Question 1

What’s the difference between worm leachate and worm tea?

Accepted Answer

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. Obviously it will have drained through the casts so it’s a great product but technically it’s a bit different to actual worm tea which is made from suspending the worm casts in highly oxygenated water (like when brewing tea.

Worm tea - The end result of suspending worm castings in highly oxygenated water (brewing).

Every wormery has good and bad microbes. This is ok of course, as long as the good ones outnumber bad. Leachate is made when the excess water seeps down through the worm composter into the collection area. The leachate should be drained regularly and if you are getting more than a few cupfuls a week, the composter is probably too wet!

Not only are you feeding the plant, but you increase the number of beneficial microbes in the soil, thus crowding out the bad. It has been proven that the tea, along with the castings, can significantly increase plant growth, as well as crop yields, in the short term (a season) and especially the long term over a period of seasons

Question 2

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.

Question 3

What do I do about Maggots in my wormery?

Accepted Answer

Maggots are the larvae of a number of species of flies, including the common housefly. The flies are attracted to food, in particular meat, and lay their eggs directly on the food waste. The maggots form pupae and hatch into flies. The whole of this life-cycle, on average, takes up to 10 days in warm weather and up to a month in cold weather. With regard to flies, you need to keep your food waste covered up. All flies lay their eggs on the surface of the food waste, but will not burrow. Make sure that you keep your moisture mat in place at all times (or you can use clean newspaper) to restrict access. In addition, you will need to keep any kitchen collecting bin (if you have one) covered, otherwise it is likely that you will transfer fly eggs into your wormery.

To break the cycle you can cover the top of the food waste in your wormery with a thin layer of garden soil or clean newspaper and refrain from adding waste for 2-3 weeks.

Flies prefer acidic conditions, so it is important to sprinkle a handful of the anti-acid lime mix over the surface of the food waste on a regular basis, for example, once a week. You are trying to achieve as neutral a pH level as possible so it is important to use equal quantities on a regular basis.

The other fantastic product for sorting out flies is DE Powder which is available on our website. It's non-toxic organic powder that helps control all crawling insects including flies bed bugs, fleas and ants.

Question 4

Why isn’t my wormery producing any liquid?

Accepted Answer

Unless you are in a heatwave which can cause real evaporation the usual reason for a worm bin failing to produce liquid is that there isn’t the volume of waste going into the kit in the first place.

Over 95% of veg waste is liquid so as long as plenty is going into the kit as it breaks down the liquid will percolate through the worm casts and end up in the sump where you can use it diluted (about 1 part liquid to 10 parts water) as a general liquid feed.

Question 5

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 6

My worms are eating the moisture mat, is this okay?

Accepted Answer

Your moisture mat is just there to encourage your worms to work in the surface of the waste and as it is biodegradable the worms will eventually eat it. If the moisture mat is disintegrating quickly you can add more waste.

Question 7

Are your wormeries rodent proof?

Accepted Answer

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.