What is vermicomposting? Learn how to compost with worms | Vermicomposters, Composters, Bins, Tumblers

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Vermicomposting (Red Wiggler Worm Composting)

One of the best ways for fast composting of kitchen waste is vermicomposting, which is the process of breaking down organic matter such as food scraps by earthworms. This technique used to accelerate the composting process most often uses red worms, either Red Earthworms or Red Wigglers. Worms thrive on feeding on decomposing organic material like kitchen scraps. The byproduct produced by the worms is called castings which have a number of beneficial microbes and nutrients that can be used as a wonderful plant fertilizer. Worms are very efficient and can eat over half their body weight in organic matter per day, making vermicomposting a very popular and quick method of composting. Worms can be added to any compost bin or tumbler, however, there are also specialized worm composters called vermicomposters. These usually carry a small footprint, can be used indoors or outdoors and are designed to be able to add material without interfering with the composting process of previously added material.

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How long does it take for worms to create compost?

The worms will create a thick, rich soil within three to six months, depending on the container and the amount of household scraps used.

Advantages of Worm Composting

If you are an apartment dweller, home owner with a small yard and prefer not to use outside space, or live in an area that may have cooler weather part of the year, then an indoor worm bin may be for you.

Some benefits of indoor composting units:
- Great if you live in condo or apartment
- Homeowners with a small yard or prefers not to use outside space
- Convenience of adding compost material without going outdoors in bad weather
- Can keep the composter warmer in cooler climates
- A worm bin can be used year-round as long as the temperature is between 40 to 80 degrees F

Disadvantages

Molds and mildew are a part of the composting cycle that help break down the organic ingredients in the worm bins, so this could be an issue for persons allergic to molds and mildew.

Steps to start the process!

Container: Get a compost bin that is solid and opaque because worms do not like light. Size of one square yard will accommodate about 10 pounds of kitchen waste. One pound of worms (about 1000 worms) will eat one pound of waste after they are established.
Bedding: Seed the bin with a bedding made from materials such corrugated cardboard, newspaper or coconut coir. Make sure it is moistened to feel like a wrung out dampened sponge. Ensure the material is not compacted so that it is well aerated and allows easy movement for your worms. Your bin should be 2/3 filled with this fluffed bedding.
Moisture: One method of wetting the bedding is to place this bedding into another large container and add water until it covers the bedding. Let the bedding sit for quite a while to absorb as much of the water as possible. Now squeeze the water out of the bedding until it feels like a well-wrung sponge and place the bedding in the bin and fluff it. If the bedding starts drying out dampen the bedding with a spray bottle.
Optional materials: Add soil or sand with a minimal amount of powdered limestone.
Worms: Now add the worms to the top of the bin and they will work their way into your bedding. About one pound of worms will easily take care of half pound of garbage per day. Therefore, you'll want to estimate how much kitchen waste your family generates per day before deciding how many worms to purchase.
Kitchen Waste: Start out slowly adding a small amount of food scraps to give the worms time to adjust, gradually increasing the amount of food scraps. In the beginning worms eat about half their body weight, but after they established themselves, they can eat as much as their body weight per day. It is best not to add new food on top of old food until it has been processed by the worms. If the compost starts to smell, then reduce the amount of scraps and add some bedding. (You may be adding more scraps than the worms can process.)

Bin Maintenance Once Established

Worms need oxygen to breath, to accomplished this regularly remove the compost
Check oxygen flow and moisture level at least once a week.
If your container is a non-continuous flow bin, remove the excess liquid (also called compost tea or worm tea) which can be used as a high quality liquid plant food.
The pH in worm bins should be slightly alkaline. To achieve this, you can add a handful of calcium carbonate also known as garden lime. Do not use calcium oxide, also known as regular lime.

Harvesting the compost

After 3 to 6 months, your bin will have very little bedding and will be filled with compost. This compost will be dark, crumbly and have a nice, earthy smell like the forest floor. Two weeks prior to harvesting, do not add new food to the bin.

There are a couple of methods of retrieving the compost:

Split the bin

Push all the bin contents to one half of the bin leaving the other half empty.
In the empty half add fresh bedding and food scraps.
In the next 2 to 3 weeks the worms will move to the side of the bin where the food is, allowing you to remove the compost.

Bag the worms

Get a bag with holes large enough for worms to crawl through.
Add favorite foods of worms such as kiwis, melon peels, apples and bury the bag in one side of the bin. Remember no food has been added for the last two weeks.
After a couple of days the worms should have migrated to the bag which you can remove and put in an air vented container.
Put down a plastic sheet and start pulling out the compost onto it. As the mound of compost is exposed to the light any straggler worms will dive to the bottom of the pile to get away from the light.
Put the compost into another container and as you get to the bottom of the compost, pick out those few straggler worms and throw them into your worm bag.
Now you can re-bed your bin and bury the bag of worms in one corner. The bag stills has the food scraps in it and this will serve as their first feeding.
In a few days, after the food in the bag is composted, add food scraps to the other side of the compost bin. In a few more days all the worms should have migrated out of the bag, allowing you to shake out the compost and remove the bag. This also allows you to see how many worms you have and it may be time to start another bin.

Terms

Continuous horizontal flow: a series of trays lined horizontally. A bin is divided in half and one half is used until it is full. Then the other half is filled with bedding and organic material so the worms will move to that side and you can harvest the compost in the first side.

Continuous vertical flow: a series of trays lined vertically. One tray at a time is filled with bedding and organic material starting with the bottom tray. When each tray is full, the trays above it can then be used. Compost can be harvested from the lower tray(s) as the worms move from that tray to the tray above. This is also called an upward migrating vermicomposter system and is the most common design.

Non-continuous: an undivided container. Compost is relatively difficult to harvest in a non-continuous worm bin, because all the worms and materials are intermixed. The worms will need to be separated from the finished compost.

Notes: A worm bin can be used year-round as long as the temperature is between 40 to 80 degrees F, worms prefer a temperature between 55 to 70 F, but varies for each worm species. If you have your worm bin stored outside and the temperature range is outside of this range, you will have to bring it indoors for that particular time period.