Vermiculture

Comment

Comment by Lorraine Barnett on February 11, 2010 at 1:39pm

Worm P... To use,how much do you need to dilute, or can it be used full strength??

Comment by Iona Bayley on January 29, 2010 at 4:10pm

It's difficult to know how much food is too much I find. I've been adding little and often and everything gets eaten, all smells nice and earthy and it's not too wet so i'm assuming all is going OK. Some food scraps such as strawberry tops and bits of plum or tomato do grow some mould within 24-48 hours but then it disappears again within the same period of time again. Other things like pumpkin skin or banana skins get eaten so quickly they never go mouldy at all.

Comment by Silja Baer on January 29, 2010 at 10:32am

That is interesting Iona, I had learned at a training course that mould is not too good as it is a sign that there is too much food (or not enough worms) for the worms too process in a "timely manner". I personally had never problems with mould in the year and a bit that I had my farm. However I do have to agree that when I added some already mouldy food this did not see to form a problem for the worms.

Comment by Caroline Wilkinson on January 23, 2010 at 9:50pm

Thanks Iona it's good to know it's not all going wrong!!

Comment by Iona Bayley on January 23, 2010 at 9:25pm

I put in left over cooked veggies and bread.....as far as I understand it, you can put more things in a worm farm than in a normal compost heap. Also I did ask my worm supplier about mould and he assured me it is a good thing because it means the food scraps have started decomposing and will have plenty of bacteria on them for the worms to feed upon. I have noticed that some things do go mouldy for a while, but then the mould dissapears (gets eaten?) again.

Comment by Caroline Wilkinson on January 23, 2010 at 9:20pm

I've just set up my worm farm in the last week - is it ok to give them cooked left overs and bread? Secondly should the scraps be going mouldy?

Comment by Ann Allen on January 21, 2010 at 1:42pm

Thanks for this Iona. My 'farm' has, from the bottom, a completed castings level, a wet collection level and a top new food level. I've rearranged my 'levels' so that the 'sludge' worms can join the 'lazy' worms who have not yet left the completed castings. I'll add/stir in dry material today and then a bit of garden lime to the sludge. Poor worms - I feel like a mass murderer!!!

Comment by Iona Bayley on January 21, 2010 at 1:31pm

I've not personally seen a comprehensive do and don't list anywhere although there are plenty of websites out there covering different aspects of worm farming. My worm supplier gave me some very useful printed material including the basics like not adding onion, garlic or pineapple etc. I also borrowed a book called Composting with Worms by George Pilkington which was a good read and not too much stuff to overload the beginner with.

I also notice you are in Auckland, where there are loads of free composting courses running and subsidised worm farms or bokashi composting kits:
http://www.createyourowneden.org.nz/courses.html

Comment by Iona Bayley on January 21, 2010 at 12:37pm

Add a little garden lime (or small amount of ashes maybe?) to reduce the acidity level....it's probably gone anaerobic which makes pH drop. Also add plenty of dry materials and stir in to increase aeration such as shreaded newspaper, cardboard....don't presoak as normal though as it'll absorb some excess mositure while dry.

What sort of worm farm do you have? Are you able to create an area of new bedding with coir fibre or similar so any surviving worms have somewhere to escape the 'sludge' until the aerobic bacteria take over again?

Comment by Ann Allen on January 21, 2010 at 12:03pm

Help! I've had a worm farm for 5 years and all has been well. Today, however, I went to add some stuff and discovered it had turned to 'sludge' and the worms looked slow and lethargic. What can I do 1. as a remedial/recovery for the worms; 2.to prevent this happening again. All suggenstions welcome NOW please.

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