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| Managing The Herd Taking Care of The Worms |
Worms start off in a cocoon, pictured left,
and grow to maturity, species dependent, 6
-12 weeks. As a worm grows, it will consume
nearly half its weight a day in organic
matter. They have a voracious appetite
when conditions are in their comfort range.
and grow to maturity, species dependent, 6
-12 weeks. As a worm grows, it will consume
nearly half its weight a day in organic
matter. They have a voracious appetite
when conditions are in their comfort range.
Worms require very little care but you will
need to be diligent to keep their
environment safe and prosperous. First, you
must make their bin habitable and teeming
with micro-organisms. Second, you must
keep moisture in balance at all times. Too
wet and the bin could start compacting
causing the anaerobic conditions and that
will cause massive deaths in the worm
population.
The ideal moisture level is "damp"
throughout the bin. What exactly is damp?
How do I know? At first, we all have a
tendency to give the worms too much water
(through food, watering, etc) and the bin
soon starts to sour. It is all a balancing act
to get the conditions right for maximum
efficiency, but with worms, once you get
paste the initial hump, you will find the
intuitive side of kick in and the moisture level
will be second nature.
Touch your top layer, is it damp or dry? Dig
about 1/4 down- how does that feel? Go to
the bottom, is there standing water? If you
can wring out water from the bottom later, it
is way too wet. For Short periods of time,
worms will dig the water, but soon, when the
Oxygen is gone, it will become a toxic soup
they cannot escape.
Next, make sure you always have enough
moisture in the bin. Too much is bad, too
little is bad as well. If you feed and watch the
food, you will soon see how the food
breaking down contributes to moisture.
Often feeding is all that is needed to
keeping moisture content high (provided
you are using typical waste around your
house.)
Feeding is often a contributing factor to
many worm deaths, specifically over-
feeding. Too much of anything is bad and
too much wastes can cause excess moisture
or depending on the items, heating the bin
or hot composting. Care must be taken not
to cause the bin to become hot.
Worms are really easy to take care, just
basic simple steps.
In review:
If you do those two things, you will be
successful. There is more, but that is the
best bang for your buck. More Coming soon.
need to be diligent to keep their
environment safe and prosperous. First, you
must make their bin habitable and teeming
with micro-organisms. Second, you must
keep moisture in balance at all times. Too
wet and the bin could start compacting
causing the anaerobic conditions and that
will cause massive deaths in the worm
population.
The ideal moisture level is "damp"
throughout the bin. What exactly is damp?
How do I know? At first, we all have a
tendency to give the worms too much water
(through food, watering, etc) and the bin
soon starts to sour. It is all a balancing act
to get the conditions right for maximum
efficiency, but with worms, once you get
paste the initial hump, you will find the
intuitive side of kick in and the moisture level
will be second nature.
Touch your top layer, is it damp or dry? Dig
about 1/4 down- how does that feel? Go to
the bottom, is there standing water? If you
can wring out water from the bottom later, it
is way too wet. For Short periods of time,
worms will dig the water, but soon, when the
Oxygen is gone, it will become a toxic soup
they cannot escape.
Next, make sure you always have enough
moisture in the bin. Too much is bad, too
little is bad as well. If you feed and watch the
food, you will soon see how the food
breaking down contributes to moisture.
Often feeding is all that is needed to
keeping moisture content high (provided
you are using typical waste around your
house.)
Feeding is often a contributing factor to
many worm deaths, specifically over-
feeding. Too much of anything is bad and
too much wastes can cause excess moisture
or depending on the items, heating the bin
or hot composting. Care must be taken not
to cause the bin to become hot.
Worms are really easy to take care, just
basic simple steps.
In review:
- Do Not Over Water - too much
moisture can deplete oxygen - Do Not Over Feed - too much food
can create too much moisture or
cause hot composting
If you do those two things, you will be
successful. There is more, but that is the
best bang for your buck. More Coming soon.
| Frequently Asked!! OOOOH Do they smell? Do worms smell? If you maintain them correctly, there will no offensive odor. They are efficient eaters and will devour their food. Will they eat my garbage? They may but you must have proper expectations. Worms will eat about half of their weight a day in food. If you have enough, then yes, they will eat your garbage (see what worms eat for the list of trash they eat.) How Many Worms Will I Need? Generally, once you have a system going and depending on your waste stream, we recommend 2-3 pounds of worms per person. A pound is around 1000 worms. So a family of five would want about 10-15 pounds (10,000-15,000 ) of worms to eat their household garbage. Or, to get a visual, imagine a 10 dollar plastic wading pool for kids full of worms!! Where Do You Keep Them? Cool and dark areas. Worms thrive when they are undisturbed and well fed. Basements, cellars, crawl spaces, under decks, outdoor in-ground bins are all great areas for worms to live. Is It As Simple As It Sounds? Yes it is simple to raise worms. All you need is a willingness to learn and the patience not to interfere too much. We offer lifetime worm support (your and theirs) so you can always find any help you may need to keep them eating. Get your worms today!! |
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