building your own wormery
Instructions for setting up your stacking wormery and looking after them
You will require:-
• 3 x Stackable plastics tote boxes (bins) Wilkinson’s, Ikea, focus or Morrisons are the cheapest, and are very similar to the silver wormerys on ebay.
• 1 x clip on lid to fit the top bin again from Wilkinson’s or the other retail outlets indicated
• Plastic gauze with no more than 1mm holes, to fit the size of the bottom of the bins get it from garden centre it is called greenhouse shading.
• Damp to the touch shredded paper (bedding) to cover the bottom of one of the bins approx 1 inch in height, throughout the bottom of the bin – important: ensure paper only & no staples.
• A drill and drill bit up to ¾” (19mm) in diameter to drill holes in the bottom of two bins. Precise size of this drill unimportant.
• A plastic tap + nut and seal An appropriate size would be ½” or ¾”. Its must be noted that a tap is not essential as a wormery gives out very little liquid and is more for visual appearance than anything else!!!
• A drill bit to drill a hole for the tap. It is important that the size of this drill bit matches the outside diameter of your tap. But do not worry too much about the tap, as you will not get much liquid in the bottom bin and it can be easily tipped out.
Dendrobaena worms or red worms; buy from the internet or local fishing shop
1. Drill six holes in the bottom of two of your bins, ensuring they are evenly spaced.
2. Drill a hole the same size as your plastic tap into any side of the third bin. The height of the hole above the base of the bin needs to be just enough so that the lowest part of the tap is just clear of the surface the wormery will stand on.
3. Insert your tap in the hole you have just drilled. Place the seal over the tap on the inside of the bin and secure with the nut. Note if not using tap ignore this instruction.
4. Cut one piece of the green mesh to the size of the bottom the bin.
5. Locate one piece of the green mesh in the bottom of the 2nd bin with holes in its base. This will stop the worms from falling into the bottom container.
6. Place a couple of sheets of newspaper over the mesh.
7. Add some damp, not wet, shredded paper (or Compostcritters coir block) and fill 1 inch of the bottom of one of the bins.
8. Sprinkle a teaspoon of crushed up oats or wheat over the damp shredded paper.
9. Add the worms.
10. Place some more damp newspaper over the top of your worms and bedding.
11. Place the lid on your wormery.
NB. You do not have to use the third bin at this stage.
12. Place the now prepared bin on the top of the bin with the tap. Your wormery is now up and running.
Your worms and food.
Worms will need a little time to adjust, therefore please go carefully with what you feed your worms. Firstly feed only half a handful of chopped up kitchen waste, dispersed all over the bin, in the first two weeks. Feed a teaspoon of worm food (chopped waste) every four days. Keep an eye on the food to ensure that the worms are eating. They will eat eventually, after they have become acclimatized. Do not put to much food into your wormery too quickly until you see that the food is disappearing. Once the worms start to eat you can add more waste, just remember too much food will go rotten and kill them. If your wormery starts to smell, you are overfeeding! Making worm casting compost is a gradual process. We find that worms love shredded newspaper and lay more eggs if they have plenty to nest in.
Worms need grit to aid their digestion, using crunched up egg shells periodically will do the job.
note also mashed potatoes is good also or mashed carrots,also layers mash and cardboard is best for building your worms weight up quick
Your baby worms and more ……
Worms breed like you would never believe, they will produce small yellow eggs which get darker, you will quickly double your stock, if the breeding conditions are right (they do not like to hot or cold temperatures therefore try to keep your wormery between 12 and 25 degrees), if you have a shed or garage this is the ideal place to look after your little critters!!
Creature comforts
Worms love the dark (put food under damp newspaper). The worms also require lots of air, turn your wormery periodically and use plenty of shredded newspaper, worms love shredded paper!!!. Do not get your wormery too wet. It should always be damp to the touch
Making more compost
When your wormery is two thirds full add the third bin to the top of your 2nd bin, ensuring you put the snap on lid on the top bin of the wormery, add scrunched up newspaper around the corners to stop your little critters escaping. Your worms will eat all the scraps from your 2nd bin and then naturally migrate through the holes in the bottom of your third bin upwards to eat the food, leaving you with gorgeous worm cast compost
Environment?
Your wormery should not be allowed to become too hot or too cold but don't be put off, as strict temperature control is unnecessary. Keep in mind that worms are most active between about 10 to 30 degrees C (that’s 50 to 85 degrees F).
In the summer, it’s best to move your wormery into partial shade; worms will die if they become too hot. However, worm activity increases in warm weather. If the compost becomes dry, sprinkle or spray some water over the compost; don’t drench it.
In the winter, the worms become fairly inactive below a few degrees C.
Even if you go away on holiday, you don’t have to get family or friends in to feed the worms! It’s a good idea to make sure the wormery is in the shade if it’s summer, or protected from frost if it’s winter.
Tasty treats
For efficient composting, you need sources of cellulose (carbon) and protein (nitrogen):
Cellulose
• Straw
• Sawdust / wood shavings
• Dry leaves
• Cardboard and newspaper
Protein
• Grass cuttings
• Leafy weeds
• Animal dung (chicken manure is especially good)
• Fruit / vegetable peelings.
ALL GOOD STUFF
Kitchen waste - vegetable peelings; food scraps; egg shells; teabags and coffee grounds/; cereals, cheese pasta.
Home waste - dust from the vacuum cleaner; hair; egg boxes; newspaper; toilet/kitchen rolls. Garden waste – prunings; grass clippings; leaves. Animal waste (not dog or cat poo) - manure; bedding like sawdust, shavings or hay.If you chop the above into smaller pieces, you will compost more quickly.i use a food processor. Lime mix, every couple of weeks or so (commercially available) or fire ashes;
ALL BAD STUFF
All meat and dairy products; all toiletries products; all acidic and spicy products (including lemons and oranges etc). Anything poisonous!!
If you are unsure do not add it to your wormery!!!!
wormery starts smelling
If your wormery starts to smell you are either adding more food than the little creatures can cope with eating, or you are feeding in the wrong products (see bad stuff, above). Stop feeding your worms as soon as the bin starts to smell, until the food has been eaten. If your wormery is to wet, add a little sawdust, this will soak up any liquid and the worms love it.
