7 Elements you need to Master for better worm farming results
Worm Farming, also known as vermicomposting, is a recycling process that converts organic waste into the world’s best fertilizer. The best part is that it is free. Vegetables and fruit scraps get fed to your worms that produce “worm castings”, which can then be used as an organic fertilizer for your vegetable garden or any other indoor or outdoor plants.
Worm farming is a lot easier than you might think. Bomposting worms are extremely resilient and are easy to take care of. If done properly you will not have any foul smells or flies coming from your worm bin. The following key points are all you need to know to start worm farming and producing your first batch of worm castings:
- Moisture
Worms breathe through their skin and to do so they need moisture levels around 80% or more. Just be sure not to flood their bin.
- Temperature
Different composting worms prefer different temperatures, some are better at handling the cold while others are better at handling the heat. Room temperature is ideal for your composting worms if you are raising them indoors.
- Feeding
Composting worms can eat anywhere from half their body weight up to their entire body weight daily. For faster growth and breeding, you want to keep your worms well fed. For more details on feeding we will have an in-depth post soon
- Light
Worms like the dark. You can use a little trick to keep your compost worms inside their containers, just keep a light on and they will burrow down in the bedding you have provided for them. Worms need the dark to function properly, so be sure to provide enough bedding and cover for your worms to hide in.
- Bedding
The bedding is where the worms will live, worms also eat their bedding, there are a lot of options for a good bedding, but for beginners we recommend coco-peat or peat moss, for more advanced worm farmers you can use partially matured compost or matured animal manures. Your results will be much better if you use a live bedding full of nutrients compared to an inert bedding with little nutrients.
- Population management
Composting worms can multiply at incredibly fast rates, as a beginner you can expect to double your population every two to three months and advance farmers can get up to 19x their current population, depending on the type of worm they are breeding. Once the worm population in your bin rises to a certain level, your worms will stop breeding. It is recommended to populate additional worm bins if you want to continue to grow your worm population and increase your worm casting production capacity. A 30cm (12inch) square bucket can hold up to a 1000 red wigglers. At Kuwait Organic Farms, we recommend you divide your bucket before you reach this point to ensure continuous growth. You will also have to adjust your feeding according to the population density of your worm bin.
- Ventilation
As mentioned, worms breathe through their skin and produce CO2, the composting that happens to the organic matter in the worm bin also produces CO2. To maintain a safe environment for the worms to live in, adequate ventilation is required. At Kuwait Organic Farms we keep our worms on the ground in what is known as a worm wedge, worms love to stay where it is dark and where there is food and moisture.
Conclusion
Every day massive amounts of organic waste get sent to landfills, which then produce harmful greenhouse gases. By worm farming you can contribute to reducing waste and create something extremely valuable all at the same time. This guide is all you need to know to get started with a successful worm farming bin. We plan to share a comprehensive guide for those of you who are interested in advance worm farming to produce on a larger scale or start their own worm farming or casting production business.