Wormery Trouble

[Beecy]

ive started a worm bin about 2 months ago, its a plastic dustbin with a tightish fitting lid.

i drilled holes in the bottom and put in a bit of rubble, then some garden soil (ours is quite clayey)that all ready had worms in and have been putting in all sorts of garden waste and leftover food, and peeing in it every few days, its now about over a third full.


there are now quite a few worms in the mush at the very bottom but the stuff inside dosnt seem to be breaking down very well.

What are these additives that i can get to help it ?

Am I peeing in it too much ?

Do I need holes in the lid to let a bit of air in ?

 

[Graham Whatmore]

Hahaha! Its not the food they can't eat mate its the gravy they are getting with it, try using your own loo and leave the poor worms alone to eat in peace.

Providing there is ample drainage at the bottom, a good six inches of gravel or stone, with holes drill in the sides round the bottom they don't need holes in the lid, that will allow the rain in and if it gets too wet inside the worms will die.

 

[Lee Swords]

DOOOD!!

Don't pee in the bin!!!


Your pee will break down into ammonia and that stuff is deadly to worms!

Not only that do you want to rummage through pissy mud for bait?

leaf mulch and good compost is all you need then a few boiled spuds once a week (no salt)

 

[The Bone Collector]

Not only that do you want to rummage through pissy mud for bait?


Its cos he's a bin dipper.



Its a scouser tradition.



Why turn down a good meal even if it is second hand.

 

[Wayne Bradford]

i use one of my kids plastic storige boxes works a treat and small enough to hide from the bad weather all i put init is soil potato peels and a splash of water every now and again infact i have to take some worms out every month or so because it gets to full of em

 

[Beecy]

ok, cheers fellas, i'll go back to just peeing on the lawn when ive had a few and cant be arsed to tackle the stairs !


Lee, doo they have to be king Teds are are worms not choosey ?

 

[Lee Swords]

Not choosy!

:O)

 

[Beecy]

sorry to bring this one up again

my bins been on the go now 6 months or so and is coming along OK (ive stopped peeing in it ! ), evrything is breaking down to a good compost and it has a horse manure type consistency

it now contains a few worms, and they are just the sort I want for bream fishing, 2 to 3 inch red worms.

My concern is that there are not enough of them, i realy have to root about picking the odd ones out when id expect to be a seething mass of them in there by now. Also i have not seen any of the little white thread ones so suspect the worms that are in there are just visiting rather than colonising the bin

do i need to buy some and put them in or is it still early days yet ?

 

[ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)]

WHAT and WHAT NOT to use in compost

 

[glenn melsome]

sorry but am i missing the point as Ive already stated i was brought up in wickham a small village between Portsmouth and Southampton

down on the south coast near the isle of wight

my dad always had a compost heap which i youse to get my worms from

take 4 metal steaks say 5/6ft long mark out a 3ftsquare say3ft*3ft*3ft*3ft place onestake in each corner hammer them in to the ground about 2ft

some chicken wire say 3ft wide by 13ft long tie this to each post using wire

chose what is going to be the front cut down 1ft of wire in the front now you can feel this with all garden rubbish <u>except for wood</u> and house hold vegetable waste

get some compost fertilizer. each time you spread a layer say 6/8inc in depth of wastethrough some compost fertilizer on to it tohelp break down the mater

with in a few weeks you will have worms coming up through the ground

leave for about 6 weeks then check by lifting the first 1ft don't forget as you keep putting rubbish on put some compostfertilizer on to help break it down

but on the other hand find some one who has ahorse manure pile and dig through that to find the worms

 

[glenn melsome]

if you have any trouble with this in formation give me a shout

 

[glenn melsome]

another way of collecting worms is after it has rained heavily worms will come to the top on a lawn

another way is to lay a piece of old carpet or some thing on the ground this will bring worms to the serficewith in a few days

if your out walking your dog take a container with you lift any old items that have been left on the ground you will find worms or other insects be careful Theo there could be snakes under neath

 

[Beecy]

cheers Glenn for the tips

What i am realy getting at though, if my compost bin is ok should i now have a collony of worms in there or do I need to help it along by introducing some myself ?

 

[glenn melsome]

yes that's OK but if you move the bin there belayingunder neath it

your expecting a worm to go through the holes you've made in the bottom

the wait in the bottom of the bin must be immaculate

when it rots down your expecting the chemical that is produced to run through them holes but it will be compact

imagine the worm it seems very hard work to me

plus you cant youse the compost on the garden

the i dear of a compost heap is you can dig the bottom out as it fills up and youse it on the garden and still take the worms from the to half

what are you going to do when your dustbins full start all over again

so whats the point

a compost heap is continuis

the only way of finding out if youve got worms in the bin is to lift the top to see

 

[glenn melsome]

Matt

why you can only find worms in the top is as the material o mater breaks down it turns very wet

worms don't like it wet they've got to breath

so think about it that's why worms comes up to the top when it rains

 

[glenn melsome]

while were on the subject has any body else got any other questions on worms im not an expert but i will do my best to answer any questions

from the information ihave given you i donut expect you to be wasting your money in a tackle shop again especially £2 for 10 worms