How to Build a Wormery Part 3

How To Build A Wormery Part 3

There is no single method for building a wormery. As we’ve outlined before, all that’s really necessary is the right combination of elements, and your worms should be able to thrive and do the work they do best. Whether you purchase a self-contained system to be stored under your sink or you pull together a few supplies to build a wormery for your backyard, the results are almost always the same – as long as you are careful about maintaining your wormery.

If you’re building a wormery from scratch, however, there are a few important steps to follow.

1. Choose a container that works best for your family and your lifestyle. This can be anything from a plastic Tupperware container to an old wooden crate. Keep in mind that wood will eventually rot and may leak, so it’s not meant for indoor use. Make sure your container is clean and dry before you start.

2. Be sure to bore holes in the container for aeration, about 5 cm from the top and bottom. If you will be keeping this as a self-contained wormery (not buried in the ground), make sure the holes are too small for the worms to escape. You’ll also need to bore a hole to create a spout in the bottom for drainage issues. You can either buy a small spigot with an on/off switch, or you can plug it with a cork and drain it manually. This drainage can later be used as its own type of fertilizer.

3. Your container should also have a lid or other cover (a piece of wood or burlap sack can work). This will be used to keep the moisture level correct and to keep larger critters from getting in.

Wormery Tip:
The bigger the container, the more worms you can have, and the greater the amount of kitchen waste you can place in it. However, there’s also more work and monitoring involved in a bigger container – especially since you can’t let the wormery get too deep, or you risk not getting enough oxygen to allow decomposition to occur properly. Never let your wormery get deeper than about 60 cm.

4. The bottom of your wormery should be filled with a thin layer (8 to 10 cm) of sand or topsoil. Worms don’t have teeth, which means that they need some sort of grinding material (found in the sand or topsoil) to help them digest.

5. The bedding comes next. Place a layer of your chosen type of pre-moistened bedding, leaving plenty of room for the kitchen scraps you’ll be adding over time. The bedding should never exceed 30 cm in depth. A damp piece of cardboard placed on top should keep the wormery moist while also keeping light away from the worms.

6. When you’re placing the worms inside the wormery, put them on top of the bedding. There’s no need to worry – they’ll make their way to the bottom as quickly as they can. After all, they prefer the dark, moist area underneath the bedding to the bright, hot air above. Any worms that do linger at the top are probably either dead or too sick to be a productive part of your wormery, so you should remove them, as needed.

7. As soon as you place the worms, you will place your kitchen scraps on top of the bedding, but below the damp cardboard.

Your wormery is now ready to start working!

Wormery Tip:
One of the simplest ways to build a wormery in the backyard is to drill a garbage can with holes in the side. If you bury it about half a meter in the ground, the worms can come and go as they please. As long as you don’t fill it too full or forget to put the lid on tightly, you should be able to simply toss the kitchen waste on top and occasionally add some bedding to keep the system going. Although this meas the worms are free to come and go, the kitchen waste should keep them coming back for more!

>> PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GARDEN WORMEY EBOOK <<

How to Build a Wormery Part 2

How To Build A Wormery Part 2

A wormery is also known as a home vermiculture system or a worm box. No matter what you call it, however, the idea remains the same – you’re building a self-contained environment in which worms can create rich soil out of your everyday kitchen waste.

Despite what they may seem, wormeries are not completely self-contained ecosystems. Worms, like any other creature or household pet, have to be taken care of properly and be regularly monitored in order to survive. Although much of the work is done by the worms and nature, it’s your job to take into account issues of temperature, moisture, oxygen, light, and even pH.

Temperature

Although worms can survive in a variety of climates and temperatures, the ones most often found in a wormery thrive between 13 and 25 degrees Celsius (note: this means the temperature of the soil – not the air). Anything too warm or above 29 degrees Celsius could be fatal, and anything too cold or below 10 degrees might slow the worms down too much to make them effective. If you live anywhere where outside temperatures are extreme, you may need to consider indoor placement for your wormery.

Moisture

Worms are notorious for coming out when it rains, coating the pavement and providing a buffet for birds. That’s because worms breathe through their skin, and that skin must be moist in order for respiration to occur effectively. The soil and bedding in your wormery has to maintain a high level of moisture in order to allow the worms to thrive – usually about 75 to 90 percent.

Although the food and plant waste particles will provide some moisture, it may be necessary to monitor levels to be sure the worms aren’t drying out. You can add water if the wormery gets too dry.

Oxygen

As mentioned above, worms breathe through their skin. Other than that, however, their needs are similar to that of any other organism – they need adequate access to oxygen and a way for the carbon dioxide they release to circulate. For a wormery to be effective over the long term, air circulation must play a role in the construction.

Air circulation plays another role, too. A wormery that doesn’t get proper ventilation could quickly become a smelly system.

Light

Worms are not fans of the light. In fact, if they get too much exposure, their bodies will dry out and they could die. That’s why they live underground – and why you need to build a wormery that keeps out the light or that is kept in place where too much light won’t get in the way.

pH Levels

pH is what is used to measure the acidity or basicity of an organism. In humans, a good pH level is around 7.4, and it is maintained almost entirely by the body. That means we have to do little to control our own pH. Worms, however, are more sensitive to pH. They thrive best with a level of 7.0, although that number can vary by as much as 4.2 to 8.0.

Although this is a fairly large range, food and plant matter can drastically alter the pH of your wormery. For example, citrus fruits can drastically alter the pH to make it too acidic. You can test pH by using a pH meter for soil, which is typically available at most gardening stores.

Wormery Tip:
Ground up egg shells provide a quick and easy way to regulate the acidity in your wormery.

What Worms To Use

The types of worms you use in your wormery does matter – especially if you want to get the kind of results that have practical use in your garden. That’s because you need worms that not only feed on food and plant matter in the soil, but ones that can survive the shallow dirt environment of the typical backyard wormery.

The recommended type of worm is a red worm, known as red wigglers or Eisenia foetida. Another common worm is Lumbricus rubellus, which is very similar in makeup to the red wigglers. Nightcrawlers (Lumbricus terrestris), which are the types of worms most people associate with fishing or backyard worms, should not be used for wormeries. They prefer to live in deeper soil, and won’t be able to thrive in the shallow bedding of your wormery.

Unfortunately, finding the right worms isn’t as easy as waiting for a rainy day and heading out to the sidewalk to see what you can scoop up; in most cases, you’ll need to specially order composting worms. You can usually find them at mail-order companies, online vendors, and many fishing stores (which sell the worms as bait). If you have access to a nutrient-rich compost or manure pile, you can also collect worms there, but there are no guarantees that you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Did You Know?
Eisenia foetida gets its name from a foul-smelling liquid they emit when handled too roughly. Foetida is Latin for “fetid” or “stinky.”

The cost of the worms will vary depending on where you purchase them. In most cases, you’ll buy them by weight. 500g of worms typically yields around 1,000 of the little critters, which can handle roughly 250g to 500g of kitchen waste per day. One of the greatest things about worms, though, is their ability to reproduce, so you should be able to let the little guys procreate on their own to keep your wormery well-stocked.

Did You Know?
Worms are hermaphroditic, which means they have both male and female sex organs. This makes reproduction easy, since every worm they come across is a potential mate. Baby worms hatch from eggs that are laid inside a cocoon – but only if the conditions in the wormery are just right.

>> PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GARDEN WORMEY EBOOK <<

How to Build a Wormery Part 1

How To Build A Wormery Part 1

Building a wormery doesn’t have to complicated or costly. Although there are many high-quality wormeries that you can purchase online or in organic gardening shops, most people already have all the materials they need to get started.

Wormery Containers

The size of your wormery depends entirely upon you. If you purchase one from a vendor, there should be several size options, ranging from large, elaborate systems to smaller, family-oriented ones. The larger ones tend to look like (and in fact, often are) plastic garbage cans. Smaller, simpler ones can be constructed in a plastic bottle or even in a shallow plastic bin.

The most important thing to take into account when choosing a wormery size is how much kitchen and plant waste you’ll be feeding into it. A family of four to six people typically produces two to three kilograms of kitchen waste per week, and is best served by a smaller box (30 by 60 cm) about one meter deep. Two people can usually use a box of the same height and width, but only half a meter deep.

If you’ll be building a larger wormery for use in a school or restaurant kitchen, you may need to consider purchasing a ready-made system, using several smaller ones, or upgrading to a larger box. You’ll also need to keep location in mind. There is no reason why a wormery can’t flourish inside your home or apartment, but many people find that it’s much easier to keep the wormery out of the day-to-day process of living.

The great thing about wormery boxes is that they don’t have to be fancy – the worms don’t care whether they’re living in a small wooden box or an elaborate poroous plastic vermiculture system. If you’ll be making one of your own, you can use:

  • Wooden pallets
  • Plastic containers
  • Converted garbage pails
  • Large jars with a spout at the bottom
  • Styrofoam coolers

Wormery Tip:
If you use a container that cannot be converted to include a spout at the bottom, your wormery won’t last forever. You need a way to drain the excess fluid that builds up as the worms do their work. Otherwise, they run the risk of drowning in their own “juices.”

Although you can use any of the above materials in making your wormery, some will do better than others. Plastic containers have the least amount of toxicity, but they don’t absorb any of the liquids, so they have to be drained more often. Styrofoam may release toxins into the worms’ environment over time, and metal containers left in the sun can increase the wormery temperature to dangerous levels. (They also tend to rust over time.) Many woods, including some types cedar and redwood, might release dangerous oils into the worms’ environment. Inexpensive and rot-resistant woods (like hemlock) tend to do fairly well, but they will eventually need to be replaced.

In addition to these concerns, there is also a matter of smell. Many people find that the complete systems you purchase often work best to control smell and keep the worms in the most healthy environment. Depending on your intent for the wormery, it may be worth the investment to buy a good system that won’t need to be replaced or upgraded over time.

Wormery Bedding

The area where your worm lives and works in is known as the “bedding.” It’s called this because in nature, the worms you’ll be dealing with live only in the top layers of the dirt – much more like the blankets on top of the earth than the deep soil underneath.

Wormery bedding can be made of a number of substances: corrugated cardboard, black-ink newspaper, peat moss, wood chips, leaf matter, coir, or pre-packaged wormery bedding.

Did You Know?
Coir is a fiber that comes from the outside of a coconut. Although it can be difficult to collect your own coir, it is fairly inexpensive to order online. It’s a great way to “recycle” the waste that comes from manufacturing plants in the tropics that process coconuts for human consumption.

No matter what material you use, it needs to be broken down and dampened. You can tear the cardboard or newspaper into small strips to get it ready. The bedding material should then be moistened and wrung out until it resembles a damp sponge.

Manure may also be used to supplement the bedding (though this isn’t recommended if the wormery will be kept in or nearby the house!). Never use dog, cat, pig, or human droppings, since they can carry disease. Cow or horse manure works just fine, and can actually really help the worms to thrive. Rodent droppings from pet rabbits or guinea pigs also work rather well.

Wormery Tip:
If you’ll be using manure to enrich your wormery, be prepared for other critters to call it home. Mites, centipedes, and grubs love manure, too, and they’ll find a way in! Most organisms won’t harm the wormery, but you should remove centipedes, since they might try to eat the baby worms and worm eggs.

>> PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GARDEN WORMEY EBOOK <<