Worms

I've had my Compost bin since last March, the contents will go down when i add to it, took a looksie in the bottom door yesterday to see what it's done so far, but seems it needs breaking down more, was thinking i could probably buy some worms of the internet to help it along, my query is....when is the best time to add the worms? or is any time of the year okay?

 

I would add more Brandling, sometimes called Tiger worms in the spring. The worms can sometimes be obtained from anglers shops. I'd let your compost bin 'ave a kip over winter. Cheers, Tony.

 

Is it open to the soil at the bottom? They usually find their way into a food source like that & then breed like, well, worms.

Disturbed some yesterday while potting up some seeds, despite the warm weather for the time of year, they're not moving very much.

 

Sorry to digress slightly, but it is related I promise.

I use my council issue green waste wheelie bin as my compost bin. The first year we were here, I just used it as it was. It sort of half worked, but when I emptied it, the contents were only half decomposed, and a bit smelly. No good as compost, but ok for digging into the solid clay to loosen it up a bit and add structure for later.

Having emptied it, I washed it out with the hose, then set about it with my drill. I made loads of holes in the bottom, big enough for worms and bugs to get in but too small for mice. I also put plenty of smaller breathing holes up the sides. Enough to let the microbes breath, but not so many as to let the heat escape.

Now I can't seem to fill it up. It remains constantly about half full no matter what I do, because presumably the fungi, bacteria, worms, beetles and who knows what else are munching things as fast as I can add it. Of course if I look in the top, I can see that the most recently added stuff is still not compost. I might get the jigsaw on it next, and cut a hatch in the bottom of the bin to get the older, well decomposed stuff out.

 

I've done similar with a big blue barrel, same story, it eats everything. Been filling it for a year and its less than half full. Can't cut a hole in the side though as we have a lot of rats on the farm next door.

Left the lid off overnight & found a very angry one trying to jump out of it, must have climbed a tree & dropped in.

 

Completely off topic but I had to laugh flowerpot as your Sig reminds me of Monorail cat

 

Do you not have Stables in your area
We fortuantley do, they are more than pleased to sell you for pennies Horse manure
My source, it is £2 a hundredweight fill it yourself or £3 if their girls do it for you
You have a choice from fresh to 12 year old, the Five years and upwards have more worms than HM
I almost paid £25 for a kilo of worms on the internet, then got 60k for £2 filling the bags myself at the stables
(actually I paid the £3 a bag for the girls to fill, to give them there Pockle, but did it myself as it did not seem right to watch two keen 15 year old girls fill bags of muck for me, to earn a quid between them) Plus the tight jodphurs were more than my heart could take :-)

Jack Mc NAUGHTY Hammocklashing

 

Ziggy, the only place left in my garden to put my bin is next to the shed but on garden slabs so i had to get a plastic bottom for it, is that going to be ok for the worms to live in with no escape to the ground?

Jack, i found out one of my neighbours own horses, will have a word with her and ask if she has any five years and upwards manure at her stables i could buy from her

 

As long as the heap can drain ok, problem I have with worms is when I tip the barrel out. Once the source of food has gone they just lie around, hiding under bits of carpet & not doing anything.

I have to gather them up & put them in a new bin.

 

I have a couple of areas set up with old pallets direct on the ground and if the hens are out that is were they head first making a right mess.If they are out when i am using the compost the poor worms dont stand a chance,quite often i run out of patience with them and have to shoo them away as trying to dig the manure heap or compost they nearly get a prong attack from the folk!

 

If you have introduced brandling or tiger worms there's no problem with an open base or closed base with drainage as these worms feed on vegetable matter (that includes paper and card) and will in general gravitate upwards towards fresh matter rather than down into the soil where they wouldn't survive for long.