Vermicomposting: A Beginner's Guide | The Family Handyman
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Consider embracing a new way to reduce waste, help the environment and heave your gardening success by transforming your kitchen scraps into a rich superfood. The secret ingredient? Worms.
Rhonda Sherman, founder and manager of N Carolina State University's two-acre Compost Learning Lab (complete with a dedicated worm barn!) says, "Food waste matter is the number one segment of the waste stream that'south going in the landfills. Keeping your food waste out of the landfill is and so piece of cake to practice with composting and vermicomposting."
What Is Vermicompost?
Vermicompost is the byproduct of a procedure where earthworms and microorganisms swallow and break down organic materials and convert them into a rich soil enhancement and source of plant nutrients. Commonly vermicomposted materials include:
- Vegetable and fruit scraps (merely non citrus fruits);
- Breadstuff;
- Tea bags;
- Coffee grounds;
- Cereal.
Items that can't exist vermicomposted include animal by-products such equally fatty, bone, dairy, eggs, meat, fish or pet poop. Information technology may have worms longer to process woody or dry scraps like stems or the outer layer of an onion. The worms will eat paper every bit long as it'south thin or shredded. But they won't eat plastic or cloth tea numberless, coffee filters or the labels placed on produce by grocery stores.
Vermicomposting vs. Regular Composting
In a traditional compost pile or bin, leaner, microorganisms and moisture suspension down kitchen and chiliad scraps into a lite organic material. This blazon of compost requires rut, generated past the bacteria, and time to cool down and cure, which tin can take six months or more than.
In vermicomposting, a smaller, shallow, nighttime bin with ventilation contains worms living in cool, moist bedding material. These worms eat the scraps that are added to the bin weekly and generate castings (a sanitized term for poop) inside 2 to 3 months.
Pros and Cons of Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting Pros
- Vermicompost contains institute growth hormones, humic and phobic acids. All help seeds germinate faster, develop better roots and strengthen plants.
- These same compounds (or ones yet to be discovered) seem to protect plants from pests and disease.
- In testing the vermicompost effect on turnips, Sherman found that plants grown in 20 percent vermicompost were well-nigh the size of baseballs, compared to the ping-pong sized root vegetables grown without vermicompost.
"[Vermicompost] does incredible things for plants," Sherman explains.
Vermicomposting Cons
- You tin can only add near an inch of food scraps, preferably once a week. If you add too many scraps, you risk the leaner multiplying and the bin heating up like a traditional compost pile. If you have a lot of food waste material, it's wise to have a traditional compost pile also.
- You don't want to add onion, garlic or other pungent scraps unless your bins are kept outdoors where the smell won't be offensive.
- You are working with living creatures and need to take care of them by providing enough moist bedding, air, warmth and food.
How to DIY Vermicompost
Sherman, who has shared her expertise with people from around the world through conferences, workshops and The Worm Farmer'southward Handbook, offers these tips for at-habitation vermicomposting.
DIY Vermicomposting Bin
- Commencement with a nighttime plastic storage container with a tight-fitting hat. The box should exist at least eight to 14 inches deep.
- Drill small holes for air apportionment around the upper inch or ii of the bin. Drill groups of 3 holes (one/2-in. or less) about five inches autonomously. Or, you tin drill a 3-inch hole with a hole saw on both short sides of the bin. Plug iii-inch holes with soffit vents.
- Drill six 1/iv-in. drainage holes in the bottom of the bin.
Affordable Vermicomposting Bins to Buy
These specialty bin systems are created for vermiculture:
- The Worm Mill 360 incorporates stackable plastic worm bins.
- The Maze Worm Subcontract is another stacked setup.
- The Urban Worm Bag offers a cloth bin, plus accessories and kits.
Vermicompost Bedding Material
Set your worm bin by adding iv to five inches of bedding material, such equally shredded newspaper, chocolate-brown leaves, finished traditional compost or rotten manure.
If you use paper or stale autumn leaves, make certain you soak them in a bucket of water and gently wring them out. You tin can as well mix in a handful of soil with shredded newspaper or leaves to arrive a piddling more dumbo.
If using finished compost or rotted manure, which is dirt-like in texture, Sherman says add enough water then that it'south damp but non soggy or waterlogged. You'll know information technology's not overly soggy if you can fluff upwards the textile with a garden fork or trowel.
Pro tip: When you lot add together kitchen scraps, comprehend them with at least 2 inches of bedding, which keeps fruit flies and other critters from finding information technology.
Temperature Requirements
To svermicompost successfully, think of information technology as worm farming. Yous are taking intendance of living creatures and providing air, nutrient, shelter and condolement. The ideal temperature for worms to create compost is betwixt 59 F and 77 F.
The about likely indoor places to proceed your bin(s) are the basement, utility room or attached garage. Outdoors is an selection, but y'all'll need shade to protect the worms from intense heat.
If you live in a common cold climate, insulate your worm bins with blankets, harbinger or other materials to keep them comfortable. They will survive temperatures equally low equally 32 F and as loftier as 95 F, but they'll demand at to the lowest degree four inches of bedding for insulation.
Vermicomposting Worms
And now for the stars of the prove. Only a few specific worms, amongst hundreds of varieties, can successfully compost your kitchen scraps. Red wigglers (aka Eisenia fetida) rank as the favorite go-to composters. European night crawlers are another option. Y'all'll need a pound of them, which is well-nigh i,000 red wigglers.
Buy worms from specialty suppliers such as Worm Composting Headquarters or Meme's Worms. They tin can exist your biggest investment at $45 to $75 per pound. Have your bin ready to get before the worms make it.
Harvesting Vermicompost
Some ready-made worm composting setups will have a filter to shake out the finely textured worm castings. Or you can apply a screen to filter out the castings without losing worms.
If you have a bootleg bin and have been composting for half-dozen months, you tin starting time putting food scraps on only one side of your bin and so you tin scoop out worm castings from the other side. A worm comb or a garden fork used gently can assistance y'all sift through the castings to remove worms as well.
If you lot aren't going to use the vermicompost correct away, put it in a plastic pocketbook that has a few holes to allow air in but retain moisture.
Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/vermicompost-guide/
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