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Helpful Hints
Worm Composting
What are the benefits of worm composting?
- its a great way to recycle organic
waste into excellent compost for enriching your soil, using in
containers and grow bags.
- reduces the amount of rubbish you send
to the landfill each week (by as much as 50%) thus
saving you money and reducing pressure on the environment
- reduces the amount of peat you use
leaving it in the bog where wildlife depends on it and
saving you money on compost
- gives you the satisfaction of doing
some practical recycling at home and getting in touch with
nature.
Where can I get a vermicompost system?
See below for list of worm system
suppliers. You can expect to pay approximately 150 Euro for a
worm system.
Can I make my own worm system?
Yes, you can make your own system by buying a suitable plastic
container. This should have a well fitting lid, holes drilled
along the base to allow excess water and organic leachate to
come out of the bin, be big enough for your needs (60-90 litres),
strong enough to take occasional knocks and the weight of the
compost, and allow for relatively easy emptying once the bin
is full.An ordinary black plastic rubbish is ideal.
Making the worm bin:
1. Drill holes near the bottom of the
bin to allow any excess water to escape.
2. Put some gravel in the bottom to
allow for drainage
3. Place a sheet of perforated heavy-duty
plastic on top of the gravel
4. Put a layer of 'bedding' on top of
the plastic for the worms. This can be one of or a mixture of
the following materials: moist leaf mould, moist shredded paper,
strawy manure, rotted compost.
5. Finally add the brandling/tiger worms
on top of the bedding. These can be obtained from any of the
suppliers listed below (expect to pay approx. Euro 50), fishing
tackle shops, heaps of rotting farm manure or working compost
heaps. If you know of someone who has a wormbin, maybe they have
enough to spare to get you started. You will need at least 250
gms to begin.
6. Finally, cover the worms with a sheet
of wet newspaper. This acts to retain moisture and heat.
A bin of this construction would be
enough for the waste of a 2-person household and is an ideal
way to get a feel for how to vermicompost at the start. Once
you have got the hang of the process you can add additional bins
or scale up to larger containers.
What about pests and vermin when
I vermicompost?
Provided you do not compost large quantities or rotting meat
material, and you use a sealed container there should be no vermin
problems. Put a lid on the bin to keep the flies out.
Do I need to look out for anything
in particular when I start my bin?
In the beginning, cover the waste with wet newspaper to keep
in moisture and prevent the organic material from drying out.
Water the surface of the mixture if it gets dry. As the bin fills
with organic compost there is less chance of it drying out, so
the newspaper can be removed.
When first feeding the worms put the food in one corner of the
bin, so they have somewhere to move if they do not like the food.
Be careful not to overfeed the worms. As their population increases
you will be able to increase the amount and frequency with which
you feed them. In general, you should see newly added soft green
material eaten within a 2 week period. Tougher plant materials
may take a bit longer for the worms to digest.
Should the worm bin be located in
any special location?
Worms like to be kept warm so keep the bin away from the cold
winds and frosts, ideally situating the bin in a sheltered spot
that is sunny for only the early part of the day. Avoid very
sunny locations as to much sun could overheat the bin which will
cook the worms. If you want your worms to keep on making compost
during the winter, it may be necessary to locate them in a shed
or garage where temperatures do not fall below freezing.
As the weather get colder keep an eye on the bins to make sure
the worms are still active and breaking down the organic matter.
You may have to slow down the rate at which you add food or you
might want to throw an old blanket or towel over the bin to keep
it warm. A build up of too much food may result in it putrefying
and the bin will begin to smell.
How much material can I feed my worms
each week?
It's claimed that worms will process half their own body weight
in organic matter each day. So 1kg of worms will process 1/2kg
of organic waste per day. However, the rate of organic matter
breakdown is also very much related to the conditions the worm
bin is exposed to. In cooler winter weather the processing rate
can be slower, while in the summer the worms turn over organic
material very quickly.
The amount of airflow in the bin is another factor that is important
- worms are living organisms and need air, so opening the bin
regularly is important (this will happen anyway as you add fresh
organic material for them to break down).
It is best to get a 'feel' for your own worm bin. Watch the food
you put in, and when it has nearly gone, you can put more in.
Over time, the feeding rate will become faster as your worm population
increases.
Feed your worms little and often.
What can I compost?
Virtually any organic waste can be put in the worm bin - but,
for various reasons, some materials are best dealt with in other
ways. The main ingredients will tend to come from your own house.
It is important to have a mix of materials and will you learn
with experience. A separate bin in the kitchen to collect compostable
scraps would be helpful. Anything not of living origin will not
compost (i.e. metal/glass/plastics).
Avoid orange peel (citrus fruits), perennial weed roots and weed
seeds, and grass mowings.
Small quantities of meat scraps may be added to the bin, but
avoid large quanties of meat that have gone off and may have
become colonised by maggot larvae. If these are added to a bin,
the maggots will continue to grow and develop into flies.
What materials can I put in a
worm bin?
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DO NOT ADD |
- Kitchen and household scraps - Old fruit and vegetables, cut flowers, tea
leaves, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, etc.
- Paper & Cardboard - Small amounts, torn up (avoid magazines and
colour inks). Mix well with other items.
- Wood Ash -Provides potassium and lime
- Hair
- From the family pet, or the family, moistened
- Leaves
- Add a little at a time. If there are large amounts these are
best made into leaf mould in a separate heap.
- Grass cuttings
Caution - High in nitrogen and a good "activator",
but care must be taken not to overwhelm the compost bin with
grass as it can turn into a slimy mess. Mix well with other materials.
Do not add more than 2 handfuls of grass clippings to a 70-90
litres worm bin at any one time.
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- Dog & Cat droppings - This type
of animal manure may carry parasites
- Man-made fibres - These will not rot
- Material infected with diseases - Composting
may not kill these diseases
- Materials sprayed with weed killers
- The residues may remain in the heap
- Meat bones
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Are there any other potential problems?
Avoid too much acidic material such as lemon and orange skins
can be hard for the worms to digest. Adding egg shells to the
mix on an on-going basis will help keep the pH balance.
Be careful how much food you add: too much may heat up the bin
and drive the worms away, leaving the food to putrefy and the
bin will begin to smell which a well run bin does not.
Where do I get the worms?
The worms needed for composting are known as tiger or brandling
worms. They can be obtained from fishing tackle shops, from someone
else that has a worm bin or from an old compost heap. They are
smaller than true earthworms and they tend to have yellow bands
between the segments at the "tail end" of the worm.
For useful addresses, see list below.
Can I use garden earth worms in the
bin?
No, earthworms are a different species and they are not adapted
to living in fresh organic material like the tiger / brandling
worms. In a worm bin they will die after a short while.
What are the little white worms I
sometimes see in the worm bin?
The tiny white worms you see on the food on the surface of your
bin are called Enchytraeids. They are also called 'Potworms'
or 'White Worms'. They won't harm your bin or the compost worms.
They are actually composters too. If you get a lot of them its
an indication that the bin is slightly acidic. Consider adding
a sprinkling of lime and you'll notice them gone in a few days.
How many worms do I need?
If you don't add too much material at the start and let the population
of worms in the bin increase naturally you could start with as
few as 100 worms. The trick at the start, however, is not to
overfeed the worms. Ideally for a 70-90 litre bin it is recommended
to use 250 gms of worms.
What about the liquid that starts
to come out of the holes at the end of the bin?
The brown watery liquid coming out the holes at the end of the
bin results from the break-down of the vegetable matter in the
bin which can be as much as 95% water. The liquid is rich in
minerals and nutrients ideal for plant growth so don't throw
it away.
Place your bin on 3 red bricks or wooden blocks over a tray to
collect the liquid. Scoop it out and store until you want to
use it. Dilute it one part to 3 parts water and use it to feed
plants in the garden or containers.
Once the bin is full what do I do?
This means it is time to harvest your compost. Get a couple of
empty buckets and transfer the top six inches of fresh kitchen
waste to the buckets along with all the worms. The deeper you
go into the bin, the more brown and decomposed the compost becomes.
Once you can't identify individual waste any more, you are into
compost.
The compost will improve if left for a few weeks or months in
a plastic bag. As you transfer the compost to the bags collect
as many of the worms as you can and return them to the fresh
material from the surface of the bin. They'll provide you with
a population to start a new bin.
What can I use the compost for?
Vermicompost is a gardener's dream and very fertile material.
It can be used for just about anything in the garden or container
gardening but it should not be used for seedling germination
as it is too rich.
In general, it is better to mix it with leaf mould, cóir
or shredded wood compost to make material suitable for potting
on container grown plants or as a rich mix for tomatoes, cucumbers,
beans and window boxes. If you have a lot of material, it can
be used to enrich soil in the garden or vegetable plots.
What about worms in the compost once
I use it?
They are not a problem and in fact if you store your compost
for a while in a plastic sack you'll find that the number of
worms decreases quite dramatically (presumably the result of
fresh food material being absent).
Clicke
Here for Useful Addresses for Worm Supplies and Advice
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