Cardboard is great for your worm composter (as is a sprinkling of lime mix) A ratio of 25-30% volume of shredded cardboard or equivalent will ensure the compost doesn't get too wet and there is air circulating. Avoid the really shiny boxes like soap powder and go for newsprint, egg boxes etc.
It works by absorption of oils, waxes and lipids on the coat of insects, to which it is applied, whereby they lose water and of dehydration. [more...]
The great thing about a tray system wormery is that a: It's off the floor so very unlikely to be attacked by rodents and B: Worms compost waste as you add it so they really help to neutralise the odours. We have had no problems with rodents with Urbalive or other tray system worm composters.
We often refer to the liquid that you get out of your worm composter as worm tea but technically it’s leachate – the run off from making your worm casts. [more...]
Many worms like to remain in the lower trays of stacking tray systems. In fact they are unaware of the tray system really as there are holes in each tray so it's fair to say it is not an exact science. [more...]
Many worms like to remain in the lower trays of stacking tray systems. In fact they are unaware of the tray system really as there are holes in each tray so it's fair to say it is not an exact science. [more...]
There are a few types of mite that love a worm composting kit and this is all normal and part of the ecosystem. However, as with most things if they start to take over the kit this can become a problem. There are two main types – a reddish brown mite and a white shiny round mite. Both are tiny and if numbers become huge they eat the food and your worms will tend to burrow deeper into the kit and this in turn stops the worms from reproducing as effectively.
The main thing to ensure your worms work well for you is to feed them regularly with kitchen scraps. Usually adding waste every couple of days is the most efficient way of ensuring they are working. They don’t like a glut of waste, and underfeeding means you won’t get them working to their optimum level.
Assuming you are adding your food scraps every couple of days as you lift the moisture mat you will see the worms working just below the surface.
Usually a lack of worm juice is one thing…
Our composting worms are mixture of species (mainly reds and dendras) selected for their composting ability
The Urbalive Worm Composter is a home wormery kit that can be used indoors or outdoors for composting kitchen waste with the red worms. The perfect wormery for households, classrooms or offices.