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What Are Composting Worms?

by Idris Ya'u
This article was fact checked.
Helpful: 100%

The typical win-win situation is composting using worms (also known as vermicomposting). It allows you to discard organic waste like vegetable peelings simply. Composting helps the environment by reducing the amount of waste sent to the county dump.

It provides worms with a comfortable environment as well as unlimited “eats.” Homegrown compost is an excellent way to nourish and develop plants if you have a garden or even potted plants.

Food waste is recycled into a rich, black, good-for-your-garden soil conditioner through vermiculture, which some supporters have termed “organic garbage disposal.” Planet Natural supplies organic compost ranging in price from $5.95 to $13.95 as well as compost-containing potting soil.

What Are Composting Worms?

Worm composting is the process of utilizing worms to convert leftover food and other organic material into vermicompost, or worm compost, which is a significant soil additive. Worms consume food waste, which decomposes as they move through their bodies.

Compost is expelled from the worm’s tail end. Plants can then be grown in this compost. Note that the worms are consuming nutrient-rich fruit and veggie leftovers and converting them into nutrient-rich compost, which is why vermicompost is healthy for plants.

Why compost with worms?

The best part is that with very little effort and cost, you can leverage this amazingly effective composting potential for yourself and revolutionize the way your household disposes of garbage.

A $30 handmade worm composter and a $150 store-bought worm hostel are both reasonable prices. Even the most costly composter might pay for itself in one growing season if you include it in the cost of purchasing organic fertilizer for your garden.

Worm composting also referred to as vermicomposting or vermiculture, provides odor-free, natural compost that requires around 30 minutes to maintain once a week. Harvesting your worm castings (valuable poop/garden fertilizer) is the most time-consuming aspect of the process, which takes about 3-6 months.

Can worms really be the “all-in-one” solution for stink-free composting, as many reports indicate? Yes, if things are done correctly. The fact that many communities encourage vermicomposting as a means of removing food waste from landfills is confirmation of this. Worm composting is currently widely employed as among the most effective methods of manure treatment by major commercial dairy farms.

What should you feed your worms?

Worms will consume practically any leftover fruit or vegetable. No animal fats, bones, dairy, or meat should be given to them. They also have trouble with certain stems and onion outer layers, as well as citrus.

If you have a pile of orange peels or other citrus, ensure it doesn’t account for more than a fifth of your total waste. Never feed them excrement from any carnivore, including dogs and cats. Coffee grounds, filters, napkins, shredded paper towels, and non-plastic teabags, on the other hand, can be added.

Dig a hole and bury it underneath the layer of bedding to add meals to your bin. Breaking up the larger parts will assist. You should also add lots of shredded paper and check if there’s anything left over from previous feeds that the worms are trying to dodge. Discard everything they won’t consume.

Worms will eat half their body weight daily, as previously stated. They will, nonetheless, be a little hesitant to begin when you first obtain them. Start with tiny portions of food and see how long it takes them to finish. Improve the volume until you’re adding half their body weight per day.

If they appear to be wasting a lot of food, cut it up into tiny pieces before feeding it. One pound of worms will eat nearly three pounds of garbage per week and twelve pounds of garbage per month, on average.

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