wormery

[tracie]

Having seen the wormery in kg this month I am tempted to make a purchase.

Has anybody used one before?, are they any good?, do you have to separate the worms from the compost when you go to use the compost?.

Does anybody have any experiance of wormerys

[Paul_B]

Before you begin I would strongly recommend looking out for a book by George Pilkington, if you need more details let me know. I bought a wormery last year, one of those plastic bin things, it was a disaster. First bunch of worms I drowned. Next lot I killed in a stagnant soup which smelt disgusting. After reading George's book I learnt the error of my ways. Plastic bins often over heat, adding too much kitchen waste can rsult in anaerobic composting. Adding cardboard and woodchips seems a good remedy. etc, etc

[tracie]

thanks for your reply.
I was going to site it on our south facing patio, but it sounds not such a good idea.

Having read your email im having second thoughts when I can just put the stuff on the compost heap, but I have found this has attracted loads of flies even when constantly covered.

[Carole B.]

I made one out of a dustbin as per instructions in a leaflet but i found it just couldn't cope with the amount of stuff comming out of a busy kitchen and kept going slimy and flyey(ooh..I think I just invented a word) so I gave up and just put it all on the compost heap as normal...it's full of worms now anyway!

[Paul_B]

I have done quite a bit of research on composting and wormeries. I don't find flies too much of a problem. Covering with grass or paper is the best bet, but if that fails then go with old fashined yellow fly paper and eco-friendly Flygo.

I may still invest in a wormery but it is more likely to be akin to a wooden compost heap. BTW did you know that worm juice, the infamous liquid fertiliser, is not the stuff that comes out of the tap at the bottom of the plastic bin. According to the Pilkington book worm juice or tea is an infusion of the mature worm compost in water.

[Chantal]

I have a plastic Wiggly Wigglers Wormery (can of worms)and it's great. I drain the sump regularly and use it to feed my tomatoes etc. I put SOME of the kitchen waste on it as I have far too much for it too cope (the rest goes in the normal bins at the plot) and also mix at least one third kitchen roll and soft brown cardpaper with the scraps. Once the supplied "worm duvet" broke down I replaced this with a layer of newspaper which gradually breaks down and is replaced. The paper keeps the warmth in and the worms will come higher if you do that. I get a couple of bags of brilliant compost out of it every year, although it does take a year to get going.

When I take the compost out I use rubber gloves and carefully remove all the worms which go back into the top layer.

If it smells or has flies it's because it's too wet so add more paper. You can also cover it with a sort of rain hat in the very wet weather which you can buy from WW. I've never needed to.

Mine is on a south facing patio but up against the house and tucked under a climbing plant so it has some shelter.

It works for me.

[peat]

There is a good description here about wormeries
viewtopic.php?t=241&highlight=wormery
Pete

[tracie]

thanks to everybody for your help with wormery topic, think I need to do a bit of reading up on the subject

[DahlisMarie]

I only started my worm farm last week. I had one for a number of years in Sydney and my elderly mum is still using the one I gave her about 12 years ago. Of course a lot worms have died and gone to worm heaven in that time and her present worms are umpteem times grandchildren.
The big thing I think with them is not to put too much kitchen waste in them until you have the number of worms to cope with it. Make sure the scraps are being eaten. Only a few days worth at a time. Once you have about 20,000 worms going full belt then you can let rip with the scraps. The guide I believe is no more than one inch of food over half the surface area of the working tray.
The other thing is a cool shaded site for it.
Keep a wet hessian bag or such over it in hot weather.
And be patient, it can take 12 months for the system to be functioning fully.
When it does, you will be please with the results.
Worms eat up to half their body weight every day and double populations every few months (according to my guide book).
If you start with 1 pound of worms they will consume half a pound of waste a day. This is of course is after they have finished consuming all the packing, bedding, etc. they came in.
And don't feed onions, citrus etc. They don't like it.
Otherwise have fun

[Chantal]

Mine eat onions, garlic and leeks, just a little a time. I don't feed them citrus at all.

You can also feed them cooked food so long as it's vegetables.

[Tigger]

Then desert, followed by a selection of cheeses, coffee and a liqueur, perhaps?

[DahlisMarie]

Mine eat onions, garlic and leeks, just a little a time.

Well, of course, they are european worms after all

It is just that onions etc and citrus are very acidic and supposedly worms prefer less acidic food.
They will eat just about anything that was once organic. Tea-bags, even vacuum cleaner dust, crushed egg shells, egg, milk & pizza cartons (soaked well first), even well aged manures.
The more variety the worms get in their diets, the better their castings are.

However I think it would be a terrible waste of the dessert, cheese & wine Tigger.

[Johnboy]

Hi Tigger,
I don't think Worms like sand!
JB.