Always keep a thick layer of newspaper on top!
The first and most important tip I will give you today will avoid any odor and fruit flies problem. Your compost should always be covered by a thick layer of shredded newspaper. Every time you feed your worms you should have to lift a layer about 6 inches thick of newspaper.
When I am finished with my newspaper, I tear it into 1 inch wide strips and lay it as the top layer of my bin. I add newspaper about once or twice a month. I usually don't wet my newspaper because my bin is indoors.
Keep it moist, but not too much!
Having the right moisture is pretty important for your worms to be happy. Usually, if the bin is indoors, it tends to generate its own moisture after a while. I only add dry newspaper, and because the moisture goes up, it gets moist by taking up the moisture from the bin. I also leave my bin open during the day sometimes when I think it's a little more moist than I like it...
If your bin is outside, and depending on your climate, it can depend... As a rule of thumb, don't keep your bin in full sun. The worms would cook and die. Liquid should not be accumulating at the bottom of the bin. If it is the case, your system is too wet. If you see that the newspaper or dried leaves layer is dry, then your system is too dry. This could happen because of the wind or a high temperature.
In general, your compost should feel like a well wrung out sponge.
Start slowly!
At the beginning, you probably won't have too many worms. Also, they may have been traveling from their last home and may be in shock. So you need to feed them once and wait until you notice that the food is starting to disappear. This can take up to two weeks... Be patient. At the beginning, try to feed them a lot of their favorite foods.
Feed yummy food!
Worms have favorite foods and also things they don't like at all. In general, they like any kind of fruit and juicy anything. Strawberries or melons are very high on their favorite foods list!
They don't really like dry and thick peels like potatoes. Any kind of acidic food like onion peels and citrus is better to be avoided if possible. Worms don't eat food that is too acidic and it will tend to attract insects that you do not want in your bin, like spider mites for example.
Monitor your system!
In general, you should get to know your worm composting system, and be able to notice changes. You should feed at different spots to encourage the worms to breed and move around. It's better to find a solution to a problem before it gets out of hand and/or before your worms start to suffer.
Overall, worm composting is fairly easy to do, produces a very high quality compost and is much less labour intensive than other methods of composting.
Add new comment