Frequently Asked Questions

What is Vermicomposting?

"Vermi" is Latin for worm. Vermicomposting means using worms to turn organic matter, such as fruit and vegetable waste, leaves, manure, coffee grounds, etc., into nutrient rich, water soluble compost. The worms eat these materials and excrete castings which are a perfect fertilizer for plants.

Some type of container. This could be just about anything....an old bathtub, wooden box, bin made out of cinder blocks, plastic storage tote, etc. There are also manufactured migration worm bins. We sell the Gusanito® Worm Farm bin.

Bedding material for the worms. Moist shredded newspaper works great and the worms love it! Best of all, you can get it for free from friends and neighbors or even from your local coffee shop like we do. Other bedding material that is frequently used is coconut coir and peat moss. We do not favor peat moss because it is a non-sustainable resource.

Composting Worms. The red wigglers and the red worms, Eisenia fetida(foetida) and Eisenia hortensis, are great composting worms and the worms that we recommend. We just recently started working with the African nightcrawler (Eudrilus eugeniae) and it seems to be very promising also. How many worms? The rule of thumb is to have one pound of worms per one cubic foot of space in the bin.

Provide moist bedding material. Soak the bedding material for 24 hours. This gives all the fibers of the bedding material a chance to soak up the water and prevents it from drying out prematurely. Once you have soaked your bedding material, squeeze out the water until the moisture content is like a wrung out sponge. Pull it apart and make it "fluffy". Use about 6 to 8 inches of this material in your bin. Add a scoop of soil to provide grit for the worms and also to provide bacteria to help break down the food.

Provide aeration. Drill small holes in your bin to allow for airflow. If your bin does not have a cover, then you don’t need to drill holes in it. Just make sure that you have a light over the bin so that the worms don’t try to escape. Also, periodically fluff the bedding in the bin to provide aeration throughout.

Provide drainage. You will need to either put small drain holes in the bottom of your bin or make sure that you don’t over water. Burlap at the bottom works great to soak up any excess moisture.

Fruits, vegetables, and paper products. They love fruit and vegetable scraps..the more rotten, the better. Try to avoid onions and citrus, unless it’s really rotten because they don’t seem to like it. Citrus can also make the bin too acidic. The worms prefer the PH around 7.0. All paper products are fine, except for the glossy paper used in magazines and advertisements. All you need to do is shred the paper and soak it before adding it to the bin. They love soaked cardboard too. These worms also love manure so we collect horse manure and rabbit droppings and allow it to age a little (outside of course). Aging allows it to heat up (anaerobic composting) and then cool down. The anaerobic heating process kills worms. One note of caution however if you decide to use horse manure. Many horse owners deworm their horses quarterly. This medication could kill your worms. We stock up on our manure and then wait one month after deworming before we get more manure.

The best way to feed the worms is to bury the food in one corner of the bin. This way the worms can move away from it if they don’t like it or if it heats up. It also keeps the fruit flies away. Rotate corners when you feed them.

It depends on what kind of worm you have. The worm that we recommend putting in the garden is the Alabama jumper (Amynthas Gracilus formerly Pheretima Hawayana). The red wiggler and the European nightcrawler can survive in the garden, but they need a lot of composted material mixed into the soil. These worms stay closer to the surface, so they are more susceptible to temperature extremes.

They have turned into compost. If the environment is not correct for the worms, they will die and they do so quickly. The moisture of the bedding needs to be like a wrung out sponge. Any wetter or dryer and the worms can’t survive. They need it to be moist because they breathe through their skin. If it’s too wet, they get soggy and drown. Once you have your bin started, you should only have to mist it every few days or even once a week. That’s mainly to keep the top from drying out. Underneath, it should retain its moisture because it receives moisture from the decaying food.

Overwatering. The worms do not like it if it is soggy in the bin. If water collects at the bottom.....they will die! It is best to just mist (with a squirt bottle) the top lightly every three days to once a week. Keep a few pages of moist newspaper, an old cotton T-shirt, or burlap bag on the top of the bin to retain moisture.
- The solution to overwatering. Stop Watering!! Add dry bedding material to absorb the moisture, mix and aerate the entire bin and keep the cover (if you use one) off. Make sure to keep a light on over the bin because the worms will definitely try to escape.

Overfeeding. Only feed the worms the amount that they can eat in a few days. If there is too much food in the bin, it will smell and attract unwanted guests, like fruit flies. How much do the worms eat? They eat ½ their body weight each day. One pound of worms will eat ½ pound of food per day.
- The solution to overfeeding. Stop feeding!! Remove the excess food. Aerate the bin by mixing and add in some calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate helps to keep the Ph of the bin neutral.

Mites. Mites are common to worm bins. They will not harm your worms. There are a few ways to keep them under control.
- Mites love soggy conditions so don’t overwater.
- Mites like an abundance of decaying food, so don’t overfeed. Starve the bin. The worms can eat the bedding material and will survive quite nicely.
- Mites like acidic conditions and the worms do not. Add calcium carbonate.
- Put double sided tape on the rim of the top of the bin. The mites like to crawl up the sides and hang out on the rim. They’ll get stuck on the tape.
- Put a piece of watermelon on the top of the bedding. Once the mites migrate to it, put it in a zip lock baggy and put it in the freezer to kill them or throw it out.
Fruit Flies. Fruit flies can be controlled by the same methods described above. The use of the double sided tape is very effective.
- Use the “Fruit Fly Killer Potion.’ In a small cup put some apple cider vinegar and a small amount of liquid dish soap. The sweet vinegar attracts them and the soap coats their wings. They fly into the cup and sink to the bottom.