Showing posts with label Worms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worms. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Worm Farming: A How-To Guide

Worms - Photo: Flickr
Often times when someone hears about worm farming for the first time they think about how it could easily generate revenue with little effort.  Perhaps the thought of having a personal supply of nutrient-rich soil for the garden or flower beds sounds appealing.  Either way, it's important to know how to set up a proper worm farm your specific reasons.  

To understand how to set up a worm farm, the benefits worms provide must first be established.  Worm farming provides nutrient-rich soil yielding a higher growth rate for vegetables, flowers and other plants.  A natural technique for composting with worms is beneficial to the environment as it helps eliminate the overfilling of landfills.  Some worm farms are established for the purpose of providing live bait to fishermen, exotic pet owners, and even aquarium fish owners.  

With the purpose of the worm farm in mind, the set up can begin.  Worm bins are readily available for purchase on the Internet.  Various sizes, shapes, and colors add to the selection.  Current large-scale worm farmers will often sell small setups for a comparable price.  

Other than purchasing a unit online or through a commercial worm farmer, setups can be made at home out of a number of household items.  Plastic tubs or large wooden boxes can be altered and provide a perfect home for these working worms.  

Multiple layers are needed to provide a space for the liquid at the bottom.  The liquid will run off the soil above and can be drained via a tap or hole at the bottom of the container.  Within the upper layer of soil, the worms can move about towards the material to be composted.

The numerous models that can be purchased are also available for indoor use for those with limited or no outdoor space.  Worm bins can typically be stacked for adding more worms later on.  

Appropriate bedding will need to be provided for the worms to ensure a healthy lifestyle.  Peat moss or coconut fiber containing a small amount of compost material is well accepted.  Bedding should always be moist for worms.  Many prepackaged worm bins come complete with bedding and set up instructions.

Location of the bin is important as well.  Worms are unable to tolerate extremes in temperature.  A location where the temperature can be controlled between 72 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit, or choosing a fully insulated system, will help keep the worms healthy and happy.  The level of moisture within the bin can be affected by location too.

When a unit is chosen and prepared, the worms will need to be added to start the farm.  Various worms are readily available.  Red Wigglers are the best choice for composting farms while European Night Crawlers are best for live bait.  

When worms are purchased, they typically come with acclimation instructions. An important step is to be sure the bedding and unit are fully prepared before the worms arrive for placement within the farm.  

Feeding the worms is the fun part.  They can consume any number of items to be used as compost including fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, paper products, cotton rags, soaked cardboard boxes, leaves, dirt, and hair.  Items should be cut down to manageable sizes.  Fruits should be sliced into strips for easier consumption by the worms.  



Provide a layer of items to be consumed on the top layer of the soil.  To avoid overfeeding, only add more food when most of the previously fed food has been eaten.  

Worm castings can be found in the bottom layer of the soil.  This natural fertilizer can be added directly to flower beds and gardens.  A liquid fertilizer can be made by adding water to castings for plants and flowers that prefer to be fed directly at the roots.  

Worm farming is relatively low maintenance.  If the habitat is less than desirable, the worms will often simply crawl away in search of better living conditions.  Keeping the temperature constant, moisture at an appropriate level and food readily available will help ensure a healthy and happy supply of working worms.  



Saturday, December 2, 2017

Where to Find Worms for Worm Farming

Worm Farm Compost - Photo: Flickr
Setting up a worm farm requires three things.  The first is an appropriate bin for containing the worms.  The second is plenty of compost materials to keep the worms properly fed.  The most important thing needed for a worm farm is, in fact, the worms. Learning where to find worms is the first step.

It is important to note that worms collected from the garden in the wild should not be used in a worm farm.  Various types of worms are available on the market specifically for worm farming.  These worms are sold for traits that make them more desirable for composting or as live bait.  

An established worm farm can require a large number of worms to be efficient enough to compost enough material for a small family.  Most small worm farms need to start out with at least 1000 worms.  

The first place to find worms for worm farming should be the local bait and tackle stores.  These places typically sell a variety of worms that can be used for both composting and live bait.  The Red Wiggler is known for being the best worm for composting and can usually be found in establishments such as these.  

The Internet provides a mass amount of options for purchasing just about any kind of worm to use in a worm farm.  Red Wigglers, Night Crawlers, Florida Wigglers, egg capsules and even exotic breeds of worms can all be found.  A simple search on any search engine will produce a number of opportunities and choices.  

Purchasing live animals online also means that shipping is something to take into consideration.  Care has to be taken when collecting and packaging the specimens.  Most worms ship well and with ease but shipping methods should be investigated.  Simply ask the supplier what the rate of live arrival is and find out what their shipping methods are.

The local garden centers have proven very helpful as a supply of worms.  Typically they sell other supplies for worm farming as well.  Depending on the geographical location, most garden centers have a full line of the various types of worms available for purchase.  The staff is available to answer questions about worm farming for new beginners.  If a specific type of worm is found to be unavailable at a garden center, an order can often be placed for particular varieties.

A very commonly overlooked option for locating worms is other worm farmers.  Worm farmers often have a surplus of worms and are more than willing to part with them.  Some are willing to offer them up in exchange for taking them off their own hands while others will sell them for a low fee.  

Local worm farmers can often be found in the yellow pages under "worm" or "worm farms".  This provides a great source as worm farmers are often more than willing to give tips and hints for a successful farm.  

Worm farming can be fun and rewarding.  Knowing where to find good quality worms is essential in maintaining a successful farm.  Once a worm farm is established, it may one day prove to be yet another outlet for those who are new to the worm farming world.   



Monday, November 27, 2017

Worms for Vermicomposting

Worm - Photo: Pixabay 
Now that you have decided vermicomposting is for you, you need to get some worms (a lot of them).  

For a standard size composting bin you will need two pounds of worms for every one pound of raw material you add.  The earthworms you will need (known as red wrigglers) do not go very deep underground so your pile or bin should be between 8-10 inches deep.

You may be tempted to go to your backyard and start digging up some worms, but you really should invest in the proper kind.  The worms in your backyard are not the recommended breed for composting.  You will need to buy worms that bear the name of red wriggler (also known as redworms) or brandling worms.

Redworms or brandling worms can be purchased from a bait shop, some local gardening centers or by mail order.  An average worm can eat its own weight in the material in 24 hours; keep this in mind when you are determining the size of your compost bin and the number of worms you will need.

With the rate at which the worms consume the food waste, the timeline of getting from raw organic material to mature compost is relatively short.  The same principle applies as for regular composting – you need a good mix of green food and brown food (this can be in the form of shredded newspaper).  The finished compost is known as worm castings, worm humus, worm manure, and worm compost.

If you are using a hot or active composting method and it is in the maturing stage, you can add redworms or brandling worms to speed up this last step.  You will most likely see quite a few more helpful critters in your compost as it matures too – centipedes and millipedes to name a couple.