Composting with Worms
Composting with Worms
Worm composting is an easy, convenient, environmentally-friendly and efficient way of turning your waste kitchen scraps into high quality super-rich compost all the year round. This type of composting is particularly good if you live in a flat and don't have a garden, or if you don't have enough room in your garden for a proper garden composter. The compost, thus produced, can be placed in planting holes when planting out new plants in the garden, added to houseplants and containers, used a top dressing (mulch) or it can be used as an ingredient when making up your own potting compost.
The worms, which are responsible for recycling kitchen waste in this way, are called brandlings and resemble earthworms, except they are smaller and reddish in appearance. They can frequently be found, occurring naturally, in compost heaps. However, if you are unable to obtain a supply of these worms from a natural source, then you may be able to obtain some from your local supplie see worm supplier section. For example, it's possible to obtain a supply of both Brandling (Tiger) worms (Eisenia foetida) and Dendrobaena (a bigger, more acid tolerant worm which can digest 30 % more material)
What Do The Worms Eat?
Basically, all of your organic kitchen waste! Examples of suitable materials include: stale bread crumbs, cereals, pasta, any fruit and vegetable waste, teabags, coffee grounds and small amounts of old straw or leaves, but try not to add anything which is saturated in fat or which contains vinegar and avoid garlic and potato peelings. All waste material should be broken into small scraps before being added to your worm composter and when feeding your worms it is important to feed them 'little and often' rather than giving them large quantities of food at once, as this can cause overheating and this can kill the worms.
What Else Do the Worms Need?
This type of composting can be carried out all year round. In fact worm activity ceases below 5 degrees centigrade and so you really need somewhere to keep your container of worms in the winter where the temperature will remain above 8 degrees - a shed, utility room or garage perhaps? However, the worms can be kept outside all year round if this isn't possible, but their container should be insulated, with old carpet for example, so that the worms don't freeze. Tigerworms can also be killed if the temperature goes too high - above 40 degrees C.
The Worm Composter
Apart from a supply of worms and some kitchen scraps you will need a suitable container to keep your worms in. In fact, it's fairly easy and a lot cheaper to make your own worm composter or there are plenty wormeries for sale from online stores and garden centres.
Worms FAQs
Can they see?
No, worms dont have eyes. They are very sensitive to bright light. They will try to hide as soon as exposed.
Where is the mouth?
The worms mouth is in the first anterior segment. There is a small protruding lip just over the mouth, called prostomium. When the worm is foraging, this lip is stretching out. The prostomium is for sensing food.
Do they have teeth?
Worms have no teeth for chewing food. They grind food in their gizzard by muscle action
How do they grind food?
Worms can only take small particles in their small mouths. Microorganisms soften the food before worms will eat it. Worms have a muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material such as sand, topsoil or limestone is ingested. The contractions from the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other, mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces.
If a worm is cut in two, will it grow back?
It depends on where the cut took place. If a worm is cut at the posterior end, sometimes a new tail will grow back on. Sometimes a second tail will appear next to a damaged tail. However, the posterior half of the worm cant grow a new anterior (head.)
What Are The Other Critters In My Worm Bin?
Once your worm bin has been going for a while, you may notice other creatures like white worms, springtails, and millipedes living in your bin. This is normal, these creatures will not hurt your worms. In fact, they help the composting process. The only bugs that may be present that pose a threat to worms are centipedes. You can tell centipedes and millipedes apart by looking at how their legs are attached to their bodies. Centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment, millipedes have two pairs.
What do I do if my bin smells?
Unpleasant odors in a worm bin may result from too much food waste, too much moisture, or composting cheese or animal products. Control odors by removing excess waste. You can also make sure that drainage holes are not blocked and adding more drain holes or fresh bedding if needed. Always cover fresh food waste with at least one inch of bedding.
What Is Growing In My Worm Bin?
You may occasionally notice patches of mold or sprouts in your worm bin. Molds and fungi are a natural part of the composting process, helping to break down the food waste. Vegetables may sprout in your bin because of all the nutrients present. These things will eventually be consumed by the worms and other organisms, but you can keep the mold or sprouts out of sight by covering them with bedding.
What Happens To My Worms In The Winter?
When it gets colder, your worms will slow down, and will not be able to digest as much food waste. You will most likely need to cut back on the amount of food waste you feed your worms between November and February. Red worms can survive cold winters outside if protected by bedding in a worm bin.
Do worms die in the box?
Its hard to find dead worms in a worm box, but they do die in the box. Dead worm bodies decompose very quickly, because their bodies are between 75%-90% water. If you find many dead worms you should find out the cause. High heat (above 84 degrees) is fatal to them. Too much salt or acidic food waste can kill them. Its best to change the bedding with fresh materials to solve the problem. Sometimes, partially replacing bedding may solve the problem.
How long do worms live?
Often, worms live and die in the same year. They are exposed to hazards, dryness, too hot or too cold weather. Eisenia foetida can live for as long as four years.
Do worms need air?
Worms need oxygen to live. The oxygen diffuses across the moist tissue of their skin, from the region of greater concentration of oxygen (air) to that of lower concentration (inside the worm.) Carbon dioxide produced by the bodily processes of the worm also diffuses through skin. Moving from higher concentration to lesser concentration, carbon dioxide moves from the inside of the worms body out into the surrounding bedding. A constant supply of fresh air throughout the bedding helps this desirable exchange take place.
What about breeding?
Each worm bears the reproductive system of both sexes, but two worms must mate for reproduction to take place. For example, Redworms, which consume large amounts of organic matter and are found in manure and compost piles and decaying leaves are prolific breeders. They live closer to the surface than earthworms and reproduce very quickly in captivity. Eight redworms become 1,500 redworms in six months!
Dendrobaena and Tiger worms are types of red worm that grow up to 6 inches long. They can be used to process mankind's waste mountains , living on a diet of any organic material, including food scraps, green waste, sawdust, human and animal waste products - almost anything but meat. They eat their weight daily.
They are very cost effective when bought by weight and if you are a angler they are a perfect fishing bait. They also make very good composters, are very resilient, and are the easiest worm to keep and breed. Kept out of sunlight in a cool place with moist bedding and a little food, vegetable waste or even mashed potato, the worms will be quite happy for several weeks.
Worm Varieties suitable for Composting
Dendrobaena
Also known as Dendros and the European Nightcrawler, are rapidly becoming the most popular worm used, they are tough, lively, wriggle and twist on the hook unlike any other bait.
They should not be confused with the Canadian Nightcrawler, which, usually look like they have been through a washing machine on a very hot wash. Nor should they be confused with the Alien Nightcrawlers that were in the film Men In Black 2!!! Dendros are usually big, fat and juicy, but don't talk!
Not only can Dendrobaena be used in coarse angling but in sea angling too. They will live in very cold water for a long time. Ice fishing under 12 inches (300 mm) of ice these worms are still very active, even after 30 minutes in freezing temperatures. They can live in normal temperature water, fully immersed, for about 3 weeks.
The really big dendros are an excellent replacement for Lob worms, which are more expensive, hard to get in an active condition and difficult to keep fresh and alive.
Dendro worms can be stored easily with a bit of care, providing they are in a reasonable sized container with some (very small!) air holes and some moist peat, out of direct sunlight and somewhere cool like a garage, they will live quite happily for weeks, no need to keep them refrigerated.
Red Worms
Red Worms (Lumbricus rubellus), as its name suggests, is a dark red colour. Do not confuse it with the brandling or Tiger worm, the red worm does not have an acidic smell.
The red worm is a very good composting worm. In sunlight, it is a very active wriggler and is thought by many fishermen to be irresistible to fish. Redworms are very effective at aerating and mixing the soil, and consume a large amount of organic material, although less than red wigglers. They are also known as Red worms, blood worms, ,red wriggler, brandling and manure worms.
Their official names are Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubellus. Red worms are best suited for composting because they thrive on organic material such as food waste, found in aged manure, compost heaps, and piles of leaves.Earthworms, on the other hand, are better suited to life in the soil and shouldn't be used in a worm bin.
You can get your worms from an existing compost bin, purchase them or find a horse stable or farmer with an aged manure pile.
Red worms mature sexually in 60-90 days and can then produce cocoons, which take 21 days to hatch baby worms. Once they start breeding they can deposit two to three cocoons per week with two baby worms in each cocoon. The limits on their reproduction include availability of food and room to move and breed. So worm populations don't usually exceed the size of the container.
Tiger Worms
The tiger worm/ Red Wigglers Eisenia fetida, This species prefers to live at or near the surface of the soil or compost and does not burrow into the ground. Tiger worms especially like to eat moist organic matter such as food scraps.
It can process large amounts of organic matter and, under ideal conditions, can eat it's body weight each day. It also reproduces rapidly, and is very tolerant of variations in growing conditions. Other names for red wigglers include Tiger worms, Garlic worms, Manure worms, and Brandling worms.
Red Tiger (Eisenia andrei)
The Red Tiger worm makes an excellent composting worm. It is a close relative of the Red Wiggler (E. fetida) and are commonly used as a bait worm because they exude coelomic fluid, which attracts fish. These worms are very active wigglers in sunlight. Other common names include Tiger worms and Red Tiger hybrids.
Worm Suppliers
Worms described above can be obtained from some local fish bait shops or worm farms. One such farm is located near Castlecomer, ring Laura Collins on 087-6399086 for further details.
