what to feed vermicompost

The "Go" List of items you should feed compost worms includes most raw/uncooked fruits and vegetables as well as the following items:

• Worms have a sweet tooth so most fruits are a great idea (just not citrus). Compost worms love bananas and banana peels,...
• Green leafy vegetables (e.g., romaine)
• Pumpkin and squash
• Pulp from juicers (avoid citrus)
• Crushed egg shells

Full Answer

What do you feed vermicomposting worms?

Vermicomposting is easy if you know the right foods to feed the worms — and the foods to avoid. Composting worms are hungry for your kitchen left-overs, garden waste, and coffee grounds! The best foods for worms come from plants.

How to get started with vermicomposting?

After you gather your supplies: a bin, shredded newspaper or leaves, and red wiggler worms, all you need to do is start saving food scraps to feed them. Now that you have the facts you need to get started with vermicomposting and care for your worms, nothing should stand in your way.

What are the best worm bins for Vermiculture?

These specialty bin systems are created for vermiculture: The Worm Factory 360 incorporates stackable plastic worm bins. The Maze Worm Farm is another stacked setup. The Urban Worm Bag offers a fabric bin, plus accessories and kits.

What can you put in a compost bin for worms?

Worms will eat almost anything that you would put in a traditional compost bin such as coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, plant waste, and tea leaves. “Green” additions are nitrogen-based, but the worm bin also needs “browns” or carbon-based items such as shredded newspaper, copy paper, egg cartons, and cardboard .

What do you feed worms in vermicompost?

When vermiculture feeding, basically go “green.” Worms will eat almost anything that you would put in a traditional compost bin such as coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, plant waste, and tea leaves....What to Feed WormsPumpkin.Leftover corn cobs.Melon rinds.Banana peels.Fruit and veggie detritus.

What is the best food for earthworms?

The Best Worm Foods for Your SoilFruit peels (not citrus)Melon rinds.Carrots.Coffee grounds.Teabags (check if biodegradable)Bread.Cereal (unsweetened)Pasta (plain)More items...•

What is worms favorite food?

Worms love lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, to name a few of these vegetables. Be sure to cut these scraps down into small pieces or even food process them. Remember to thoroughly rinse off all hot spices, sauces, oils, dressings, and cheeses because they can harm your vermicomposting project.

What is the best thing to feed red wigglers?

Best Foods to Feed Red Wiggler Composting WormsVegetable scraps: apple cores, peels, carrot tops and wilted lettuce or trimmings. ... Non-citrus fruit work best, such as watermelon rind, strawberry tops, old blueberries, etc. ... Used tea. ... Coffee grounds and filters. ... Dried leaves.More items...

Do worms eat banana peels?

Bananas are a great and inexpensive snack for both us and our worms. Those peels are desirable to compost worms no matter what shape they're in. They'll make short work of what otherwise would have taken up space in your trash.

What should you not feed earthworms?

Items you cannot compost in a worm bin: Lemon, lime, orange or other citrus peels and juice (in excess this will make the soil too acidic) Onions and garlic (a good rule of thumb is if it makes you smell, it makes your worm bin smell) Meat, fats, grease, bones or oils (no butter, lard, stocks, soups, etc)

Do worms eat eggshells?

eggshells - worms simply can't eat them. They will still be there when you remove the worm castings, and you'll have eggshells in the garden. Eggshells are good for the garden, so if you crush them up, and put them in the worm farm, they'll end up adding calcium to your soil.

Can worms eat potato peels?

Vegetable Waste Carrot peelings, potato skins, broccoli and cauliflower stalks, lettuce, kale, even onion peels (in limited quantities) are perfect for the worm bin. Vegetable waste like this isn't prone to overheating your bin either, so this is another low-maintenance food.

Can worms eat onion skins?

Worms do not like the smell of the onion family so, when given a choice, they may be left uneaten until they begin to rot. The situation is similar with citrus peel the advice is do not add it to the wormery but if it is added the worms will leave it until the peel to starts to decompose and then eat them.

What do red worms not like to eat?

Avoid feeding the worms large quantities of meat, citrus, onions and dairy foods. Some processed food also contains preservatives, which discourage the worms from eating it. These foods won't harm your worms, but they will avoid them and those scraps will break down and rot in the bin.

What can red wigglers not eat?

What To Not Feed WormsMeats, bones, fat and anything oily or greasy.Dairy products including butter, sour cream, milk, whole eggs (egg shells are ok) and cheese.Canned sauces, peanut butter and other processed food.Citrus foods like lemons, limes and oranges.Onions and garlic.Spicy foods such as hot peppers.More items...•

How long can red wigglers go without food?

How long can red wigglers go without food? Red wiggles can go up to two weeks without food. After that, you will find that they will move on if possible or die out. If you are leaving them unattended, leave them a supply of food, along with adequate bedding and moisture.

How do you make earthworms food?

0:1917:58What to Feed Worms: Vermicompost Made EASY - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThat the worms come along and scoop up so they're getting the broken-down vegetable matter combinedMoreThat the worms come along and scoop up so they're getting the broken-down vegetable matter combined with fungi. And microbes.

How do you fatten up worms for fishing?

Feed your compost worms a thin layer of the grain-and-eggshell mixture three or four times per week to fatten them. Be sure to keep the compost moist by misting with water or applying moist newspaper every time you add the feed mixture. Don't feed your compost worms too much coffee grounds.

Do worms like eggshells?

eggshells - worms simply can't eat them. They will still be there when you remove the worm castings, and you'll have eggshells in the garden. Eggshells are good for the garden, so if you crush them up, and put them in the worm farm, they'll end up adding calcium to your soil.

Are coffee grounds good for worms?

Worms love to eat coffee grounds, and that's great news for your garden. Add coffee grounds to your compost pile to help attract worms, which help speed up the process of turning food scraps into compost. You can also add coffee grounds directly to the soil, but you'll have to be careful not to overdo it.

What to feed worms?

Some “DON’TS” in the feeding of worms are: 1 Do not add salty or oily foods 2 Do not add tomatoes or potatoes 3 Do not add meat or dairy products

What do worms eat?

Worms will eat any of the following: Pumpkin. Leftover corn cobs. Melon rinds. Banana peels. Fruit and veggie detritus. However, it is best to avoid putting citrus, onions, and garlic in the worm bin. Onions and garlic will eventually be broken down by worms, but the odor in the interim may be more than you can handle!

How much food scraps do worms eat?

One pound of worms (about 1,000 worms) will eat about ½ to 1 pound (0.25-0.5 kg.) of food scraps per day.

Can you feed worms hot manure?

Don’t feed the worms pet waste or any “hot” manure. “Hot” manure is un-composted animal waste and its addition may result in heating the bin too much for the worms.

Can worms eat tomatoes?

Worms will eat tomatoes but make sure to break down the seed or you will likely have some tomato sprouts in the bin. No big deal, however, as you can just pull them out. The same may occur with potatoes and their eyes spouting before the potato is consumed.

Can citrus kill worms?

Citrus pulp or any highly acidic fruit added to the worm bin in large quantities can kill off your worms, so be aware and only add small amounts or just add the citrus peels without the pulp. When vermiculture feeding, basically go “green.”.

How to feed worms?

To feed, place food waste in a small pile in one corner of your bin and cover it with a similar volume (though much smaller weight) of shredded newspaper. The newspaper acts as a balancing carbon source and helps keep fruit flies away since flies cannot burrow to the food once it is covered. The next time you feed, you may choose to pick a different corner so that over time each area of the bin is generating castings. When feeding the DPW 10-ga llon Rubbermaid bin I feed in a 2-inch wide row at one edge of the bin; I will later push all partially eaten material over by 2 inches to clear a new 2 inch row for the next feeding.

How to get worms to eat food faster?

Chop all food with a knife or in a food processor . Remember that food is broken down by microorganisms which are then eaten by worms; the more finely chopped food waste is the greater the surface area for microbes and the faster they will colonize. The worms, in turn, will process the material much faster.

What happens when oxygen levels are low in a food decomposition process?

If oxygen levels are low, anaerobic processes will take over and cause chemical reactions and strong odors that will stress or kill your worms and make the bin unpleasant to be around.

What happens if worms can't eat?

If worms cannot eat their food quickly enough it will rot and the oxygen level in the bin will drop (see Troubleshooting) and your worms will die. Feeding can be done in daily increments or in larger weekly amounts. Do not attempt to feed more than a week’s worth of food at once, as it will rot before the worms can get to it.

How much do worms eat?

Worms absolutely love melons, cantaloupe, and pumpkin. Healthy, warm, active worms will eat about half their weight per day. If you start with about 1 lb of worms in a small kitchen bin, expect to feed no more than 3.5 lbs per week. It is perfectly fine to underfeed worms, but very bad to overfeed. If worms cannot eat their food quickly enough it ...

What is the purpose of bedding in vermicomposting?

It serves 3 purposes: Acts as a carbon source to balance the nitrogen in the food (too much nitrogen will produce ammonia).

What do worms eat?

As discussed in the Materials and Setup section, worms require a very specific diet. They will eat fruit and vegetable scraps, but not onions, hot peppers, or citrus. Remember that worms are basically one large mucus membrane, so anything that is painful for your eye is extremely uncomfortable for them.

What are some good worm food?

What about other kitchen scraps? Leftover cereal grains are great worm food. So are coffee grounds and tea leaves. Cooked rice is great too.

What do worms need to digest food?

The eggshells and azomite provide the essential grit that the worms need to digest food. They don’t have teeth, so this grit is absolutely necessary! Eggshells also provide a calcium boost which helps the worms to breed. Azomite provides ample trace minerals.

How much food do red wigglers eat?

Most red wigglers or European nightcrawlers will eat almost anything. The average worm will consume half its body weight in food and bedding per day. If you start with a pound of worms, they should eat a half-pound of food and bedding per day, and so on.

What to put on worm bedding?

The rolled oats, cornmeal, and alfalfa work together to plump up your worms quickly. The finer this mix is powdered, the quicker your worms will eat it up and fatten up. Moisten your worm bedding and then sprinkle it over the bedding surface.

Why use an urban worm bag?

Using an Urban Worm Bag gives you plenty of surface space, excellent depth, and provides that all-necessary air to keep your bin from getting too soggy.

What do red worms eat?

These red worms are feasting on cow manure. Source: rosepetal236

Why do worms need grit?

Remember, grit is necessary to speed their digestion process so they can eat more and break down your waste products. Be sure to add a handful whenever you replace the bedding or remove compost. So when you’re torn on what to feed worms, feel free to refer to this list for inspiration.

What is vermicomposting bin?

Vermicomposting is an easy, affordable way to reap major rewards for your garden. The bounty of your vermicomposting bin doesn’t stop at compost and the compost tea. The waste the worms leave behind, which is called worm castings, are excellent to feed your potted plants. Used as a soil amendment, worm castings can bring soil that is lacking in nutrients back to life and get it prepped for a season of incredible growth. Worm castings are full of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and humic acids that help improve soil structure.

What is worm compost?

Worm composting, also called vermicomposting, is a great way to use kitchen scraps to create a nutrient-rich compost to feed your garden and keep it producing year-round. In a large container, simply shred some newspaper and leaves from your yard to create a nice loose base, then add in red wiggler worms, officially known as Eisenia fetida, ...

What are worm castings?

Worm castings are full of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and humic acids that help improve soil structure. After you gather your supplies: a bin, shredded newspaper or leaves, and red wiggler worms, all you need to do is start saving food scraps to feed them.

What do worms eat?

Do feed your worms organic fruit and vegetable waste, including the rinds, cores, and peelings of your favorite fruits and vegetables. Feed them crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, and coffee filters (as long as the filters are unbleached), teabags, and aged manure from vegetable-eating animals, such as rabbits, horses, and cows.

How often do red worms multiply?

In fact, red worms are known to double their population size every 90 days. If you started with far too few, it’s okay to purchase more and add them to the mix.

Can you put old kitchen scraps in the compost bin?

A word of caution, however— don’t just throw any old kitchen scraps into the compost bin and hope for the best. Keep reading, and let’s dive into what you don’t want to feed them. Do not feed your worms fatty or processed foods, such as meat or dairy products. These types of kitchen scraps will cause strong odors when they decompose ...

Where do worms get their nutrition?

In fact, your worms’ main source of nutrition comes from the microorganisms that grow in abundance on organic fruit and vegetable waste. That’s why instead of devouring the scraps that you throw in to the soil immediately, your worms will wait around until microbes begin to flourish on the surface of the food scraps.

What Is Vermicompost?

Vermicompost is the byproduct of a process where earthworms and microorganisms consume and break down organic materials and convert them into a rich soil enhancement and source of plant nutrients. Commonly vermicomposted materials include:

How long does it take for vermicompost to cure?

In a traditional compost pile or bin, bacteria, microorganisms and moisture break down kitchen and yard scraps into a light organic material. This type of compost requires heat, generated by the bacteria, and time to cool down and cure, which can take six months or more.

How to prepare worm bin?

Prepare your worm bin by adding four to five inches of bedding material, such as shredded paper, brown leaves, finished traditional compost or rotten manure.

What worms can you use to compost?

Only a few specific worms, among hundreds of varieties, can successfully compost your kitchen scraps. Red wigglers (aka Eisenia fetida) rank as the favorite go-to composters. European night crawlers are another option. You’ll need a pound of them, which is about 1,000 red wigglers.

What temperature do worms need to make compost?

You are taking care of living creatures and providing air, food, shelter and comfort. The ideal temperature for worms to create compost is between 59 F and 77 F.

Where to keep worm bins?

The most likely indoor places to keep your bin (s) are the basement, utility room or attached garage. Outdoors is an option, but you’ll need shade to protect the worms from intense heat. If you live in a cold climate, insulate your worm bins with blankets, straw or other materials to keep them comfortable.

How do you take care of a living creature?

You are working with living creatures and need to take care of them by providing enough moist bedding, air, warmth and food.

What do composting worms eat?

This includes grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Plant matter is filled with nutrients and vitamins that worms need.

How do worms digest food?

Worms do not have teeth. Their little mouths take in the food. Therefore, they can digest food faster if it is: 1 Soft 2 Cut into small pieces, with a knife or food processor 3 Somewhat moist 4 Buried in the bin – just below the surface for Red composting worms

What to do with leftovers from a plate?

When scraping leftovers from plates, discard meat, dairy products , and bones. Foods drenched in oils, oily sauces, and vinegar dressings should be rinsed or discarded. Citrus and pineapple can go in the trash. Small amounts of tomato are fine. The rest can go in the compost collection pail and later, in the worm bin.

What happens if a worm bin is too acidic?

If the bin becomes too acidic, there will be a bad odor, and the worms’ healthy could be compromised. Do not add citrus peels, pulp, or juice (orange, lemon, lime). Also, pineapple is too high in acid. Large amounts of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato juice are not good. Very small quantities of these foods will not make a difference.

Can you put toxic items in a worm bin?

Discard the water. Do not put toxic items in the worm bin. Worms are living creatures and they could die. Sawdust from pressure-treated wood is toxic. So are plants heavily treated with pesticides and herbicides. Carbon paper and carbonless paper are off the menu. So is office paper, because it is bleached white.

Can you put animal products in worm bins?

How Animal Products and Greasy Foods Ruin the Composter. You should never add meat, animal products, dairy products, or greasy, oily foods to the worm bin. The oils, meat, and milk become rancid as they decompose. Rotting oils cause a powerful and unpleasant odor.

Can grass clippings kill worms?

Additionally, green grass clippings generate too much heat as they break down. These high temperatures can kill your worms. Fertilizers and other chemical compounds might be suitable for soil. However, they are too strong to add to a worm bin. They contain chemical salts that cause harm to the worms.

What do you need for a vermicomposting system?

Your home vermicomposting system will require a worm bin, some bedding, one or two handfuls of soil, a sheet of black plastic to cover the surface of the filled bin, a bathroom or utility scale, a gallon jug, a large plastic or metal garbage can (for mixing the fresh bedding), and, of course, the worms.

What is vermicompost used for?

Vermicompost is used as a top-dressing for young carrots.

What is worm care?

Basically, worm care consists of providing the wigglers with the proper environment, checking them occasionally, and—other than that—leaving them alone! Daily care is unnecessary: The less you disturb your industrious helpers, the better off they are.

How many worms should I use for a worm bin?

I normally put about half a pound of organic waste a day into my 8" × 2' × 2' bin, so I use one pound of worms in my setup. Most ads price worms by the thousands. To calculate your needs, just figure about 1,000 wigglers per pound (because unsorted pit-run worms come in all sizes, there could be many more than 1,000 of them in a pound).

What to use for worm bins?

Whatever materials are used, they must be able to hold moisture, allow air exchange, and provide a safe medium uncontaminated by harmful chemicals —in which the wigglers can work. Because they're light, fluffy, and easy to dampen to the proper moisture content, shredded corrugated cartons are among the best materials to use, but they may be difficult for the average worm-raiser to obtain. The least costly bedding is hand-shredded newsprint. To make it, simply open a section of newspaper, tear it in half, tear the halves in two, and so on, until you have a pile of strips about one to three inches wide.

Why do worm bins smell?

However, if conditions occur to prevent oxygen from circulating, other (anaerobic) organisms take over, and their end products smell quite unpleasant. If this happens, add more bedding, try to increase air availability, and don't put in any more waste for a while. Assuming that the worms survive the trauma, the situation should, given time, correct itself.

How to determine the size of worm bin?

To determine the size of your worm bin, keep track of the amount of kitchen waste you throw away for a couple of weeks. Use a small bucket or can, and collect such discards as potato peels, citrus rinds, greens, leftover vegetables, eggshells, and bread, just about any non meat food residues from your kitchen.

What to feed compost worms?

The "Go" List of items you should feed compost worms includes most raw/uncooked fruits and vegetables as well as the following items: 1 Worms have a sweet tooth so most fruits are a great idea (just not citrus). Compost worms love bananas and banana peels, grapes, melon, pears, berries, peaches, apples, and avocado (but not the pit or rinds) 2 Green leafy vegetables (e.g., romaine) 3 Pumpkin and squash 4 Pulp from juicers (avoid citrus) 5 Crushed egg shells 6 Coffee and tea grounds in small quantities (too many can lead to an acidic bed which can harm the worms) 7 Shredded cardboard, egg cartons, and paper towels 8 Most leaves (as long as they haven't been treated with pesticides or herbicides)

What do compost worms eat?

Compost worms love bananas and banana peels, grapes, melon, pears, berries, peaches, apples, and avocado (but not the pit or rinds) Green leafy vegetables (e.g., romaine) Pumpkin and squash. Pulp from juicers (avoid citrus) Crushed egg shells. Coffee and tea grounds in small quantities (too many can lead to an acidic bed which can harm the worms) ...

How to know if compost worms are processed?

You'll know the compost worms have fully processed the prior feeding when 1) the food is no longer visible on the surface of the worm bin and 2) the worms are not grouped together in a ball where you fed them. Rule #4: Don't bury the food!

How to kill worms in a bottle?

Remember in the last section when we talked about everything in moderation with worm farming? This is especially true with feeding your worms. Over-feeding, along with temperature, is one of the easiest ways to quickly kill your worm population. Think of feeding your worms like drinking a bottle of wine - you don't usually drink the entire bottle in 1 glass or gulp. You enjoy it in moderation over several glasses or days. Feed worms slowly and modestly and they will stay happy and healthy.

What foods are good for worms?

Meat or other animal products. Cooked foods (due to oil and salt content) Citrus fruits. "Spicy" foods like peppers, onions, garlic, and ginger. Tomatoes or tomato sauce (it's too acidic for worms) Foods cooked with oils. Foods high in salt content.

Do worms eat food?

Worms actually eat microorganisms that are feeding on the food waste, so they like soft food or food that has been cut into small pieces (this helps accelerate the decomposition process and increases the number of microorganisms for worms to eat).

Can you sprinkle worms over food?

It is ok to sprinkle a little of their original bedding (which should already be in the bin) over the food, but the food should never be buried and should be visible to your eye. Rule #5: See rule #1! Rule #6: After the first feeding, feed the worms 1/3 to 1/2 of their weight. So if you purchased 2 pounds of worms, ...