Two Small (But Easily Fixable) Mistakes Most People Make When Starting a Worm Farm

Getting started worm farming can be an exciting and straightforward affair.

You don’t need much; Just a small handful of worms, a container to house them and some green kitchen scraps and other brown waste that can be found around the house to feed them.

When this process is properly carried out, the end results are rewarding:

·??????An odour-free environment that produces nutrient rich ‘worm castings’ which are one of the best all natural, nutrient rich fertilisers on the market

·??????A thriving worm habitat that allows the population of your worms to double approximately every three months, which equates to your being able to get rid of more biodegradable waste.

But too often, beginners get excited and make mistakes. Mistakes that can easily kill your little friends.

Mistake 1: Overfeeding your worms. Under ideal circumstances, composting worms can eat up to half their body weight in food, per day. By putting too much food into your worm farm at one time, you are setting the stage for turning your worm farm into an aerobic composting bin. These environments rely on heat—not worms--to help break down waste. Excessive heat can easily kill composting worms.

The solution is to start feeding your worms slowly and let them tell you when they’re ready for me. When approximately half of their previous quantity of scraps have been consumed, your worms are letting you know they’re now ready for more.

Mistake 2: Underestimating the importance of ‘brown waste’. Brown waste materials are your carbon sources. These can include: brown grass clippings, untreated sawdust, leaves, straw, hair clippings, aged horse manure, vacuum cleaner dust, shredded paper and more.

Each feeding should include a 50:50 percentage of nitrogens (green waste) to carbons (brown waste).

Keeping your feedings mixed in this proportion will ensure the acidity levels in your worm farm remain balanced. And ultimately, your worms happy and thriving.