Earthworms can make compost – vermicompost. Earthworms are nature’s farmer. Commonly found soil earthworms dig up and aerate the soil. Specific species of earthworms are great recyclers for organic waste. Using select earthworm species, you can turn organic waste into highly rich soil compost.
Making your own compost is a great way to recycle organic waste. It helps reduce your environmental impact as well as save you money by serving as soil enrichment. Making compost with earthworms (vermicompost) is one way to recycle and improve your garden soil.
How to Make Vermicompost at Home?
Making compost with earthworms is easy and inexpensive. It requires little space and doesn’t emit odour. Let’s see how we can get started with vermicompost in your garden.
Equipment & Supplies
For starting vermicomposting, you need very are simple and inexpensive items: a worm bin, bedding, water, composting earthworms, and kitchen scraps.
Worm Bin: For making compost with earthworms, we need a home for the little creatures. A earthworm compost bin can be made of wood or a plastic container can be use. You can also purchase manufactured worm bins online or at garden centers.
For making a worm bin at home, take a storage bin (18 gallon) with a tight-fitting lid. Your container should not allow any light inside as earthworms are photo-sensitive to even small amount of lights.
A dark color bin is ideal. If your container is translucent or allows even slight light inside, you should cover it with think jute or grass mat or anything that cuts light. Properly clean your container to remove any chemicals and harmful substances.
Homemade bins must have holes for aeration and drainage. Drill holes on the upper sides of the bin near the lid, and not in the lid.
For aeration holes, you can drilling holes in the following manner.
Option 1: Take a 3-inch hole saw, and drill one hole on the narrow sides of the bin to create cross-ventilation. Now, insert a 3-inch screened soffit vent, which you can purchase at hardware stores.
Option 2: Drill four ½-inch holes each on the long sides of the bin. You can glue hardware cloth/screen over the holes or leave them open.
Option 3: Drill numerous tiny holes at the upper end on all sides of the bin.
For drainage, we need to drill holes at the bottom. Make six ¼-inch holes in the bottom of the bin. Place a collection tray under the bin.
You can keep your worm bin in garage, porch, kitchen, or balcony. Bins should be located in a place with proper ventilation for air circulation. When placing the bin outdoors, keep it in a shady place. Don’t place a worm bin under the direct.
Temperature in the earthworm bin should be between 59° and 77°F (15° to 25°C). To maintain the temperature, you can glue blueboard insulation or cover it with straw or other insulating materials.
Bedding: Bedding is made with a non-toxic material that holds moisture and allows air movement. Materials used for bedding are shredded paper (such as black-and-white newspapers, paper bags, office paper, or cardboard), decaying leaves, or coconut coir. Glossy paper or magazines are not suitable. Soak the bedding material for a few minutes and then wring it out.
The bedding should be damp, but not soaking wet. A good test is that the bedding material should ooze only two to three drops of water when squeezed.
Fluff up the bedding material when adding in the bin. Fill the bedding till half. Add a handful of garden soil to add beneficial microorganisms. The earthworms eat the bedding along with food discards. The bedding should have around 80% moisture. Use a plant water sprayer to add water on the bedding when it starts drying. Don’t pour water directly into a worm bin. Flooding can drown worms. Never agitate, turn, or stir the contents of the worm bin as earthworms can be killed.
No water should leak from properly aerated and moist bedding. The runoff from worm bins is not suitable for most plants, including food crops. The runoff liquid, leachate, should be poured down a toilet.
Composting Earthworms: There are more than 6,000 species of earthworms, but only seven species have been found suitable for vermicomposting. Eisenia fetida (red wiggler) is the commonly used earthworm for vermicomposting. Take at least one pound (about 1,000) of red wigglers per one square foot of the worm bin surface area. To ensure that you get the right species, buy it from a worm grower.
Gently place the worms on top of the bedding. The earthworms will move underneath the bedding to avoid the light. Leave the worm to adapt to their new home. To keep worms from leaving the bin, you can place it in a bright area for a few days.
Leave the worms to settle for 2-3 days. After this, start adding small amounts of food scraps two inches below the bedding surface. Don’t add too much of waste. A one-inch layer of food waste is enough. A thick layer will start generating heat through decomposition. Add two-inches of bedding to cover the food scraps.
After a while, you will find other organisms in the worm bin. You might be able to see some of them, such as springtails, molds, and mites. It’s a natural process, where other organisms join earthworms in breaking down your waste.
Earthworms only feed on non-meat organic waste such as vegetables, fruits, crushed eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, coffee filters, and shredded garden debris. Citrus fruits or peels should be avoided as it can turn the bedding acidic. Chop or grind food scraps to speed up the break down.
Avoid the following: meat scraps, bones, fish, greasy or oily food, onions, garlic, fat, tobacco, sugary foods, citrus, salty foods, or pet or human manure.
Red wigglers eat up to twice their weight each week. One pound of earthworms can consume two pounds of waste. Only add enough food for the earthworms to consume in a week. If your household produces more food scraps, start another worm bin. When you generate more kitchen waste, start backyard composting to recycle larger volumes of waste, including those not suitable for vermicomposting. Meat and pet manure isn’t suitable for backyard composting either.
Feeding Worms When Taking Vacations
Earthworms don’t need to be fed daily. They can be fed any time of the day. Earthworms need to be fed at least every three weeks. When you are going away for a longer period, you can add multiple layers of food scraps (1/2 inches) covered with moistened bedding.
Harvesting Compost
Earthworms will turn your bedding and kitchen scraps into vermicompost. After a few weeks, soil-like material containing earthworm castings, decomposed bedding and food scraps will appear at the bottom.
Worms start by feed on the bottom layer. As the worms eat their food, they move to the upper layer. In a few months, your worm bin will have vermicompost ready for harvesting.
Light Separation: Empty the worm bin contents on a plastic sheet in strong sunlight or artificial light. Wait for five minutes to allow earthworms move inside the pile. Scrape off the top layer of vermicompost. Keep repeating this process. When you find worms in clusters and not much vermicompost, put the worms (along with old bedding) back in the bin with a fresh bedding.
Vertical Separation: Vertical separation involves stacking two or more bins on top of each other. You can use a manufactured stacking bin. Alternatively, take two identical storage bins and drill extra holes in the bottoms. When the bedding reaches the height of the first bin, you fit the second bin on the top. Add bedding and start feeding in the top bin for the next several months. When food is not available in the bottom bin, the earthworms will move into the upper bin to eat. After some time, the bottom bin will have no earthworms and just compost.