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Re: Vermicomposting
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Subject: Re: Vermicomposting
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From: tony@nexus.yorku.ca (Anthony Wallis)
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Date: 16 May 1995 12:34:52 GMT
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Article: 69980 of rec.gardens
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Newsgroups: rec.gardens
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Organization: York University, Ontario, Canada
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References: <D8HnwH.79D@freenet.carleton.ca> <3p7vs9$5pq@baccus.itl.saic.com>
Robert Bowd > I would like to find out about vermicomposting.
> I am a novice. Can you help?
Scott Caneday > .. "Worms Eat My Garbage" ..
Here's a summary, based partly on reading and partly on my first year of
experience ..
(Note: this refers to _indoor_ vermicomposing in a _container_.)
* Container : Must be opaque since worms avoid light; typically
a "blue box" (i.e. recycling plastic bin) with a lid. Drill
several dozen 3/8" holes in lid for venting.
* Bedding : Shredded newpaper and light fine potting soil,
typically 3:1 fluffed-up newspaper : potting soil by volume; must be
moist, but not sopping wet; worms will produce water as part
of digestion of feed.
* Worms : Must be "redworms".
* Feed : Must be vegetarian, no meat or fats. Should be
chopped finely (worms don't have teeth). I put all my worm
feed through a blender, then a sieve, and then dry it to a
"semi-moist meatloaf" consistency in the oven. Bury the
feed deeply in the bedding. Don't worry about spreading it
around, put it all in one place and the worms will find it.
Rotate the feeding position around the bin. In addition to
vegetarian (vegs. and fruit waste), feed them tea bags and
and coffee filters.
* pH : Don't let bedding get too acidic. Add a little
powdered limestone ( I guess ground-up Tums would do )
occasionally. [ Actually I have never had to do this. I
test my worm bedding with pH test paper and it is always
slightly alkaline. ??? ]
* Problems :
(1) Little flying insects. These may be fruit flies, or
another insect (fungus gnats ?) mistaken for fruit
flies. Control with one of those plasic strips that give
off insecticide vapour. [ They come with an adustable
carboard sleeve. Mine got soft in the moist enviroment
so I put the vaporising strip in a plasic bottle with a
few holes "drilled" in it with a soldering iron. ]
(2) Worms crawling up walls of bin. Put them back gently using
a toothpick. Leave lid off for a while to dry out excess
moisture. Light will drive worms back "underground".
* Harvesting compost :
Have fresh bedding prepared beforehand. I dump contents out
onto floor and then sieve out the worms and large lumps of
bedding from the compost. The harvested compost will
contain worm eggs. You may not want worms in your indoor
pots, so sterilise by baking in oven.
--
tony@nexus.yorku.ca = Tony Wallis, York University, North York, Canada.