Act at your level
for the protection of the environment
"Reduce - Re-use - Recycle"
It's easy, let's do it!
Initiation to wormcomposting
This composting system is the result of years or research and develeopment. It utilizes the benefits of worms - nature's own recyclers. By putting the worms, you will be converting your food and household waste into nutritient rich, 100% organic fertiliser that your potted plants and garden will love.
Which worms should be used?
There are thousand of species throughout the world and all feed on some
sort of organic matter but their preferences and habitats differ. Worms
can be divide in two broad categories depending on those preferences.
Composters: Only few species belong to this category.
"Reds" or "Dendras" are the most commonly used. They
live and breed in an organic rich environment like the Can-O-Worms
or other composting bins, or even a heavily mulched garden where moisture
and food is maintained.
Garden worms: These very common species like "Lombricus
terristris" and many others prefer to live in a less controlled environment.
They will not thrive in food wastes, prefering soil and humus as their
basic diet. these are deep borrowing and will improve the drainage and
aeration while replenishing tired soils with nutritients. Garden worms
could no live in a Can-O-Worms.
Composting worm produce worm castings (called "lombricompost in French) which can be used on gardens and potted plants.
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Can-O-Worms
Questions - Answers
Here are the most frequently asked questions about worm composting and
the answers of our experts!
Q1 – Do worms need fibres?
Q2 – How much will my worms eat?
Q3 – How can I help the worms to eat more?
Q4 – What shouldn't I feed my worms?
Q5 – Can I give my worms garden refuse?
Q6 – What should I do if my worms do not eat?
Q7 – Should
I add water to my worm composting system?
Q8 – Will I get too many worms?
Q9 – Can I put compost worms into the garden?
Q10– What should I do if the temperature
gets severe?
Q11– It's raining and the worms are gathering under
the lid; What should I do?
Q12– Are the little white worms baby worms?
Q13– How do I keep ants out of my composting
system?
Q14– Will the food waste attract flies?
Q15– What about maggots?
Q16– Does worm composting smell?
Q17– what happens if I go on holiday?
Q18– Why do I need to cover the worms?
Q19– Why are the worms moving down into the lower
levels instead of up?
Q20– I still have questions. Where
can I find more information?
Q1 – Do worms need fibres ?
Yes, worms love fibres!
25 to 30% of their daily food should be dry fibres, for example cardoboard
from egg boxes, empty toilet rolls, pizza boxes, hair, pet hair. Avoid
colored newspaper, the ink used being harmfull for the worms.
Don't forget to torn up cardboard and use it to absorb any humidity excess.
Q2 – What amount should they eat?
It depends of how many worms you have. Worms can eat as much as half their
weigh everyday. If you start your wormcomposting system (like the Can-O-Worms)
with 500g of composting worms (which makes about 1000 worms), they will
consume up to 250g of food waste every day in good conditions. You will
be able to feed your worms more after few months, as they breed quickly.
Q3 – How can I help my worms eat more?
Worms feed at a faster rate once they have adapted to any new food source.
They also eat more and faster if the food is chopped fairly small. You
can also control the temperature inside the system, so it stays stable
around 20°C. This will improve its performances!
Worms will leave the more acidic food aside, such as citrus fruit (orange,
lemon, grapefruit, lime) or onion and garlic peels. They will eat their
favorite food first.
A handfull of lime mix (or eggshells, calcified seaweed) ever week helps
to balance the effects of acidic food. The pH of your system should remain
neutral, around 7, which is what plants and soil need.
Furthermore a handfull of "Worm Treat" (cereal mix) will make
your worms stronger, fatter and able to eat more food.
Q4 – What type of food shouldn't I feed my worms?
Avoid feeding your worms with meat, bones or too acidic food, such as
citrus fruits, onions or garlic peeling. Bones are to be avoided because
they take a long time to break down and they can hurt when gathering the
worm castings. Note that manure from recently wormed animals will kill
your composting worms in only one day!
Q5 – Can I give y worms garden refuse?
Worms have no problems assimilating this kind of food. But it is important
to know that according to the size of your composting system, it might
not be adapted to such refuse. The Can-O-Worms is designed for kitchen
waste. you can add cut or dry flowers. Avoid grass clippings, which can
contain chemicals or malicious germs.
Q6 – What should I do if my worms don't eat enough food
waste?
Worms might take some time to adapt to their new food type. In the Can-O-Worms,
they will initially eat the bedding block (dry fibres, such as coco fibres).
So it will take some time to get into full operation. However after this
period you don't need to wait until they have eaten all the previous amount
of waste. As long as they are working just below the surface more waste
can be added.
Q7 – Should I add water?
Kitch waste is made up of 80% water. So, unless you need to cool down
your system in case of very high temperature, you never need to add water.
This water is liberated when the food breaks down and it is enriched by
the worm castings. A fully operating composting system will produce up
to 20cl of rich liquid fertiliser every day! This liquid is concentrated
and needs to be diluted with 10 parts water to 1 part of collecting liquid.
In nature, worms will go at the surface to avoid drawning. So will they
act in a composting system, gathering under the lid.
If there is too much water in your composting system, you can add cardboard
and paper to absorb it. It is also important to place a moisture mat on
top of the food waste to attract worms to the surface.
Q8 – Will I get too many worms?
No, you can never have too many worms. As in nature, they will adapt their
population to the available amount of food and space. Although they reproduce
quite fast, doubling their population every 2 to 3 months, worm concentration
should reach capacity at around 6000-8000 worms.
Q9 – Can I put composting worms in my garden?
Composting worms need a very rich organic waste and all year round moisture.
So, unless you are introducing them into thick area of mulch, they will
not thrive in the soil.
Q10– What should I do in case of severe temperature?
Worms work at their best between 10°C - 30°C, however they can
withstand hotter and much colder conditions. Make sure you site your composting
system in a sheltered place.
If it gets really hot, you can cool your system down; take the lid off
and damp the whole system down (keep the tap of the Can-O-Worms on). If
it gets extremely cold, move your composting system to a warmer place
or insulate it with bubble wrap or a blanket to keep some warmth in. You
can also feed them with more waste, which will create more warmth as it
breaks down.
Q11– It is raining and the worms are gathering under the
lid? What should I do?
They will often go under the lid, even before it rains. In nature this
take them out of the soil to stop them flooding and drawning. Place your
system out of the rain. take the worms out of the lid and replace them
in their bedding. An old plastic bin lid over the system will keep out
heavy rain, but make sure that air can circulate around it.
Q12– Are the little white worms in my system baby earthworms?
No, baby worms are translucent then reddish. The "white worms"
your are noticing is a type of worm called entrachyalids. they will not
hurt the worms, but they do indicate acidic conditions which can be overcome
by a weekly addition of lime mix. By placing a piece of moist bread in
your system you can lure them for easy removal. This will make a great
treat for your garden birds. Please note that many organism will appear
in your composting system (such as red mites and soldier fly larvae).
These are beneficial to the break down of organic material, so there is
no need to remove them.
Q13– How can I keep ants out?
If you have lots of ants in your garden they may enter your system. To
stop them entering, smear vaseline around the legs or place the legs in
a tray of water. Ants may be a sign that the contents are too dry or acidic.
Add water to raise the moisture and add a liberal quantity of lime where
the ants are gathering.
Q14– What about flies?
Sometimes the small vinegar or fruit flies get in, they do not harm. However
they may indicate that the system is too wet or that you are overfeeding.
To avoid, make sure that you have a moisture mat on top of the food waste
and that you add extra lime mix and plenty of dry matter, such as cardboard.
Q15– What about maggots?
Should you experience any influx of maggots, it will most likely be soldier
or vinegar fly larvae. Larvae love bread and should infest it for easy
removal. they make great fishing bait. Add lime mix and cardboard.
Q16– Will it smell?
the only smell associated with a well maintained composting system is
a pleasant earthy smell. If your kit has an offensive smell, it is an
indication that anaerobic bacteria have built up in the system in uneaten
foos waste. Stop feeding the worms and stur the waste in the top tray
lightly with a garden fork adding lime mix (not garden lime as it is too
strong and will burn the worms). This aerates the material and allows
worms to move through it more easily. repeat this aeration procedure regularly
to prevent recurrence. Start feeding again when all the smells have gone.
Q17– What about holidays?
Leaving an established composting system for 3 - 4 weeks without adding
food is not a problem. Just feed the worms a good quantity of food waste
(a third of a tray full) before you leave. Make sure that you leave the
unit in a cool place under cover and leave the tap open with a container
under it.
Q18– Why should I cover the worms with a moisture mat?
In order to keep moisture inside your composting system, you
should always cover the food waste with a moisture mat, some kind of material
that breathes. this mat also protects worms from extremely cold temperatures
and from the light. Worms are sensitive to light. They will eat this mat
and it will disintegrate. Adding more fibres will slow down the diintegration
of the mat, but it is important to always keep a breathable
mat over the surface.
Q19– Why are the worms moving down into the lower levels
instead of up to the top?
There are two possibilities:
1. You may be adding new food too soon before the worms have started to
work on the previous amount.
2. The casts may have sunk so that there is a gap between the trays and
the worms cannot reach the top, where the food is. Add more compost in
the lower tray to fill the gap.
Q20– I still have questions. Where can I get more information?
You can contact the Association Art Bio:
By phone:04 67 98 51 66 or (mobile) 06 12 05 82 39
By email: artbio@tripandtrip.com
