Posts Tagged ‘worm composting’
As you find the benefits of composting becoming real for your efforts, you’ll find there are other forms of composting that are even more productive. Worm composting creates the richest and most nutritious soil additive you can find.
Worm compost, sometimes referred to as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is created through vermicomposting, which is similar to plain composting, except that it uses worms in addition to microbes and bacteria to turn organic waste into a nutrient-rich fertilizer much faster.
Worm composting is a specific type of system that is also sometimes referred to as vermicomposting. This system of composting is used to covert fruit and vegetable scraps into soil that is rich and fertilized. It uses two species of worms: Red Wigglers ( Eisenia foetida ) or Red Earthworms ( Lumbricus rubellus ), which are rarely found in soil and are most happy in an environment of rotting vegetation, compost and manure piles.
Getting Started with Worm Composting
Like everything else in this life, a little planning is in order.
Things to Consider:
How much kitchen compost do I produce? Your new pets eat, when healthy and happy, about half their weight every day. If you have two pounds of healthy red wigglers you will need a pound of kitchen compost or scraps every day. Worm farmers often use a grain mix that you can buy as worm food but I’m not selling worms, I just want my worms to eat my garbage.
What kind of container or worm bin will I build or buy for my new composting effort? To start out I would suggest a RubberMaid type storage tote with lid of 20-30 gallons size. I got one at WalMart for $7.50 with a snap close lid in a 22 gal. size. Good size to start! After you find that this worm composting is for you, then you can get into worm farming with stackable worm bins and begging friends and relatives for their vegetable and fruit scraps to feed your rapidly increasing number of garbage eaters.
Where will I put my worm bin? Your new garbage eaters like it between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Worm farming is an indoor and outdoor sport. If you are doing it right there is very little smell so find a spot that keeps your worms happy and productive. Since I’m in Florida my worms spend the summer indoors in the mudroom off the garage and most of the winter they are outside on the porch.
Where am I getting the worms for my new pet habitat? Easy enough to do it online. I get mine from several different suppliers like Uncle Jims Worm Farm or Garden Worms or the Worm Wrangler. They send out my worms and usually in three days my new workers are munching away in fresh bedding and the usual kitchen compost they so love.
To begin a worm compost, you will need about two pounds of worms to get started. Once you have the worms they will multiply fairly quickly. One pound of worms is capable of composting approximately half of a pound of scraps per day.
Place some bedding in the tote. The bedding can be shredded cardboard or newspaper. We have horses in the area and the stall sweepings of straw, manure, and grains work just great. You can also use leaves if you like, as well. The bedding should be moistened with water, but make sure that you only used non-chlorinated water. Make sure that you only moisten it and do not over-saturate the bedding.
Now, place the worms into the bin and cover them with organic waste. The composting worms seem to like a little sand and bagged manure on top to aid their digestion and cover it all with some more shredded cardboard to block the light.All you have to do now is to let the worms do their work.
Within three to six months you will need to move the compost to one side of the bin and add new bedding. The worms will make their way to the new bedding and you can then remove the compost and use it in your garden.
In addition to increased nutrient levels, worm castings contain millions of microbes which help break down nutrients already present in the soil into available plant forms. As the worms deposit their castings, their mucous is a beneficial component absent from compost produced by hot or cold composting. The mucous slows the release of nutrients preventing them from washing away with the first watering. Worm compost is usually too rich for use alone as a seed starter. It is useful as a top dressing and as an addition to potting mixes at a rate of one part castings to four parts mix. Your plants will love it.
So now is the time to start worm composting and you can do it.