Question 1

What food should I add to my wormery and when?

Accepted Answer

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. The ideal diet for composting worms is non acidic fruit and vegetable peelings but they can deal with just about any kitchen waste including grains, tea bags, pasta, hair, and more. Where possible avoid meat scraps, salty/spicy food waste, oily sauces and yogurt.

Question 2

When should I add the next tray to my Wormery?

Accepted Answer

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. (If you have to dig down to find worms you need to ease up on the food addition as you don’t want waste building up without the worms having time to process it.) As the waste gets consumed by the worms the volume reduces and it’s processed into black gold (worm casts) and liquid (which you will use as liquid feed). This means as you fill each tray it sinks at quite a rate so the time to add a new tray on top is when the tray the worms are working on is just about full and when the bottom of the next tray will sit on the compost below. At this point you take off the moisture mat, add the next tray and some waste and replace the moisture mat which always sits on top of the freshest waste.

Don’t worry if the worms don’t appear to move up into the next tray for a few weeks – as long as there are no gaps between the trays and you can see flecks of compost on and around the top tray all will be well. After all worms do not know about trays so as long as they are working on the compost just below the surface all will be well. Just occasionally it’s worth checking that no gaps have occurred between the trays where the compost has sunk as this will mean the worms have more of a challenge to get up and down between trays. If there is a gap – add a bit of waste into it to fill it in.

Question 3

Why am I not getting any worm juice?

Accepted Answer

Usually a lack of worm juice is one thing… You are not adding enough waste into your wormery. After all 96% of vegetable waste is water and so if you are adding waste there will be liquid draining. It’s not good to add a glut of waste at once for your worms – they need regular feeding so adding waste every couple of days will work best for your worm and your liquid feed production.

Question 4

How to know if my wormery is too wet

Accepted Answer

You will soon see if your worm composter is too wet – it looks visibly sodden. To check pick up some of the made compost/bedding and squeeze… It should have the consistency of a wrung out sponge. If water leaks out between your fingers – then it’s too wet. (If it’s dry and crumbly… it’s too dry.) If your worm bin is outside rain can get in through the loose fitting lid or through the air holes. Make sure your bin location is under shelter such as an awning, covered patio, shed or garage. A sheltered worm bin that is too wet usually means something is out of balance. It may be that you are adding lots of moist food scraps but the drainage and air holes are blocked. Check this out and clear them if they are blocked, and then take remedial action. Here are the best ways to dry out a vermicomposting bin in three easy steps: 1: Stop adding very moist scraps until the problem is under control. Avoid fruits, especially melon flesh. If the worm bin has a tap, open it until the problem is solved. 2: Add more bedding. For example, use coconut coir, pure peat moss, or shredded black-ink newspaper. Add a few handfuls of dry bedding on top. 3: Add a moisture mat – this will tend to keep the waste moist but at the same time soak up excess water.

Question 5

How many Subpods do I need?

Accepted Answer

The average family generates 7kg (15lbs) of food waste a week, just for reference.

We have designed the Subpod to be used for a family of up to four people, processing around 15kg (33lbs) of organic waste per week.

It will take from six weeks to three months to get your Subpod working at this capacity, depending on the season and how much you feed it. The worms need to settle in and build up their numbers.

Subpod is modular, so If you have more than 30L/15kg of waste per week, you can choose to connect two or more Subpods and create a bench seat, or install in separate garden beds.

Question 6

What is a worm blanket? What is it used for?

Accepted Answer

Worm blankets are made of a water-absorbing, air-permeable and light blocking fabric.
They are placed on top of the worm bedding and have multiple functions:
The blanket minimises light reaching the worms, allowing them to feed right up to the top of the compost day and night.
Moist blankets prevent the upper layer from drying out, which can attract ants into the system Moist blankets help maintain the proper moisture levels for the worms. Worm blankets maintain warmth within the Subpod during winter months.

Question 7

What can be composted in Subpod?

Accepted Answer

You can compost a lot more in Subpod than in other worm farm systems. You can compost food scraps, including citrus, onions, and after four months of active use, even small quantities of meat, fish, dairy, and spicy foods.

Carbon items such as paper and cardboard, lawn and garden clippings, and a whole lot more can be composted in Subpod. You CANNOT compost non-organics such as plastic, tin cans, cigarettes, and such.

Question 8

Does Subpod attract pests and rodents?

Accepted Answer

No it shouldn’t. Subpod’s built-in ventilation panels have small holes that keep out bugs, pests and rodents, whilst allowing air to flow in. Just make sure the ‘worm holes’ in the sides of the Subpod are covered with soil so nothing can sneak in.

Some pests are attracted to the smell of rotting food. By keeping a healthy Subpod, your food won't rot, it will instead be composted by your worms and microbes.

Keep your food scraps in a sealed container/caddy to make sure bugs don’t lay eggs in your waste before you transfer it to the Subpod.

Question 9

How do I keep ants out of the Subpod?

Accepted Answer

Ants are attracted to dry conditions, so this is usually an indicator that your Subpod is too dry. Try wetting your worm blankets or slightly wetting your compost down. Aim for compost moisture levels similar to a sponge - only a few drops should come out when squeezed

Question 10

Can we leave the Subpod if we go away on holidays?

Accepted Answer

To keep the worms happy while you’re away, buy a pumpkin (or use one that is starting to rot), cut it in half and lay the open sides face down on the top of the bedding of the Subpod.

Then add a generous layer of dry carbon, either shredded newspaper, coir (coconut husk), wood shavings, crushed dried leaves or dried (brown) grass clippings on top of the pumpkin, and place the worm blankets over everything.