Question 1

My worm bin has fruit flies - what should I do?

Accepted Answer

Composting is indeed a complete ecosystem but flies don’t need to be tolerated.

The best product for dealing with them is our DE powder

or to sort it inhouse

Make your own fly trap. This can be as simple as setting a little jar containing a mixture of red wine vinegar and dish soap on your counter. Within a day or two, you will start to notice a collection of dead little flies floating on top. If you’d like to try other trap methods, consider making a paper funnel that will invite fruit flies down into the vinegar but make it nearly impossible to fly back out.

Question 2

HELP! My Worms are Escaping.

Accepted Answer

Worms in a wormery sometimes try to escape. If it’s just one or two adventurous worms, it’s best not to be concerned – all just part of life in a worm bin really. However, if you see worms clumping near the top of the bin, or escaping, there may be a problem brewing…

When you first get your kit the worms need to establish in the bedding so when you are introducing worms to the bin the best way is place them on top of the bedding. Let them dig their own way in. They build little tunnels that provide oxygen. Dumping lots of bedding or waste directly on worms can suffocate them.

IMPORTANT: Worms are sensitive to the weather. If a low pressure system or thunderstorm is moving in, the worms might start clumping and climbing. Watch for a while and see if this is the pattern. If so, do not worry.

Worms need OXYGEN!

Worms breathe through their skins. If they don’t have enough air, they will try and escape. Lack of oxygen could be caused by:

Overfeeding
Insufficient ventilation**

To check for overfeeding, dig around. Is there a lot of undigested food in the bin? You can take some out. Wait until they have worked through most of the food in the bin before adding more. If you have excess scraps, you can freeze them until later.

Your worm bin should have a lid. Keeping the lid on discourages escapees.

Excess Moisture

The cure for a wet bin is to add dry bedding. Shredded newspaper is perfect; so is peat moss, coconut coir and shredded cardboard. Add and stir gently. Lime mix and worm treat also absorb excess moisture.

Recent Changes

If the worms are in escape mode, reduce nitrogen-rich foods, which includes grass clippings and acidic foods (tomatoes, onions, pineapples, excessive coffee grounds, tea bags citrus). Once you have the balance of the worm composting back to normal you can increase these types of waste again.

Sometimes people forget to feed their worms. Starvation will drive the worms to greener pastures. If you go on holiday for several weeks it’s worth saving up some scraps in the fridge or freezer. Ask a friend to feed the worms twice a week or so. Maybe you’re eating out a lot and aren’t generating any kitchen scraps. You can always ask a neighbour save their kitchen scraps for you, and save left-over salads (wash off the dressing).

Your worm composter pH

Baby Worms

Quick Fix: TURN THE LIGHT ON!

Question 3

How do I encourage worms in my garden?

Accepted Answer

If you can get a healthy population of worms in your soil they will make you an ongoing supply of topsoil so to encourage them to breed avoid disturbing the soil where you can and feed them!

You can add garden worms as well of course but also making your own worm compost and adding this to the soil will also encourage a natural increase in your worm population.

Shop Our Wormery Composting Range Shop Garden Worms

Question 4

What should and shouldn't I put into my wormery?

Accepted Answer

Your wormery composter is particularly suitable for peelings and leftovers of fruit and vegetables, such as potato peels, apple cores, green tops of vegetables, etc. Don't forget tea-bags, as worms often reproduce in them. Just be careful not to put in the plastic types (usually in pyramid shape sold with more expensive teas). Coffee grounds and paper coffee filters are also suitable. So are left overs of cooked vegetables, crushed egg shells, paper napkins, dampened cardboard, dry baked goods and remainders of indoor and outdoor plants. Do not put intensely spicy foods into your wormery, such as ginger or an excessive amount of citruses, as well as milk products, meat products, bones, oils, lard and other fats.

Question 5

My worms are not moving up into the next tray - Help.

Accepted Answer

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. Most worms will move up. Not all will.

Realistically the whole food thing is not really understood by the worms either. They actually munch on the microbes that break down what we call food. In the process the also ingest the "food." If there are still microbes in the lower tray (hint: there are LOTS of them!), the worms will still find plenty to eat down there.

So it comes down to some worms preferring to move up out of their waste in search of decaying organic matter to munch on, while others are content to stay in their own waste looking for microbes there, usually this is newly hatched or younger worms.

The main learning (as usual) is for us humans. We need to ensure that the kit is not waterlogged, not too hot or too cold, has plenty of air circulating and a pH level of around neutral. The clue as to whether or not your worms are working well are a: Can you see flecks of brown compost - and particularly up the sides of the tray you are adding waste into (if so obviously they are working there) b: If the waste is just rotting is it too wet (add shredded cardboard) c: Is it smelly (add lime mix) d: Are they working to the top layer (add a moisture mat) e: Do the worms need a boost? The best additive for this is to add a small amount of rock dust which really encourages growth and a healthy population. (Adding an extra tray helps as well as this gives them more space to work in and so more worm capsules tend to hatch out).

Question 6

My wormery is too wet - what can I do to help this?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 7

Can I Add Cardboard To My Wormery?

Accepted Answer

Cardboard is great for your worm composter (as is a sprinkling of lime mix) A ratio of 25-30% volume of cardboard or equivalent will ensure speedier worm composting. Avoid the really shiny boxes like soap powder and go for newsprint, egg boxes etc.

Question 8

What Should I Do If I Have A Tray Full?

Accepted Answer

Once you fill one tray and it looks like worms soon will not have anything to eat, load the next / new tray above the old one. As there are holes in each tray the worms just migrate through these into the tray above. Prepare the new tray in the same way as you did the old tray.

Please note if you are using a moisture mat this needs always to go on top of the freshest waste – so if you are adding a new tray remove the moisture mat put the new tray on top of the waste in the existing tray and add waste into the new tray and the moisture mat on top of the fresh waste.

The worms will go up and down through the holes – you will see evidence of this with tiny specs of dark specs of compost. One thing to note is that sometimes as the worms work through the waste and reduce the volume which then means the compost sinks inbetween the trays meaning it’s more difficult for the worms to work their way up and down so it’s worth checking for gaps every now and again and if there are it’s simple just pop a bit of waste into the gap.

Once you have reached the top of the top tray (which will take some time as the worms reduce the volume on a daily basis) then most of the worms will have left the bottom tray and this compost can be used. Empty it out and then this tray can be used to go on top of the working tray so that the worms continue working their way up and you are rotating the trays.

There is bound to be some worms in the compost that you use – this is fine but if you want them all back in your wormery – just expose the compost to light and skim off the compost. The worms move away from the light and so will form a pile which you can pop back into your worm bin.**

We sell additional trays for urbalive composters here https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/collections/spares-and-extras

Question 9

How To Look After My Worms

Accepted Answer

Worms need nurturing just like all of us. There are a few basic requirements that will ensure they eat and breed and therefore make compost for you.

1: They need food. As with most of us worms like a varied diet, lots of different foods are great for worms and a few of their favourites are veggie waste, coffee ground and banana skins. They aren’t too fussy but it the waste is too wet there tends to be a lack of air.

2: They need moisture. This is usually not worth thinking about as most of your kitchen waste is actually water so unless you live in Alice Springs you have no need to concern yourself about adding water. Do keep your moisture mat or similar on top of the freshest waste as this helps to maintain moisture and soak up excess.

3: Air – Your worm bin isn’t airtight so as long as the waste doesn’t get too wet there will be air circulating. If there is any doubt every now and again it’s worth adding a layer of shredded cardboard which really helps airflow.

4: A neutral pH level… Most waste is acidic and if there is too much acidity this can affect your worms. You can tell if there is a problem if the kit smells or there are flies attracted to it. Adding a handful of the lime mix that came with your kit will sort this out and adding crushed eggshells will also help the balance.

Worm kits are pretty simple – as long as the conditions are beneficial to your worms they will stay and compost for you. Remember your worm composting kit isn’t a waste disposal machine, it’s a complete ecosystem that turns kitchen waste into the best compost and liquid feed in the World!

Watch this short video on how to look after your worms.TIP: Click on the YouTube icon in the video to watch full screen