Wormeries

[Bluemoon]

Does anyone use a wormery? I'm considering having one just for use at home as we produce loads of compost at the allotment, but I could do with something that would produce small amounts for the garden and greenhouse (I'm told the casts can be used to make a good homemade potting compost) Re-cycle Now have the 'Can-O-Worms' on offer through our council with a third knocked off the price, I also have a bit of 'splashing out' cash at the moment and was wondering if it would be worth buying one.

[Wombat]

Hey BM!

I had a worm farm, but now have a worm bath! It works well for me and I use the castings for my seed raising mixture. You can make a wormery out of polystyrene veggie boxes for a minimal outlay!

Nev

[Thomzo]

Hi Nev
Please explain the worm bath.

Cheers
Zoe

[Wombat]

Hey Zoe!

It is a full size metal bath that I have cut ventilation slits in, then put a layer of gravel, shredded paper and then coco peat. The worms go init it and you put food on the top. They then make castings. A hessian bag goes over the top. I think there are photos on my blog somewhere.....

Nev

[Ranter]

I bought a small wormery several years ago & get good worm casts to mix with compost & a very useful liquid feed. I keep this one at home & dispose of small amount of kitchen waste in it. I have a back yard here, rather than a garden, so the compact nature of the wormery suits me. I have friends who have made wormeries in plastic buckets, with added ventilation holes, a lid & a tap at the bottom for the liquid.

I've been a bit neglectful of late though & think my worms have all died. I need to harvest all the worm casts & replace the worms, think I'll scavenge some out of the compost bins on the lottie.

[ssherlock]

I've had a can-o-worms since 1998 and couldn't recommend it enough. See http://www.sherlock.co.uk/blog/2008/02/ ... setup.html for how it fits into my composting setup.

[witch way?]

I have two can o worms bins which I use as nurseries. I put them in the greenhouse over winter so the worms dont slow down so much in the cold weather. In the spring I set up more dustbins as wormbins, taking the worms from the nursery bins. The number of worms expand to fill the area they've got to work in so you can keep taking out worms from the nursery bins and they will magically make more! I use the wormcast compost as top dressing in the greenhouse for tomatoes etc., and the liquid feed produced makes brilliant fertilizer. If you use the compost for seeds and seedlings you should halve it with ordinary garden soil as its very rich. If you get a third off a can o worms I would definately go for it. w.

[hedgewizard]

I've got the instructions for making mine here - doesn't cost a bean.

[ssherlock]

I've got the instructions for making mine here - doesn't cost a bean.

but you lose out on one of the best things you get from a worm bin - the worm tea. Watered down and used on plants and veg this is great stuff.
Shame to have it go to waste.

[hedgewizard]

Yes, you're right - that's a problem with this design that I have yet to crack but I've allowed for it by siting my worm bins in the feeding zones of fruit trees.

[ssherlock]

Yes, you're right - that's a problem with this design that I have yet to crack but I've allowed for it by siting my worm bins in the feeding zones of fruit trees.

Good idea but make sure you water the fruit trees as the juice can be quite strong on its own (though whether it would ever be too strong for fruit trees I couldn't say)

[witch way?]

I've got my homemade one stood in an old shower tray raised on bricks, with a bucket under the plughole. Similar to Wombats bath. Collects the wormjuice OK. w.