Almost all fruit and vegetable scraps are fantastic choices for worm feed. But a few are tricky. Worms will eat citrus rinds, but too much citrus can cause skin irritation for them.
Full Answer
What should I Feed my worms?
Both types of food are important for worms. Green food, like lawn or food scraps, is high in nitrogen while brown food, like paper, cardboard, and sawdust, contains plenty of carbon. Give equal amounts of these foods. Feed room-temperature food to your worms. You may choose to freeze or microwave scraps to help them break down faster.
How do you put food in a worm bin?
Once your food or scraps are ready to be added to the worm bin, remove the newspaper or burlap covering. Place the food on the feeding tray or in the bin, but avoid burying it in the worm castings. Try to place the food in a different area each time you feed your worms.
What goes in worm compost?
Most people new to worm composting are at a loss for what goes in there, other than the obvious vegetable scraps or melon rinds. Most red wigglers or European nightcrawlers will eat almost anything.
How do you take care of a wild worm?
Choosing the Right Foods Feed your worms fruit and vegetable scraps. Add eggshells and coffee grounds to the worm bin. Include hair, dust, wood ash, and sawdust. Provide organic matter for bedding. Avoid feeding worms meat, grains, dairy, and oils. Don’t offer salty or spicy foods, or foods with preservatives.
What is the best thing to feed your worms?
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...•
Can I feed my worms newspaper?
Shredded paper and cardboard, egg cartons, ripped up newspaper, receipts and envelopes should all be a regular part of the worms diet. LOTS of non-glossy paper should go in your worm farm - it is worth repeating!
What can red wigglers eat infographic?
Red wigglers enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.Vegetables: including celery, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, corn, cucumbers and cabbage.Fruits (non citrus only): including watermelon, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears and apples.Cooked Beans: black, pinto, white, and garbanzos are fine.
What food can I put in worm farm?
Worms will eat anything that was once living,Leftover vegetable scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings.Tea leaves / bags and coffee grounds.Vacuum cleaner dust or hair clippings (also animal)Torn up newspapers, egg cartons or soaked pizza cartons.Crushed egg shells (these will also help with the pH balance)
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 can worms not 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.
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.
Is celery OK for worms?
Eating organic material is their method of composting and providing nutrients for the worms to grow and remain healthy. Cellulose is in all plants. Fiber found in foods like celery are favored by worms for their crop and gizzard.
What can you not feed red wigglers?
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...•
What Cannot go in a worm farm?
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.
How often should I feed my worms?
Depending on the size of your bin, feed the worms from once a week to every two days with about a cup (240 ml.) of food. You may want to keep a journal regarding how quickly your worms consume certain things so you can adjust timings, amounts, and varieties. A stinky worm bin may be an indicator of overfeeding.
How do you feed worms to paper?
1:428:39A comparison test on feeding worms different paper types - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI've just sprayed it with the hose to dampen them down a bit because the envelope the windowedMoreI've just sprayed it with the hose to dampen them down a bit because the envelope the windowed envelope is double thickness I folded the other items in half to give a double thickness.
Why is paper good for a worm farm?
Worms require a good carbon:nitrogen balance, so adding paper is a great way of keeping up your carbon input. Not only does it help keep your carbon:nitrogen balance in check, excess inputs act as a great bedding source for your worms, plus it's a fantastic sustainable way of managing your paper waste!
Is colored newspaper toxic to worms?
So we checked it out and here's the bottom line: Any newsprint, whether printed in black and white or color, is safe to use as mulch on a bed or as an ingredient in compost, even for vegetables. It won't harm plants, earthworms, bugs or people.
Can worms eat wrapping paper?
Red wigglers can and will eat cardboard and papers, but they shouldn't have too much of it. The “everything in moderation” rule applies to Red Wigglers, too. Although worms do think cardboard and paper are delicious, it is not, in fact, nutritious.
How does this resource excite and engage children's learning?
This great display poster is perfect for your classroom display when learning about Worm Farms and recycling at home and school.
How does this resource excite and engage children's learning?
This great display poster is perfect for your classroom display when learning about Worm Farms and recycling at home and school.
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 to feed worms?
1. Feed your worms fruit and vegetable scraps. Worms will enjoy a variety of fruits and veggies, like bananas, pumpkin, apples, lettuces, eggplant, berries, squash, and greens. However, you should avoid feeding citrus fruits, including oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruits, to your worms.
What to feed worms before feeding them?
Just make sure the eggshells are free of fats, like cooking oil or butter, before feeding them to your worms. Include hair, dust, wood ash, and sawdust. Pet and human hair, in addition to dust, like that which collects in a vacuum cleaner, can also be added to the worm bin.
How to feed worms after their last meal?
Feed your worms once their last meal is nearly gone. There isn’t a set feeding schedule for worms, so you’ll need to pay attention to how much they eat and how quickly. Check the worm bin each day and figure out how many days it takes them to eat the food you provide. When nearly all of the food is gone, give your worms more food. However, if there is food remaining in the bin and the worms aren’t eating it, avoid adding more food until the previous scraps are gone.
What to put in worm bin?
Add eggshells and coffee grounds to the worm bin. Coffee grounds are a great addition to a worm bin as they are full of nitrogen and have a neutral pH. Egg shells are also quite beneficial as they provide calcium for your worms.
How to feed worms with burlap?
Once your food or scraps are ready to be added to the worm bin, remove the newspaper or burlap covering. Place the food on the feeding tray or in the bin, but avoid burying it in the worm castings. Try to place the food in a different area each time you feed your worms.
How to keep fruit flies out of food?
Cover the food with shredded newspaper. Shredded newspaper, or burlap, should cover the food at all times. It keeps the bin dark and moist, which discourages fruit flies. Always replace the covering after feeding your worms, and add new materials if the top layer starts to break down or become mushy.
What do worms eat?
Worms will eat many things, including fruits, vegetables, eggshells, coffee grounds, leaves, grass clippings, paper, and cardboard ! However, there are also some foods you should avoid feeding your worms, like meat, grains, and dairy products.
How Can I Use This Resource?
Are There More Resources on This topic?
- At Twinkl, we understand that practical experiments or activities can be just as enriching as a formal lesson in Maths or English. That’s why we have a range of resources like the worm food poster, which equip children with the information to explore and understand the world around them. 1. Make Your Own Wormery Activity- What better way to understand the cycle of life than t…
What Kinds of Foods Do Worms Eat?
- Worms like to eat both organic matter and small microorganisms. For instance, dead grass or berries are some of their primary foods. If they are underground, however, they may feed on algae, fungi or bacteria. While fruits are organic matter, not all of them should be used in a worm farm. Citrus in particular is highly acidic and therefore irritati...