Did you know that worm castings which you can harvest when you are worm composting (vermi-composting ) are the absolute best enriching material you can put in your soil around your plants? This past spring I have personally found out how superior to synthetic fertilizers such as RX15 and other liquid fertilizer even a trowel full of soil with worm castings in it can be. (Here’s more about my experience with composting worms and using the castings at
http://www.plantsandgardeningtips.com/worm-composting/worm-castings).

Composting with earthworms or “vermi-composting” is great for apartment dwellers who don’t have yard space and for those homeowners who don’t want to hike through snowdrifts to a backyard compost bin. In addition many kids love keeping hundreds of wigglers for pets.

If you do not wish to build your own home for those worms, there are several companies now who can sell you not only the bins but also the bedding, the worms and all you need.

Covered Bins as Homes for Worms

Your worms can live in a plastic bin or wooden box with plenty of air holes punched in the sides and top. Line the worm bin with nylon net to keep the small ones in. Holes in the bottom are needed for drainage so you’ll want a tray under the bin.

One enterprising young man used a big garbage plastic bin. At the bottom on one side, he cut out a door so that he could quickly retrieve the worm castings without necessarily having to deal with the worms themselves.

Then he bought rods that wouldn’t rust or rot and with the proper size drill, he made holes all around the plastic bin so that he could put these rods through from one side of the bin to the other side. These rods more or less created a platform which was about 2 feet from the bottom of the bin and parallel to it. He made sure the rods were close enough they could easily hold a bedding of damp newspapers to hold his precious worms.

A net under the newspapers would have been an added precaution against losing the tiny baby worms once the newspapers had composted or been eaten by the worms.

Some people move their worms out to a balcony or yard in warm seasons, but I would hesitate putting the bins in the sun for the worms would fry in temperature above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 28 - 30 degrees Celsius). If you wish to put them outside on a balcony, try to find a spot which remains shaded.

If you plan to move the worm bins back and forth to the balcony, you may find it more convenient to have several smaller, more portable units rather than one large one. The size of the box will also depend on how much space you have.

Worm Bedding Material

Loam or black topsoil available from garden centers makes a particularly good bedding material for your worms.

Bedding can also be shredded newspaper which have been soaked to soften the edges. The newspaper should be damp and not soaking wet when you place it in your “worm’s home” as bedding. Since the worms will eat this too, avoid colored inks and glossy paper.

Other worm bedding material would be a mixture of sawdust, peat moss, shredded leaves, and soil. The idea is to provide your worms with “food”.

Fill the worm bin with about a foot of bedding, about as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Since you have provided air holes all around the bin itself, you can add a lid on the bin to help maintain the correct moisture level.

Now that you know what to use to house your worm and for worm bedding, the next step is to find out what types of worms you can use and what food you might give them. Please go to the next post for this information.
Until then

Happy Vermi-composting

Marcie

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Bins & Bedding For Worms, Worm Composting (Vermi-Composting). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.