Compost Worms?
- Thread starter Texan
- Start date
homesteadmom
Attractive To Bees
The worms eat the compost & poo them out which helps make better compost, along with the shedding of their skins too. And they also keep your compost looser in the pile so it can break down better. Any worm will work well for this, night crawlers, etc.
- Thread starter
- #3
Texan
Garden Ornament
Thank You.
Southern Gardener
Deeply Rooted
http://www.compostguide.com/composting_worms.html
More on vermicomposting
I ordered my worm bin from Happy D Ranch. My worms will ship on monday. :happy_flower
More on vermicomposting
I ordered my worm bin from Happy D Ranch. My worms will ship on monday. :happy_flower
homesteadmom
Attractive To Bees
I just dump them into my compost bin or the garden itself.
kellygirrl
Chillin' In The Garden
Last year red worms/compost worms wintered over outside in z 5 in a 3 foot pile; we'll see about this year. I have an indoor multi level worm composter; they are supposed to crawl upstairs to the new food source as they complete a lower level, but they don't; we just wind up with tons of worms and castings throughout, could be worse. Now we also do it in storage tubs, without even making drainage holes. Keep adding kitchen scraps, and enough sawdust/paper products to keep the smell away. It's so easy.
Rosalind
Deeply Rooted
You know what, last year I just got regular trout worms whenever I went fishing, and if I had some left over at the end of the day, I threw them on the compost heap. One month after I started doing that, the compost heap was a giant mass of trout worms about 1" under the surface. And you should also know that I am probably the world's worst composter--my compost method consists of throwing everything that will conceivably rot into a 3x3' bin with an open bottom, and then putting more stuff on top. In fall, I put leaves on it, in winter I put wood ashes from the stove on it, and year-round it gets coffee grounds, chicken poop and veggie scraps. Somehow it all rots down eventually. I never turn it or water it, nor do I bother to re-collect the worms before spreading compost around the tomatoes. They seem to multiply to fill the space they've got pretty quickly. The tomatoes and squash that get the compost + worms do just as well as the ones that get the fancy-shmancy store boughten compost. That was pretty much when I stopped fussing over turning the compost heap. I think the worms do 80% of the "turning" for you.
I put some real nightcrawlers in there too, but I think the trout worms out-competed them, since I never saw any more of those. I don't know that you need any special compost worms. Trout worms around here are 24 / $2.
I put some real nightcrawlers in there too, but I think the trout worms out-competed them, since I never saw any more of those. I don't know that you need any special compost worms. Trout worms around here are 24 / $2.
kellygirrl
Chillin' In The Garden
I think trout worms are red wigglers
Athena
Chillin' In The Garden
I have seen this septic tank accelorator several times tonight in various sites to aid in the compost process.....
so, if I have worms, what would it do to the worms??
http://www.green43.com/compost accelerator
and ... I found a site that sells : Compost Booster, which is a "green" accelorator... 32oz for almost 40 dollars....
so, if I have worms, what would it do to the worms??
http://www.green43.com/compost accelerator
There are two basic methods of composting.
"Hot" composting, where you are combining greens and browns so that the pile heats up and speeds up the process of breaking down the materials. The pile needs to be at least about 3'x3' to get it to heat up. The pile will cool after a few days and needs to be turned to get new material into the center and will heat up again. This method lets you produce usable compost rapidly. Worms will avoid the heat and move to a cooler area or leave the pile entirely if it is too hot.
"Cold" composting, as described by Rosalind above, is simply adding materials in as you get them and letting mother nature do all the work. It takes longer but is a lot less work. I usually have three piles: 1 finished and ready to use that is 6-12 months old; 1 that I have stopped adding to and it is just aging; and 1 that I am just starting that all the new stuff is going into. As long as worms have a source of food, they will stay in the pile and do what worms do.
Ehancers or boosters add bacteria to the pile to speed up breakdown of the materials. I think adding them affecting the worms would depend on the method you are using.
"Hot" composting, where you are combining greens and browns so that the pile heats up and speeds up the process of breaking down the materials. The pile needs to be at least about 3'x3' to get it to heat up. The pile will cool after a few days and needs to be turned to get new material into the center and will heat up again. This method lets you produce usable compost rapidly. Worms will avoid the heat and move to a cooler area or leave the pile entirely if it is too hot.
"Cold" composting, as described by Rosalind above, is simply adding materials in as you get them and letting mother nature do all the work. It takes longer but is a lot less work. I usually have three piles: 1 finished and ready to use that is 6-12 months old; 1 that I have stopped adding to and it is just aging; and 1 that I am just starting that all the new stuff is going into. As long as worms have a source of food, they will stay in the pile and do what worms do.
Ehancers or boosters add bacteria to the pile to speed up breakdown of the materials. I think adding them affecting the worms would depend on the method you are using.
