving and more choice of location. The book illustrates a variety of containers.

            Depending on the size of the container, drill 8 to 12 holes (1/4 - l/2 inches) in the bottom for aeration and drainage. A plastic bin may need more drainage i if contents get too wet, drill more holes. Raise the bin on bricks or wooden blocks, and place a tray underneath to capture excess liquid which can be used as liquid plant fertilizer.

            All worm bins need a cover to conserve moisture and provide darkness for the worms. If the bin is indoors, a sheet of dark plastic or burlap sacking placed loosely on top of the bedding is sufficient as a cover. For outdoor bins, a solid lid is preferable, to keep out unwanted scavengers and rain. Like us, worms need air to live, so be sure to have your bin sufficiently ventilated.

Common Problems And Solutions

The most common problem is unpleasant, strong odors which are caused by lack of oxygen in the compost due to overloading with food waste so that the food sits around too long, and the bin contents become too wet. The solution is to stop adding food waste until the worms and micro-organisms have broken down what food is in there, and to gently stir up the entire contents to allow more air in. Check the drainage holes to make sure they are not blocked. Drill more holes if necessary. Worms will drown if their surroundings become too wet.

            Worms have been known to crawl out of the bedding and onto the sides and lid if conditions are wrong for them. If the moisture level seems alight, the bedding may be too acidic. This can happen if you add a lot of citrus peels and other acidic foods. Adjust by adding a little garden lime and cutting down on acidic wastes.

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