Getting Started In Worm Farming The Right Way
Beginning worm farming is not too complicated all you need is a passion for recycling and some trivia about worms. So here’s a bit of worm trivia that could help motivate and inspire you with your worm farming. How much do worms eat? Well, mature worms that can eat up or over three times their own body weight every day and for those that are just starting in the world of worms and would enjoy knowing how make worms eat more and be a lot more productive.
The answer is obvious – shred, mash or blend food scraps since these will make it more digestible and is very easily eaten by the worms. Also maintain worm bed temperature near 23-25 degrees Celsius since it’s at these temperatures that worms enjoy it the most, but stay away from acidic foods since it messes up the worms’ digestive system. Here are some things you’ll want to avoid feeding your worms, manure, onions, citrus fruits or peelings, garlic, garden waste sprayed with insecticides, dairy products like milk and cheese or meat.
Watering the farm will heighten the production of the fertilizer but make sure not to pour too much water in the farm or the worms will drown. Take note that food wastes are about 80 percent water, which is released as the worms begin to break it down. So, if you happen to pour water throughout the system every couple of weeks, make sure that you only add enough to ensure the worm bed stays damp, as well as cool and you will easily have a constant supply of fertilizer.
You can’t harvest the worms as they tend to regulate themselves within any given or available space and food administered to them. The following are some additional questions that you may find yourself inquiring.
Why is it normal for worms to gather on the lid of the farm when it rains? It’s a perfectly normal response for the worms to act in this manner during rainy seasons to avoid getting drowned. Just take the farm containers to an area where it’s not exposed to a lot of rain and replace the worms back on their bedding.
Why don’t the worms just relocate to the top level of the tray? If could be the result of adding new food before the worms have consumed the earlier batch. Worms have an instinct to consume leftover food and won’t go out of their way to find a new food source until it finishes eating what was left previously. As a result, before you add new trays, stop feeding the worms for a period of about five days so you can be sure the old food is gone and make sure that the level of castings in the tray needs to be placed high enough for the worms to be able to go to the next tray.
Can worms bear extremely high temperatures? Worms can deal with temperatures range between 10-30 degrees Celsius. So if it gets higher than the worms are able to withstand move the farm into a shady, cool location where it can easily regulate the moisture and humidity of the boxes. In especially cold environments make sure to cover the box with old clothes, blankets and wool shavings to keep it warm. It’s also a good idea to feed the worms at least a quarter more than you’re supposed to since more food digested for the worms gives way for more heat being generated in their bodies. So, do take heed of these ideas and you can be on your way to getting started on a worm farm with confidence.
The author owns and operates Worm Composting Troubleshooting. Check our site at Diy Worm Composting.
