Adding Worms to the Vermicomposter

(Vermicomposter is a fancy word for Worm Bin. I thought I'd try to look smart today....)

They're here! Today the worms arrived to their new home!

I lifted the lid and pulled back the layer of moist newspaper that is on top of the tray.


Looks nice and moist and there's been significant breakdown of the veggie scraps and chopped banana peel that I added a week ago.










We slowly placed the worms on the bedding.








The booklet says it can take a week or so for them to adapt to their new environment.




A big pile of wiggly worms! Now our only concern is - will they get out?? eeek. I've been researching the possibilities and here's what I've learned:

Worms like it dark and hate the light. So leave a light on in the room and they won't venture out of the vermicomposter. That's what they say anyway. If I come into my kitchen some morning to find worms dangling from the ceiling, you'll hear me yell from coast to coast, and I'm not usually frightened by these things. I just would prefer that they stay put!

Choosing the right kind of worm seems to be essential. An antecdote in the booklet tells of a man who collected earthworms from his garden to put into his vermicomposter, and they just refused to stay inside. Earthworms require a different habitat and different food, so there was nothing there to make them want to stay around.

I bought my vermicomposter AND live worms from Colorado Earthworms. They sold me red wigglers - also known as Eisenia Fetida, which is a stout little species that's most suitable for the vermicomposter. It processes vast amounts of food, has a rapid reproduction cycle, and hopefully has a charming personality. From the ones I spoke with as I was adding them to their new home, I'd say they do.

Stuff I've learned already that surprised me:

- First is the different species of worms (see above) and realizing that these little guys are better for the vermicomposter but won't be as happy being set free in the garden. Earthworms burrow in the soil and do much better out there.

- Every 3 months red wigglers in the vermicomposter are expected to double in population! Each tray can hold about 3 pounds of worms, or about 3,000 worms. It's really better to not think about that. Since they're inside the house and all...

- Worms don't eat garbage directly. More like bacteria and oxidation breaks down the food matter, and when the particles are small enough, worms suck the food through their mouth.

- It takes some time to create good, useable compost tea and or worm compost from this system. Approx 3 - 6 months before one tray may be ready to add nice dark compost to the garden.

- Worms don't eat as much food as we'd originally thought. I had hoped the vermicomposter would use up my veggie scraps and tea leaves, etc on a daily basis. Instead I will be adding 2 handfuls of food scraps at a time to each working tray, most likely every 3 days or so. That means alot of scraps will still need to go outside into the usual compost pile.



"Are you SERIOUSLY going to keep these worms

INSIDE

the

HOUSE???"