Guest author and horticulturist Felder Rushing shows how to use vermi-composting with earthworms to obtain superior results when fertilizing. Felder discusses the reasons this composting method works so well, explaining that earthworms eat anywhere from 50 to 100 percent of their body weight in food each day, then redeposit their intake to create the castings that make premium fertilizer. Some worms also have a high reproductive ability and can double their numbers in 60 to 90 days. Felder demonstrates how to create a vermi-composting bin using a plastic box; simply cut openings in the top of the container, then add newspaper, vegetables and worms.
Note: Felder recommends using red wiggler worms in vermi-composting, since they are able to easily process large amounts of organic matter and will reproduce quickly.
Benefits of vermi-composting:
- Recycles vegetables
- Maximizes existing nutrient-rich soil
- Inexpensive and easy to maintain
How many worms do you need? - To determine how many worms to place in the composting bin, first figure out how many pounds of waste will be fed to the worms each week.
- Next, divide this number by seven to get the average daily amount of food the worms will process.
- Then purchase enough worms (available in bait shops and select garden centers) to equal or slightly exceed this amount in pounds.
(Example: A household with 10 pounds of waste per week will average 1.43 pounds of waste per day. Therefore, the total weight of the worms added to the bin should equal at least 1.43 pounds.)
