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Post by Ann T Soshal on May 10, 2007 11:33:10 GMT
Does anyone have any experience of a wormery. My son bought me one for christmas, but it seems impossible to keep the worms in it. There is plenty of the correct medium and foodstuff for them, but nothing seems to be happening, except for millions of tiny flies, which are apparently supposed to be there, but escape in clouds when i open it to put stuff in.
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Post by Tina Biscuit on May 10, 2007 16:35:39 GMT
When you say you're having trouble keeping the worms in it, do you mean they're all climbing the sides of your wormery?
If they are, it's possible that things have got a bit too wet (does your wormery have a tap at the bottom? I usually leave the tap on mine in the open position to keep things well drained) If the compost that your worms are supposed to be living in at the bottom of your wormery seems very wet, it's also worth mixing in some shredded newspaper to absorb some of the water.
Alternatively, it could be that things are too dry (fussy little blighters aren't they?) Water them gently with a watering can with a rose attachment (preferably with rain water if you can)
The other thing to remember while your worms are getting established is not to overfeed them - tempting though it is to throw all your kitchen scraps in straight away. If you've ended up with a huge pile of food on the top of your wormery then your poor little worms will suffocate.
As a general rule - when you open the bin, if you can't see any worms on top of the food then they've got plenty. When you start to see a few worms on the top of the remaining food in the bin then it's time to add a bit more.
The flies are nothing to worry about, it all adds to the natural composting process - just remember to stand back when you open the lid!
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Post by Shuggie on May 10, 2007 17:26:37 GMT
A couple of additions, Ann:
Tiger worms dislike an acid environment so avoid feeding them anything citrusy (is that a real word?) or vinegary. Also avoid feeding them anything which has been soaked in oil. Otherwise anything goes - provided it's chopped up finely.
Even if you avoid acid stuff, the compost will still tend to get a bit acid in time (why? - I haven't a clue - it just does) so a handful of calcified seaweed once in a while will be beneficial.
If the flies upset you (time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana - sorry, couldn't resist it), leave the wormery lid open for 15 mins, to get the worms to bury themselves, and then spray with flykiller and shut the lid - it'll kill the flies and do no harm to the worms - honest!
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Post by Ann T Soshal on May 10, 2007 21:12:44 GMT
Yes, they are climbing up the bin walls and no matter what i put over it, they seem to get out. I'm forever picking them up off of the floor. It's not too wet or too dry, but i don't know about heat. I have them in the shade. Will try your suggestions, thank you both.
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Post by sarah on May 10, 2007 21:41:14 GMT
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. xx
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Post by Shuggie on May 11, 2007 5:52:28 GMT
Yes, they are climbing up the bin walls and no matter what i put over it, they seem to get out. I'm forever picking them up off of the floor. It's not too wet or too dry, but i don't know about heat. I have them in the shade. Will try your suggestions, thank you both. You could try "sealing" the bin - adding a 1" layer of sedge peat (not the normal peat - that's too acid) or, even better, sieved garden compost. My bin stands outside and I've noticed that the worms climb the walls only when it's been raining. Haven't a clue why - but they're easy enough to scrape off the walls and give them a severe talking to!
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Post by Ann T Soshal on May 11, 2007 16:17:39 GMT
Yes, they are climbing up the bin walls and no matter what i put over it, they seem to get out. I'm forever picking them up off of the floor. It's not too wet or too dry, but i don't know about heat. I have them in the shade. Will try your suggestions, thank you both. You could try "sealing" the bin - adding a 1" layer of sedge peat (not the normal peat - that's too acid) or, even better, sieved garden compost. My bin stands outside and I've noticed that the worms climb the walls only when it's been raining. Haven't a clue why - but they're easy enough to scrape off the walls and give them a severe talking to! I have had a few stern words with them, some quite strong, but the men in white coats are getting closer each day, and my son gives me strange, "she's lost it," looks. ;D
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Post by Tina Biscuit on May 11, 2007 16:22:57 GMT
I can recommend a book called 'Composting with worms' by George Pilkington as a very good eejits guide to your first wormery.
Think you can probably get it on Amazon and the like
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Post by territalks on May 12, 2007 13:14:40 GMT
Hi Everyone I would love a wormery! How do I go about getting one? How much is it likely to cost? TT xxxx
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Post by Shuggie on May 12, 2007 13:26:33 GMT
Hi Everyone I would love a wormery! How do I go about getting one? How much is it likely to cost? TT xxxx Simple - Google "Wormery" and you'll get approximately 47,800 hits ;D ;D
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Post by Tina Biscuit on May 12, 2007 14:00:54 GMT
Hi Everyone I would love a wormery! How do I go about getting one? How much is it likely to cost? TT xxxx Depends how big you want it and how much you want to spend on it really Mine came from here CLICKY and since there's only me and the cat here I've got the 'Junior' version. I have to admit that the bag of worms arriving through the post is a TEENSY bit icky - but it's definitely worth it
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Post by Ann T Soshal on May 13, 2007 9:58:42 GMT
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Post by Ann T Soshal on May 13, 2007 10:02:36 GMT
I can recommend a book called 'Composting with worms' by George Pilkington as a very good eejits guide to your first wormery. Think you can probably get it on Amazon and the like Thanks, i will try and get that one, def; need the "eejits guide.
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Post by lemanie on May 13, 2007 16:10:32 GMT
another eejits question here, do they really work? make lots of compost? and what do you do with liquid stuff - pour it on plans neat or water it down. I've looked at the site, and thought one may be good as i don't have space for a composter but i'm not sure just how usefull they are. thanks for your help
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Post by Tina Biscuit on May 13, 2007 18:06:46 GMT
another eejits question here, do they really work? make lots of compost? and what do you do with liquid stuff - pour it on plans neat or water it down. I've looked at the site, and thought one may be good as i don't have space for a composter but i'm not sure just how usefull they are. thanks for your help The amount of compost they make depends on the size of your wormery, I've had my tiny one for a year and they've just about made half a bucketful - it's not exactly a quick process! You water the liquid stuff down (about 1 part of worm liquid to 10 parts of water) and water it on the same as you would any other liquid fertilizer.
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Post by Shuggie on May 14, 2007 21:32:04 GMT
another eejits question here, do they really work? make lots of compost? and what do you do with liquid stuff - pour it on plans neat or water it down. I've looked at the site, and thought one may be good as i don't have space for a composter but i'm not sure just how usefull they are. thanks for your help The amount of compost they make depends on the size of your wormery, I've had my tiny one for a year and they've just about made half a bucketful - it's not exactly a quick process! You water the liquid stuff down (about 1 part of worm liquid to 10 parts of water) and water it on the same as you would any other liquid fertilizer. Each worm (I'm told) can eat its own weight in food each week. So, a couple of pounds of worms (a lot!!) eat a couple of pounds of food per week. Remember that in winter, they stop eating, wrap themselves up in their sleeping bags and wait till the weather warms up in the spring. I give them their last feed of scraps in about October, and then resume again in about march when they start banging on the side of the wormery and shouting.
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Post by territalks on May 16, 2007 7:51:07 GMT
Hi Bobcat I have sent for a Junior wormery from the site you gave me thanks so much. Love & Hugs TT xxxx
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Post by Tina Biscuit on May 16, 2007 18:57:59 GMT
Hi Bobcat I have sent for a Junior wormery from the site you gave me thanks so much. Love & Hugs TT xxxx Excellent stuff - give me a shout if you have any problems and I'll see if it's anything I've got wrong before!
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Post by scoo on May 20, 2007 20:38:11 GMT
cant remember how much mine cost. Started a compost heap in the garden, and relocated the worms from that.
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Post by lemanie on May 20, 2007 20:39:08 GMT
thanks for the information, i may wait to get one, i'm currently obsessed with water butts at the moment. lol keep trying to figure out where i can put another one
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