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How do you start a wormery??

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Sue58 (U14442036) on Monday, 21st March 2011

  I`ve seen these mentioned a few times on here and have no idea how they work or how to make one. Can you help me please???

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• Message 2

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  Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Monday, 21st March 2011

  OOOODLES of sites on the mighty computer either trying to sell you one ready made or telling you how to make your own.
  
  Idea is brambling worms break down your kitchen waste as you produce it (little and often) and in doing so produce cracking compost and a fluid good for plant feed.
  
  There y'are all in a nutshell ! Cheers, Tony.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by Banjo Longbody (U13864842) on Monday, 21st March 2011

  Careful Kleftiwallah, you,ll have the spelling police after you!!. I believe they,re Brandling worms.
  Banjo.

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• Message 4

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  Posted by pastmemories (U2437829) on Monday, 21st March 2011

  Brandling worms are not the worms you require for a wormery.. Tiger worms are the ones you want.
  

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• Message 5

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  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  I got some from Wiggly wigglers and put them in a heap and they increased exponentially.
  
  G

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  Posted by Niblet (U14438752) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  Sorry to hijack your thread Sue but I am also very interested in starting a wormery, however I do not wish to buy one. The cheapest I have seen is around £50 and I cannot really justify that right now. Does anyone have any tried and tested ideas for a DIY wormery? I've seen ideas online for converting an old cyclindrical dustbin with a waterbutt tap, but I don't understand how to prevent the worms from drowning in their 'tea' or how they will shimmy up the heap if I don't put trays in it.
  Thanks in advance for your ideas!

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• Message 7

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  Posted by whatalottie (U9072847) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  Careful Banjo Longbody, you'll have the punctuation police after you. I believe it's 'you'll' and 'they're'. It's so easy, isn't it, to hit the wrong key!
  
  Lottie (please forgive any typos!)

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• Message 8

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  Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  Google DIY wormeries and you will find tons of ways of building them. Mine was quite cheap from stoke worms. As for what worms to put in there are two posts favored tiger and sometimg d. You can get them from fishing shops or from seller of wormeries.

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• Message 9

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  Posted by Bluedoyenne (U2341157) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  If you want a cheap, hassle-free wormery, here's my tip:
  
  Take an old good sized plastic dustbin with a tight-fitting lid and cut the bottom out with a craft knife. Take a square of very strong wire mesh; the mesh should have very small holes. I used wire mesh destined for the cages of big birds which worked just fine. Stand the bottom of the dustbin on the wire square and fold/mould the mesh all around the sides of the bin. Make very small airholes all around the (top) side of the dustbin (not the lid as this will just let rainwater in)
  
  Dig a hole as big as the bottom of the bin and a few inches deep. Place the bin into the hole and backfill around it. Secure it by treading around it with your feet.
  
  Throw some leftover meat (raw if possible) into the bin. Cover with a few inches of earth. If you have them, throw coffee grounds onto the earth covering the meat followed by a good layer of wet, scrunched up cardboard (the 'sandwich' cardboard made up of 2 outside layers with a wiggly bit in the middle is the perfect bed for worms). Cover the lot with a wet (not dripping wet) old wool pullover to keep the bin and its inhabitants moist and cool. Put the lid securely on the bin and that's it. In a very short time you'll have worms for free. After that it's just a matter of keeping them fed and happy (cool, moist environment, out of direct sunlight).
  
  Ok, you won't have the liquid, and you'll have to upturn the bin to get at your worm compost, but there's a lot of hassle that you won't have due to the fact that the worms can get themselves out of harm's way , should the need arise.
  
  

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• Message 10

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  Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011

  Here is my slant on thesubject;
  
  

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• Message 11

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  Posted by Bluedoyenne (U2341157) on Wednesday, 23rd March 2011

  After about a year researching wormeries, I started with the model you show Tee Gee - indeed I still have it, but I gave up using it a long time ago. Too 'bitty' and too many problems - from the initial period when every worm arriving with the kit thinks itself a Houdini in the making and many worms are lost through escaping. Also it takes a couple of months if I remember correctly for the remaining worms to settle down and for the owner to be able to start feeding them. The problems I found were worms drowning, even when I left the tap open for the wormery to drain permanently, and worms getting stuck in the bottom no matter what one does. It was also very heavy to move when it needed to be brought indoors to the garage over winter. And I didn't give it a short try either - my experience with the bin in your post lasted about 3 years.
  
  Wormeries are not rocket science. You just have to provide the right conditions and food and the tigers will come into it free of charge. With my current system, I just set it up and feed it when I have some food to give it. But I don't have to worry about worms going hungry, or burning up in summer, or freezing to death in winter or drowning. If the situation in the bin is not quite right they can leave through the mesh and go elsewhere until the conditions are right again, at which time they return. And in comparison to the price of the bin in your post ......

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  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Wednesday, 23rd March 2011

  Sounds a bit like edible snail breeding with which i had a modicum of success one year, about 100 eggs in the spring.
  
  What do worms live on?
  
  Snails like lettuces and leaf vegetable matter, to keep pure and grit free within.

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• Message 13

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  Posted by Bluedoyenne (U2341157) on Thursday, 24th March 2011

  Worms live on decomposing organic matter.

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• Message 14

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  Posted by Sue58 (U14442036) on Thursday, 24th March 2011

  I have just been in my compost bin for the first time this year and as it`s my first one was amazed at the thousands of worms in there,
  The worms did a fab job and am very pleased with the result.
  Perhaps I don`t need a wormery after all.
  Sue

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• Message 15

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  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Thursday, 24th March 2011

  you have to save the worms for their next decomposition task
  
  All of them; they ARE very precious.

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• Message 16

  , in reply to message 11.

  Posted by oldfogey (U8196337) on Friday, 15th April 2011

  After about a year researching wormeries, I started with the model you show Tee Gee - indeed I still have it, but I gave up using it a long time ago. Too 'bitty' and too many problems - from the initial period when every worm arriving with the kit thinks itself a Houdini in the making and many worms are lost through escaping. Also it takes a couple of months if I remember correctly for the remaining worms to settle down and for the owner to be able to start feeding them. The problems I found were worms drowning, even when I left the tap open for the wormery to drain permanently, and worms getting stuck in the bottom no matter what one does. It was also very heavy to move when it needed to be brought indoors to the garage over winter. And I didn't give it a short try either - my experience with the bin in your post lasted about 3 years.
  
  Wormeries are not rocket science. You just have to provide the right conditions and food and the tigers will come into it free of charge. With my current system, I just set it up and feed it when I have some food to give it. But I don't have to worry about worms going hungry, or burning up in summer, or freezing to death in winter or drowning. If the situation in the bin is not quite right they can leave through the mesh and go elsewhere until the conditions are right again, at which time they return. And in comparison to the price of the bin in your post ......   Well Blue,
  
  I believe you when you say that Tee Gee's wormery is a bit of a bother.
  
  You've got me all fired up with the greater benefits of your "current ststem".
  
  But, you have left us all, sort of, hanging on for a description of the new super-duper wormery?
  
  Regards, OldFogey.

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