Wormery wisdom -
By dianebulley
5 comments
after 6 months of accepting that this is a slow job
(suits my brain) I emptied my kitchen Wormery tray today, lifting out the contents with a small garden fork,
taking out to an old washing up bowl on the water butt.
This job is much better done in the daylight.
Using the end of my trowel to sift through the
compost I then found lots of worms, plus many tiny ones.
They had been chewing away and breeding after all.
I removed all the worms by hand into a plant saucer
twice, because there were 2 Sainsburys kitchen waste
buckets full of compost, and took them back to the Wormery.
I didnt count them, estimate there were over 100 worms.
When looking in the top of the Wormery there didnt
appear to be any. I was almost on the point of giving
up. They were actually deep in the compost looking for something to eat !
My conclusion now (it was my fault as usual) living alone I do not generate enough kitchen waste to feed them. I
have now pulled up some Ragged Robin, and other soft
weeds from the garden, to fill up the tray to the top.
Citrus fruits, Potato peelings, Garlic and Onion waste
cannot be used.
When I put kitchen waste into the upper trays, the worms didnt ascend through the holes, as the manufacturer described. It would now seem that
working with one tray is the best way forward for me.
And removing the Worms from the compost in the daylight.
3 Jul, 2013
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Comments
Wonder why you shouldn't add potato peelings. I put mine in the compost bin - is this wrong?
3 Jul, 2013
Hi sue, tou're not supposed to put potato peelings in the compost, because of the possibility of them sprouting and growing from the eyes in the peelings, Derek.
3 Jul, 2013
Well, if this is right, it should be ok to put them in the
Wormery, as I peel very thinly. Any scientific advice
on this will be very welcome.
4 Jul, 2013
Hi Diane, the reason or not putting potato peelings on the compost heap are that they grow from the eyes, and can transmit potato blight, {apparently}, during the war, people used to chit their potatoes, then peel them and plant the chits, then eat the potatoes, but I haven't ound any reason that the peelings can't be used in a wormery, especially as you say you peel them very thinly, if the worms are working they shouldn't be there long enough to start sprouting, so I would go ahead and use them, but you're right they don't like citrus, Derek.
4 Jul, 2013
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Hi Diane, glad it worked out for you, Derek.
3 Jul, 2013