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Hi
Quick question. I'm about to start a wormery. Can I use bought compost as the initial bedding??
Thank you
Quick question. I'm about to start a wormery. Can I use bought compost as the initial bedding??
Thank you
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You don't need to buy compost specially. Shredded paper 2 inches deep is fine. Also add a handful of garden soil. This provides some grit, soil bacteria, protozoa, and fungi "which will aid the vermicomposting process"All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb. -
Also make sure the bedding layer isn't too wet. Particulary in winter. Ideal previous advice on the newspaper. If you can squeeze water out of it then it's too wet.
Egg shells are also great for adding a touch of grit to the system.
Good luck. It's an immensely satisfying side hobby for the garden and the vermicast you'll get is incredible as well as 'worm tea' for the watering can.
Clay soil is just the big yins way of letting you know nothing good comes easy.
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Quick update. I've started if now. Newspaper down, garden soil and worms from a local Freecycle donation. So it's all been gone for about £4!!
Fingers crossed nowComment
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Wow, have fun with it, I cant believe you have done it all for just £4, thats brilliant!
I wanted to start a wormery, but the cost of them put me off, i'd love to see pictures of yours if you dont mindComment
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I've done it with two boxes and one lid from Ikea. Dead easy. I have another box and lid at the ready for when it fills up.
I will attept to put pics up laterLast edited by Cummings; 16-03-2011, 04:00 PM.Comment
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I didn't realise making one would be so simple so I treated myself to a bought one - it is pretty (looks like a beehive) which is good as its for the back yard. Its for kitchen scraps and small amounts of peelings etc as the "big stuff" goes to the daleks on the allotment. Anyway it was all very exciting until a wek in we hade the worst rain I've ever seen let alone here in supposedly sunny Bournemouth - the poor worms gt soaked - i had stupidly thought it wa pretty waterproof. Does anyone know if the worms are likely to have survived a few inches of water for a couple of housr - as soon as I relaised I opened the tap so all the water drained out. I've conatcted the supplier who dissapointingly haven't replied. Also now my pretty wormery has an ugly black bin bag covering it so not so pretty! I think I might have to start over with new worms and bedding as the veg waste just isn't being consumed which is a real shame.....Comment
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They can handle it wet, but not swimming.
How many worms do you have and how many scraps are you giving them? Unless you have LOADS of worms they actually can't take that much. Only give them small amounts at once and give more when that is eaten. They eat more if you bung it through a blender first too.Comment
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I was thinking of askinng for one for Christmas. Can anyone tell me if the worms are different from the red ones in my dalek? Can I just transfer a handful of them and let them multiply?Comment
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The kit came with 2 bags of worms but not sure how many that equates to (but it should be the right amount for the size of set-up). I think I must have lost quite a few in the downpour so maybe I need to order some more. The worms I have are tiger worms so are different from the standard garden ones so I assume I shouldn't mix them? The "sales pitch" said it would handle all of the kitchen / veg waste for a family of 4 and there are only 2 of us and I have been only putting a small amount of smaller scraps in with the larger stuff going up to the allotment. not sure it was a very good investment.....but I was very unlucky with the weather!Comment
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They do take a while to get going.
The worms you find in the compost bin should be fine, it is earth worms which you don't want in there.
I had an 'incident' with my worm farm and a heatwave.... Ohhhh the smell! You can't imagin the smell. Anyway, a few survived and I restarted the whole thing not long ago. I had 230 worms left (yes I counted each and every one lol). I then bought an 'egg bomb' with enough eggs for 1000 worms. That and the eggs I saved when starting the farm off.
It really is a slow process, helped greatly by blending the food. If you do small batches you can see just what food they really like too.
It is even slower when you take into account the food shrinks as it is eaten, it is like a never ending process for quite a while. But you will get there.Comment
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mine have been going since about Feb and to be fair they haven't really produced anthing yet - I had bout half a kilo of them most of which tried to escape............ they've stopped that now but strangely enough no worm tea , I do keep the stuff damp as well.Gill
So long and thanks for all the fish.........
I have a blog http://areafortyone.blogspot.co.uk
I'd rather be a comma than a full stop.Comment
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That's the ones, you can indeed move them along. Just don't put the fat earthworms in there, they don't eat compostOriginally posted by Nik View Post
All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.Comment
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I leave the tap open all the time on mine with a watering can underneath to catch the drips. Then if it rains it drains throughComment
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I leave my tap open all the time too. Make sure you keep an eye on the night temperatures so you can wrap it up over the colder spells. I lost all my worms last winter as I didn't insulate it well enough.
Fingers crossed for this year.Comment
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