Can you use earthworms for composting

A pound of worms includes about worms and should be more than two large handfuls. Twice my own worm bins had a fly infestation that compromised the bin. It turned out that two different companies severely shorted me on the quantity of worms, because I had no idea what a pound of worms should look like.

The result was that I put in far too much food for the worms, and the waste rotted and bred flies. Worms can eat almost any fruit or vegetable food waste. Never give them dog or cat feces, or any carnivore feces. But you can add coffee grounds, filters, napkins, shredded paper towels, and non-plastic teabags.

To add food to your bin, dig a hole and bury it beneath the top layer of bedding. It helps if you break up the larger pieces. As mentioned before, worms will eat half their body weight every day. However, when you first get them they will be a little slow to start. Begin with small amounts of food and check to see how long it takes them to eat it. Increase the amount until you are adding the equivalent to half their weight daily. You can realistically expect one pound of worms to eat at least three pounds a week and twelve pounds of waste per month.

Being a stickler about how much food you add to your bin will help prevent a lot of problems. If troubleshooting fails to correct your problem, consider adjusting your worm bedding with one of the following amendments: Material Purpose Coconut coir Balances out nitrogen-rich materials like kitchen scraps and grass clippings, controls moisture, and improves quality of worm castings.

Glacial rock dust Enhances the microbial population, increases nutrients, and improves water retention. Pumice Increases air circulation, prevents matting, and controls moisture. There are two main ways to harvest your worm compost: by dumping it out completely or by luring the worms away from the completed compost. In my experience, the dump method is easiest if you have a small homemade bin.

The lure method works well if you invest in a stackable system like the Worm Factory Composter. Lure Method Composters like the Worm Factory allow you to harvest compost from your bin easily, without dumping out the worms.

They also remove some of the risk of stink by having a better drainage system than a bin with holes in the bottom. As the bins fill with compost, you add another stackable tray on top. The worms migrate upstairs to the new layer of organic waste, lured by the presence of fresh food. The Worm Factory also offers a refill kit that includes coconut coir, gravel rock dust and other materials that will help keep pH levels in balance and promote stink-free, aerobic composting.

Dump Method To harvest compost from your homemade bin, the easiest method is to dump the contents upside down on a tarp in the sunshine or under a bright light. The worms will travel down to the bottom of the pile, which was your top layer of bedding and the non-composted material. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, and if you feed them with plenty of kitchen scraps and garden waste, they can consume large amounts of compostables.

They also tolerate crowded conditions and can grow into large populations. A small number of red wigglers will reproduce quickly. The resulting compost sometimes referred to as vermicompost is highly beneficial for your plants. So where do you find these handy little creatures? If you want to give red wigglers a try you can sometimes pick them up from your local nursery, or you can order them online these ones on Amazon are great value and come from a well reputed supplier.

As long as they have plenty of organic waste for food they will thrive. Introduce them to your compost by gently spreading them out. Add some small pieces of food scraps the smaller scraps break down faster. Then cover the worms with bedding soil to prevent them drying out and to prevent fruit flies turning up for the feast.

A compost heap can be a relatively harsh environment for ordinary earthworms. The microbes feeding on waste vegetation can increase the temperature of the composting mass. Typically, red wiggler worms are used in vermicomposting bins. While there may only be a slight visual difference between red wigglers and earthworms, the differences between the two worm species make earthworms ill-suited for bin vermicomposting systems.

Visually, it can be difficult to determine whether you're looking at red wigglers vs earthworms in the dirt.

Like all annelids, the body of the worms are divided into segments, and both earthworms and red wigglers are typically reddish in color. The largest earthworm ever recorded was found in South Africa and measured 22 feet long. Red wiggler worms, in slight contrast, are typically between 2 to 3 inches long and have a reddish-purple color as well as a yellow tip at the tail. Some species of red wiggler worms also have stripes.

The red wiggler worm — also called the red worm, brandling worm, manure worm and tiger worm — is most commonly used for bin and barrel vermicomposting because it thrives in the warm conditions found in a compost bin. Red wigglers are adaptable, tolerating temperatures from 32 degrees Fahrenheit to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Gardeners mark the days until the worm castings are ready for harvesting. However, non-gardeners typically focus on reducing trash and odor. For them, the worm castings are a side-effect.

Their worm bin eventually fills up with worm castings. Adding more trays or getting a larger bin puts off the inevitable. Harvesting finished compost means separating worm castings from the worms. You will leave bedding behind for the worms to live in. Using a screen should only take 30 to 60 minutes. Making mounds takes a day, mostly waiting time. Tray-based composting bins might only take 10 minutes.

Just like people, composting worms have an ideal temperature range. The worm bin and bedding help regulate the temperature. When the air temperature is below 54 degrees Fahrenheit, worms slow down. Below freezing, they can die. Above 84 degrees can cook the worms. Do you live in a climate that has temperature extremes? See our tips for keeping composting worms cool in summer and warm in winter. Bin location is the primary issue. You can mitigate some of the temperature hazards using ice, bin blankets, insulation, relocation, and moisture regulation.

Peruse our blog , check out our product descriptions , and read our Frequently Asked Questions. We are the 1 supplier of composting worms in the USA. I used large bins with combination of mulched cardboard and fresh greens. I constantly had the problem of worms wanting to escape. They would be happy for a while and then they would be crawling up the sides of the bin and getting out. I just could not get a median environment to keep them in there.

Normally the lower portion of the worm bed is more wet then the top half. Keeping a packing-cardboard sheet on the top and spraying water with a spray bottle can address the problem. During the cold months I kept them in the basement.

THey consumed all the table refuse we gave them. Now i have them in an outdoor raised bed. I am going to let them enrich soil for a few weeks , then move them.

I live in a city where temps have been over F daily. My worm bin is in my garage but have found by adding frozen water bottles capped daily keeps the worms comfortable and happy. The condensation keeps the bedding watered perfectly. They are doing great and are not water drenched from loose ice, another idea for those hot summers. Put a LED note light over the top of them. Not all leave to find more food in the next tray up. The next layers up have plenty of worms and food. How can I get the worms to migrate without picking them out one by one?

I usually only have two trays going. This solves several problems. The extra liquid from the full tray seeps down and keeps the bottom tray moist; I never need to water. The top tray acts as a moisture barrier instead of needing to keep a moist newspaper or other covering on top, and it will keep out bugs, etc. Finally, the worms do go DOWN and seem to be quite happy down there. This might not work in all setups, but definitely works in a two-tray setup in the worm factory.

I do make sure to keep a good amount of bedding, so there is good aeration for the worms. How do you do the two trays? What do you make them with and size plus how much do you get from them?

I have two 50 gal. In the winter I use seed heating mats to keep worms an bedding warm. One time I tried to be extra nice to my precious worms and ground their food in my Vitamix.

The lucious, liquid mixture composted too quickly, raised the temperature, and the worms were escaping the heat. I think I threw a couple I rescued from day ground on there and they must have reproduced? Now the other question, how do I use my compost when its ready without filling pots with wrigglers? I am wondering if worms will eat municipal compost? I am thinking it might turn around if you could pass it through a worms intestines. We have a worm factory we needed to add a new tray so we followed the direction but for some reason our dirt in the new tray keeps disappearing.

What could we be doing wrong? How much does a worm factory cost. I am in in the area southern calif. How do I order the worm factory ? From you. When and how will red wigglers be sent to my home? I live in MA where we have cold winters and warm summers. Try putting a low watt lamp near them.