{"product_id":"fresh-compost-worms-125g","title":"Fresh Compost Worms (125G)","description":"\u003ch2\u003eDo I really need worms?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nOnly if you have super bad soil which has no worms in it at all.\n\nYou can breed up worms inside a Compot by filling the pot with Worm Friendly Food only.\n\nAnd you don't have to worry about them living or dying.  They look after themselves.\n\nIf the environment is not to their liking they can safely move into the surrounding soil or move to another location in your garden.\n\nThus they spread their castings as they go, which we all know how valuable worm castings are in our soil.\n\nWorms need moist soil to survive so if you want worms in your garden you must keep your garden moist.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eDo I need to add fresh worms to a Compot?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nNot 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\n\nA great way to find out if you have worms in your soil is to fill up just one of your Compots with \u003cstrong\u003eWorm Friendly Food ONLY\u003c\/strong\u003e.\n\nThe 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.\n\nA.  Your soil type -clay, loam, sandy, sandy loam etc.\n\nB.  How moist your soil is. Do you water it regularly?\n\nC.  The climate - too hot or too cold they disappear.\n\nD.  How much organic matter is in your soil?\n\nE.  What ground cover you use?\n\nSo wait 3 months before you go buying worms unless of course, you know you want or need worms.\n\nIf after 3 months it is clear you have no worms, then you will need to add worms to your soil.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhy aren't there worms in my soil?\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nThere could be a number of reasons for this.\n\n\u003ch3\u003e1.  You live in a new estate\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\nYou 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.\n\nThis soil is usually devoid of any organic matter or worms and needs supplementing with fertilisers or organic matter.\n\nIf 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.\n\nGrass clippings and leaves mowed up together make a nice carbon \/nitrogen ratio for composting directly on your garden bed.\n\n\u003ch3\u003e2.  Depleted nutrients in your soil\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\nYou 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.\n\nTo fix this you need to start adding organic matter into your soil so the worms have something to eat.\n\nYou can do this by installing a Compot or two directly in the ground and filling them with all your kitchen waste.\n\nOr you can dig holes around your garden and add all your fruit and veg scraps. No meat, dairy, etc.\n\nAnd you can add a\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/organic-soil-conditioner-1kg\"\u003e good organic soil conditioner\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eor 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.\n\nAsk your supplier what they feed their livestock with.  Is it organically grown fodder or not? And was the fodder sprayed with bad chemicals?\n\n\u003ca href=\"\/pages\/composting-horse-manure-beware\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHorse Manure -Beware.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e3.  Bad clay or sandy soil\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\nYou have bad clay or sandy soil. Worms cannot move through dry hard clay soil or soil that is all sand.\n\nEven if the soil is sandy loam it still needs to be moist for the worms to move through it.\n\nOne 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.\n\nAnother 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.\n\nAdd cheap potting mix around the base and sides of the Compot to which you will then add some worms.\n\n\"Using a Compot to improve Clay or Sandy Soil\" Link coming soon.\n\n\u003ch3\u003eRemember\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\nYou do not actually need to add worms to your eco-eze Compot unless you have really bad soil.\n\nIf you are filling your pots up with \u003cstrong\u003eWorm Friendly Food ONLY\u003c\/strong\u003e then you can add the worms directly inside your Compot.\n\nOtherwise, you must put your worms \u003cstrong\u003eOUTSIDE your pot\u003c\/strong\u003e if you are filling them with\u003cstrong\u003e ALL your kitchen waste\u003c\/strong\u003e.\n\nThe worms will actually eat everything but only when it has decomposed enough so it is safe for them to eat.\n\nThey do however die if you feed them meat as they overeat the meat and it kills them.\n\nThat is why the Compot works so well because it is not the worms that do all the hard work.\n\nIt is the Soldier Fly larvae that devour anything and everything you throw at them.\n\nThey are miracle workers for your garbage. Learn to love your bugs because these little guys are magical.\n\nAs they devour your waste the juice they produce leaks out of the pot ready for the worms to digest (and feed your plants)\n\nWhich of course then results in worm castings and hence improved soil for you.\n\n\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/worms\"\u003eShop Now\u003c\/a\u003e","brand":"Direct Compost Solutions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55184126706036,"sku":"WOR-125","price":34.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1006\/7171\/7748\/files\/Worms_Red_Wrigglers.webp?v=1785570412","url":"https:\/\/directcompostsolutions.com\/products\/fresh-compost-worms-125g","provider":"DIRECT COMPOST SOLUTIONS","version":"1.0","type":"link"}