Fresh Compost Worms

Do I really need worms?

Only if you have super bad soil which has no worms in it at all. You can breed up worms inside a Compot by filling the pot with Worm Friendly Food only. And you don’t have to worry about them living or dying.  They look after themselves. If the environment is not to their liking they can safely move into the surrounding soil or move to another location in your garden. Thus they spread their castings as they go, which we all know how valuable worm castings are in our soil. Worms need moist soil to survive so if you want worms in your garden you must keep your garden moist.

Do I need to add fresh worms to a Compot?

Not necessarily, but it all depends on your soil and whether you want to use the Compot for Worm Friendly waste only or ALL your kitchen waste A great way to find out if you have worms in your soil is to fill up just one of your Compots with Worm Friendly Food ONLY. The garden worms will come to your pots usually within a month but sometimes it can take up to 3 months depending on a couple of factors. A.  Your soil type -clay, loam, sandy, sandy loam etc. B.  How moist your soil is. Do you water it regularly? C.  The climate – too hot or too cold they disappear. D.  How much organic matter is in your soil? E.  What ground cover you use? So wait 3 months before you go buying worms unless of course, you know you want or need worms. If after 3 months it is clear you have no worms, then you will need to add worms to your soil.

Why aren’t there worms in my soil?

There could be a number of reasons for this.

1.  You live in a new estate

You might live in a new estate where the soil was removed during building and a topsoil layer only was replaced – usually with a very thin layer of soil on a bed of clay, with grass on top. This soil is usually devoid of any organic matter or worms and needs supplementing with fertilisers or organic matter. If you are going to fertilise your grass try and use a good organic fertiliser so you have less chance of introducing bad chemicals into your soil. This way you can use your grass clipping on your garden to nourish and build good organic compost in your garden bed. Grass clippings and leaves mowed up together make a nice carbon /nitrogen ratio for composting directly on your garden bed.

2.  Depleted nutrients in your soil

You might have soil that has been overworked and depleted of all its nutrients over time so there is no nourishment for the worms to live on. To fix this you need to start adding organic matter into your soil so the worms have something to eat. You can do this by installing a Compot or two directly in the ground and filling them with all your kitchen waste. Or you can dig holes around your garden and add all your fruit and veg scraps. No meat, dairy, etc. And you can add a good organic soil conditioner or composted soil that you get from a trusted source that uses only organic waste to make the compost. This especially applies if you are buying horse manure to improve your soil but also cow, pig, and chicken manure. Ask your supplier what they feed their livestock with.  Is it organically grown fodder or not? And was the fodder sprayed with bad chemicals? Horse Manure -Beware.

3.  Bad clay or sandy soil

You have bad clay or sandy soil. Worms cannot move through dry hard clay soil or soil that is all sand. Even if the soil is sandy loam it still needs to be moist for the worms to move through it. One way to start fixing your soil is to cover your garden bed with a ground cover or mulch. Water regularly to keep the soil moist for the worms. Another way is to install a few Compots and start filling them with ALL your kitchen waste. So not only do you improve your soil for the worms you get rid of your waste but you help the environment at the same time. Add cheap potting mix around the base and sides of the Compot to which you will then add some worms. “Using a Compot to improve Clay or Sandy Soil” Link coming soon.

Remember

You do not actually need to add worms to your eco-eze Compot unless you have really bad soil. If you are filling your pots up with Worm Friendly Food ONLY then you can add the worms directly inside your Compot. Otherwise, you must put your worms OUTSIDE your pot if you are filling them with ALL your kitchen waste. The worms will actually eat everything but only when it has decomposed enough so it is safe for them to eat. They do however die if you feed them meat as they overeat the meat and it kills them. That is why the Compot works so well because it is not the worms that do all the hard work. It is the Soldier Fly larvae that devour anything and everything you throw at them. They are miracle workers for your garbage. Learn to love your bugs because these little guys are magical. As they devour your waste the leachate runs out of the pot ready for the worms to digest (and feed your plants) Which of course then results in worm castings and hence improved soil for you. Shop Now