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Does a worm make you squirm? How about a few hundred of them living under your kitchen sink? That’s just part of the fun of indoor composting with worms. Vermicomposting is an easy way to turn kitchen scraps into rich compost for your garden or containers. Using only vegetable matter, it’s as organic as what you put into the bin and reduces the amount of garbage going to landfill sites. Your plants will thank you. And it’s a great project for the kids!
Most gardeners are comfortable with worms, and welcome them into their garden as hardworking partners in soil management. They aerate, they bring organic matter from the surface to deeper levels, and they enhance the microbial environment. These are the earthworms we all know.
But there are other worms that have poor burrowing habits and prefer to live in the littered surface of loose topsoil rich in organic matter. They are the so-called epigeic worms, such as Eisenia fetida (or ‘red wiggler’) and their habitat can easily be duplicated in a closed environment. This is our aim with vermicomposting.
This two-part article will show you how to construct your own indoor worm bin, create the environment, introduce the worms, feed and maintain them, and harvest and use the resulting compost.
The Bin
A regular RubberMaid or similar brand plastic tote is your starting point. You can use a discreet 10-gallon size, or a larger 25-gallon ‘Roughneck’ storage container. I have one of each.
Your bin will need drainage and ventilation, so drill ½-inch holes in the bottom and lid; if you’re using a large bin, drill holes in the sides as well. Cover the drilled areas with strips of fiberglass window-screening to prevent escapees or uninvited guests. Seal the edges of the screen to the plastic with duct tape. Your bin should sit on a plastic boot tray to catch any drips (leachate).
Bedding
The bedding for your worms is easily made from newspapers. Tear them into ½ inch strips or run them through a shredder. Wet the shredded paper, squeeze out the excess water and fluff it so you’re left with a loose bedding material that’s uniformly damp. Put a 3” layer of bedding into the bin and sprinkle it with about a cup of garden soil. This provides grit for the worms’ gizzards to grind the food they ingest, and introduces an important microbial element to your bin.
The Worms
It’s best to start out with the right worms: Eisenia fetida is the acknowledged best species for vermicomposting. This ensures that your colony will thrive in the environment you have created, whereas earthworms or fishing-bait worms would not. The photo at left shows my smaller bin with fresh bedding and my newly purchased worms placed on one side, ready to be fed and covered.
Where to get them? If you don’t have friends or connections or a shop that sells them locally, you can search for a supplier online. I found two mail-order companies in the USA with a quick Google search using “worms compost”: http://www.worms.com/ and http://www.happydranch.com/worms.html. They charge $25-$30 plus shipping and handling for a pound of worms, which is all you need (they reproduce quickly). There were Canadian sources listed in this search as well.
Plop your worms into the bin, add a pound or two of food and cover with another 2-3” of bedding. Close the bin and try to resist disturbing them. They hate light.
Feeding Your New Friends
All your vegetative waste can go into the bin: fruit and vegetable trimmings, peels and skins; coffee grounds (even the filter) and tea bags; overripe or rotting fruit, or that slimy romaine you forgot about; leftover cooked food (vegetative); even deadheaded blooms and pulled plants from your garden (avoid weed seeds). I’ve found they don’t eat root vegetables like potatoes or carrots (unless cooked or really rotted), or dried things like onion skins. They tolerate an acid environment with a pH of 5.0-5.5.
Don’t add any oil or any animal products (including dairy). Rinsed egg shells are acceptable but they don’t really break down. I don't use them.
Food should be in smallish pieces (under 2”). Worms can’t eat cellulose, so tough skins, such as pineapple and cantaloupe (they LOVE cantaloupe flesh) won’t be thoroughly broken down. Some people use a food processor to make a ‘slurry’ of the food, but that’s more work than I’m willing to put into this and the worms don’t really care. The end result will be a little chunky, but we’re making compost here, not a chocolate mousse.
Interestingly, the food we give them is not their main source of nutrients: it’s the bacterial, microbial, fungal growth on the rotting food that they seek. Adding a little garden soil to the bedding helps to establish this microbial environment.
Part Two of this article will cover maintenance of your worm bin, problems and solutions, and harvesting and using your worm compost.
About Andrew Aitkens
Andrew gardens in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the nation's capital city, located northeast of Lake Ontario in Zone 4-5. His townhouse garden is tiny, but features two second-floor decks; he also enjoys a family cottage site on the Big Rideau Lake with 10 acres of rugged, non-arable land, birds and wildlife.
Posted by markhartman07 (from Perris, CA) on September 18, 2007 at 11:46 AM:
I live in Perris California. temperatures are above 100F (38C) I guess the Garage is not going to work.I dont think my wife will like the bin indoors, any sugestions?
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Posted by Dutchlady1 (from Naples, FL) on January 7, 2008 at 1:50 PM:
I'd be interested in hearingh too what to do in zone 10
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Posted by andycdn (from Ottawa, ON) on January 8, 2008 at 11:56 AM:
From mid-winter here in Canada, I'm not sure I can advise you on high-temp situations. The main thing to remember is that worms prefer a range of 40-80F, and are best at about 60F. Perhaps you can find a spot in the back of your garage where it might be cooler, or a shady spot in the back yard (out of the sun).
It's interesting to consider where we choose to live. I don't like intense temperatures, yet I live in an area where the climate ranges from -40 to +35C. Gardening in these conditions -- a challenge!
If you build the bin according to my instructions, it is a totally contained environment and the worms cannot escape, so your wife's fears may be groundless, unless she just doesn't like the concept of worms and soil. And there is no odour.
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Subject: Egg shells
Posted by Carmellia (from Kenyon, MN) on September 17, 2007 at 2:07 PM:
My understanding is that the worms need some grit. A little garden soil can provide that, but I collect my egg shells and then powder them in the food processor. They are wonderful for mixing with potting soil and directly in the garden, as well as sprinkling a tablespoon or two into the bin once or twice a month. Plus it adds calcium to your end product.
Dont make the mistake I once made and load them up on fruit. They love it, but it can make your bin way too moist, to the point of making it inhospitable for the worms. They will clean off a cantalope to where the rind looks like a frail piece of parchment. Carmie
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Posted by compostuser (from Bremerton, WA) on December 25, 2007 at 8:43 AM:
When I started my worm bin three years ago, I made two very expensive errors. I hope to share my experience so others can a very costly mistake.
1) DON'T BUY YOUR RED WIGGLERS. If you can, avoid purchasing your red wigglers. It will cost you $30 for a pound. If you can, harvest them from your compost bin outside. Place a few cantaloupe rind upside down in the bottom of your bin. Wait a week and you will find several LARGE Red Wigglers. I find this method successful during the summer months.
2) DON'T USE COMMERCIAL POTTING SOIL. The worms need grit to help digest their food, but don't use commercial potting soil. I discovered that some commercial potting soils may contain ingrediants harmful to your worms (ie, fertilizers). Use the soil you find in your garden.
3) DON'T OVERDO THE CITRIC FRUITS. The acidity will build up in your worm bin and the worms don't like it. Provide your worms a balance diet of fruits and vegetables. Add calcium to your worm bin using egg shells. Rinse the egg shells and microwave for 30 seconds. Then crush to a powder.
4) DON'T FORGET TO HARVEST THE WORM POOP. Worms need a clean house and fresh moist bedding material, so make sure you harvest the worm poop and use it in your plants.
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Subject: vermicomposting
Posted by OntarioGardener (from Toronto
(Canada)) on September 17, 2007 at 11:38 AM:
I'm also interesting in the temperature range (on the colder extreme) as well as the method for extracting the compost. Great article!
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Posted by andycdn (from Ottawa, ON) on September 17, 2007 at 6:48 PM:
The low end really depends on the volume of the compost in the bin, where they can congregate if they get too cold. I've found they can tolerate 3-5C but they slow down. For our US neighbours in hot regions, they fry in hot temps, over 30C. I guess that's about 90F.
This raises an interesting question about how worms travel in their environment relative to the temperature of the bin, and if that affects how they digest as a result... hmmm
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Posted by markhartman07 (from Perris, CA) on September 18, 2007 at 11:41 AM:
I live in Perris California. temperatures are above 100F (38C) I guess the Garage is not going to work.I dont think my wife will like the bin indoors, any sugestions?
...
Posted by andycdn (from Ottawa, ON) on September 18, 2007 at 5:26 PM:
The coolest part of your house is the best spot, and if that means the garage, I'd say give it a try and if they don't make it, you've learned something.
And if there's a cooler part of your house indoors, try to involve your wife in the project. Can she handle a drill?
Good luck to you both... and to the worms.
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Posted by tomide07 (from ondo
(Nigeria)) on September 19, 2007 at 8:38 PM:
i want to know more about canavalia ensiformis:classification, characteristic morphorlogy, parameter, and habitat.
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Subject: my verms
Posted by wormlady72 (from Sacramento, CA) on September 13, 2007 at 12:59 AM:
I discovered vermiculture three years ago. I picked up my first two pounds, tucked them into their new bed, fed them my scraps, and was elated when I found their first eggs. Winter was hard on them, so I relocated half to a bin in the house. Over time, that bin grew into four bins, plus what survived the winter outside. When I moved, I had five jumbo rubbermaid containers writhing with the little beauties!!! They now live outside again, but they are losing the battle against predatory bugs, snakes and chickens...Back to the buckets they may go!
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Posted by 19flip44 (from Camanche, IA) on September 13, 2007 at 10:58 AM:
Hi Mr. Aitkens I really would like to start Vermicomposting indoors When can I look for Part Two?? I will go an get my Rubber maids to day at Wal$mart so I can start. Thank You phil 19flip44.
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on September 13, 2007 at 2:19 PM:
We love our worm bins - they live in our basement year round. When the red wigglers were first delivered 6 years ago, our Postman had just met us as we'd just moved in.
He now has become such a good gardening friend and he always stops on Saturdays to grab a "scoop".
Great article !!
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Posted by McGlory (from Southeast, NE) on September 13, 2007 at 4:43 PM:
Handsome Man would be creeped out, but it seems like a fabulous idea to me. Hmmmm...where could I hide it? The laundry room maybe, since he never goes in there. :-)
Thank you for an inspring article, Andy. I love a "how-to" that makes the project sound easy.
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Posted by Arias (from Richmond, VA) on September 13, 2007 at 7:18 PM:
The soul of romance [ my adorable husband] would never permit it. He freaks out at a rotted banana on the counter. So I must content myself with 'free ranging" worms who live outdoors.
Great article though. Very informative.
Arias
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Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on September 13, 2007 at 7:28 PM:
Great article....you've made the process informative and quite entertaining too.
Looking forward to part 2 myself!
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Posted by Zanymuse (from Scotia, CA) on September 14, 2007 at 1:45 AM:
I enjoyed this article and am looking forward to part two. I hope you explain how to seperate all the worms from the compost when it is ready for the garden, The idea of sifting through and pulling them out one at a time sounds awful!
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Posted by Cambium (from Tamarac, FL) on September 17, 2007 at 7:33 AM:
I saw a ph range but didn't see anything for temperature or did I miss it? I wouldn't want mine in the house because of the gasses produced by the rotting vegetation and/or produced by the worms. Was wondering about the garage but thought it might get too hot in there.
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Posted by 19flip44 (from Camanche, IA) on September 17, 2007 at 11:43 AM:
I have mine in my bedroom in the basement, I don't smell any gasses from rotting vegetation. A lot of schools have worms in the class room, eating the students lunch left overs. My two pet dogs walk by all the time they can't tell any food smells, You don't know they are there, and I have guests over and they don't say, Oh! what stinks? Only problem is coming up with all the names of my pets!! :) Phil
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Posted by andycdn (from Ottawa, ON) on September 18, 2007 at 5:30 PM:
Mine sits in the corner of the kitchen and I have had guests for dinner who never had the remotest idea that hundreds of worms were also dining right next to them.
