Worm Farming A How To Tutorial

A lot of people realise worm farming is a great past time for making a bit of extra cash with minimal effort. Others find the idea of having an unlimited supply of nutrient rich soil more appealing. Whatever your reasons for having a worm farm you will need to learn how to set one up for your particular venture.

To understand how to set up a worm farm, the benefits worms provide must first be established. At it's most basic level worm farming provides your garden with nutrient rich soil that your plants will thrive in. You can also aid the planet environmentally with worm farming. Worms are a great composting technique and will eat virtually anything that is organic in nature. This includes newspapers, cardboard and kitchen scraps. Some worm farms are established for the purpose of providing live bait to fishermen, exotic pet owners and even aquarium fish owners.

Now that you know why you want a worm farm you can start the planning and setting up. One of the best ways to start is with a worm farming bin. These are readily available online or at your local gardening supply store. Worm farm bins are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Some large scale worm farmers will often sell small set ups for a comparable price.

If you like to do it yourself you could even try making your own out of common household items. A modified plastic tub or a large wooden box is all you need to make a nice home for your worms.

Multiple layers are required to provide a space for the liquid run off. The liquid will run off the soil above and can be drained via a tap or hole at the bottom of the container. Worms move about and live in the very top layer. It is on this top layer that you put all of your composting material for the worms to munch on.

For those of us who have small or even no backyards you can still get into worm farming with one of the many indoor models available. The worm farm can be extended by stacking more bins on top.

The proper bedding material is required to keep your worms healthy and happy. Using peat moss or coconut fiber interspersed with compost material are two such options. It is important to keep the bedding moist for the worms. Many prepackaged worm bins come complete with bedding and set up instructions.

Location of the bin is important as well. Worms are unable to tolerate extremes in temperature. A controlled temperature of between 72 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect. Another option is to choose a fully insulated system to avoid extremes in temperature ranges. Moisture levels will be affected by where you locate the bin as well.

Once you have everything in place all you need now is a few worms to get it all started There are many species of worms that are readily available all boxed up and ready to go. If you are mostly using worms for compost Red Wigglers would be your best bet but for live bait you would want to go for the European Night Crawlers.

When you receive your worms you will want to check the instructions on how to acclimatise your worms. One of the most important steps is to make sure your bedding is already prepared and in place.

Now for the fun part, feeding the worms. The variety of items you can use as worm food is mind boggling. Egg shells, paper products, carboard as long as it is pre-soaked, cotton rags and even human hair are all fair game as far as worms are concerned. To make your worms more efficient cut everything down into small sizes. Slice your fruits into strips so your worms can get at them easier.

Provide a layer of items to be consumed on the top layer of the soil. To avoid over feeding, only add more food when most of previously fed food has been eaten.

Worm castings can be found in the bottom layer of the soil. By adding this straight to the garden you will be providing your plants with one of nature's best fertilizer's. A liquid fertilizer can be made by adding water to castings for plants and flowers that prefer to be fed directly at the roots.

Your worms will require very little maintenance once you have them established. If the worms don't like it they will simply crawl away in search of a more optimal environment. Your worms will be happy to shack up with you if you keep up a fresh supply of food, good moisture levels and a constant temperature.