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Worms and Worm Farming

Create The Optimum Bedding Formula For Breeding Worms

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One of the research sites on breading worms that I use posted this readers question on bedding for breeding worms. I thought that the response may be helpful so here it is…

“What is the optimum formula for bedding for breeding worms and feed to put in this bedding? I would like to start a small commercial business, not using beds, but a bin system.” ~ Karen Ciccini

Hi Karen!

There are many different bin systems you can use to start a commercial business.

I have previously mentioned about the tray/bucket system where you can effectively control the growth and breeding of your worms. During my skiving session from work I actually found a Youtube video displaying exactly what I mean. This guy called Mark Yelkin has created quite a good system using buckets to breed his worms. He also goes on to explain step by step on how he creates his bedding and harvest his worms.

You can see it here.

What you mean as a bin system is probably simply a large box which contains bedding and worms. It actually doesn’t really matter what kind of system you use, the importance of controlling the feed, bedding and other factors is essentially the same or very similar.

Worms need very basic things to be happy, but you will need to keep these basic things right to have a healthy working wormery. The 5 basic things are:

Habitat, correct temperature, correct moisture, oxygen and food.

Firstly with the habitat which is the bedding, it depends on how much worms you need to put in your system. The quantity of worms will then depend on how big your system is! I have previously mentioned that for every square foot in the bin you can add about 1 pound of worms. It does not matter how deep the worm bin is, because the worms stay within 6-12 inches of the surface anyway. So the bedding does have to be at least 6 inches deep to give the worms room to move around.

Knowing this can help you calculate your volume of bedding. As you may already know the bedding will need to be made of carbon rich material such as shredded newspaper, coir, or just normal compost soil. The moisture and temperature of the bedding is very important when you start the wormery. You need to make them feel as comfortable as they can in their new home so they can settle in quickly.

The moisture will need to be just damp but not soggy or else oxygen will not get through. Best way to test it out is to squeeze the bedding together and make sure huge amounts of water doesn’t drip out but that it just sticks together and crumbles apart slowly when you let go.

Temperature is important here as well, especially if you buy those compacted soil blocks which requires hot water to expand it. I know someone who expanded their soil block in hot water, then immediately dumped his worms into the bedding before it cooled down. He had to call up for another packet of worms. Instruction reading failure.

The formula for feeding is the trickier part because the rate of feeding can be affected by quite a few factors.

Feed too much and you may get ammonia being produced, too little and you will not get the maximum out of your bin.

A pound of worms can potentially consume up a pound of waste a day, but this is at optimal conditions. Which means the food needs to be right, the temperature and weather conditions need to be perfect, the pH is healthy and the moisture levels are right.

To be honest you will not be feeding the same amount of food into your worm bin and expect the same outcome every time unless you invest in a lot of resources to help you keep all the factors I have listed above strictly the same. I am talking about buying in heaters and coolers and have them inbuilt in the bins/beds, pH control, temperature monitors, moisture monitor etc and I guess as a small business you will not be doing that.

However you can put extra effort in to keep these factors relatively stable.

To get the food right you will need to create a carbon:nitrogen ratio of between 20:1 to 30:1.

The organic waste will also be best macerated to increase the surface area to work on, and for easier access for the worms (worms cannot bite chunks out of a broccoli stem!) Feeding in the beginning will be slow because your worms will be taking time to adapt to its new environment, and it has also not grown to its full capacity to fill out the bin yet.

So as a safe rule, add in half the amount of waste in relative to the weight of worms you have put in for the first week. Then every week after increase the input by 20-30%. By the 5th week the worms will have settled down very well and will have produced some new cocoons and baby worms.

From here it will really have to be feeding according to how your bin and worms allow it!
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Worms and Worm Farming

Worm Food Overview

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Last week I briefly touched on the topic of ‘worm food’ when I wrote about setting up a worm composting system, but I wasn’t able to get into as much detail as this subject warrants.

As such, this week’s newsletter is dedicated entirely to this topic. First we’ll chat about the important considerations to keep in mind when selecting food stock for your worms, and then
we’ll focus specifically on the topic of manure as a food source.

So what exactly is ‘worm food’ anyway?

Well obviously it is any materials/organisms ingested by the worms that contribute to their nutrition and overall health.

While we commonly think in terms of “bedding” and “food” in our worm bins/beds, in actuality bedding materials are simply a longer-term food source – offering varying levels of nutrition,
depending upon the type of material used.

As is the case with ‘normal’ composting (i.e. backyard composting, ‘hot’ composting etc), in order to have a successful worm composting system you need to have materials that are rich in carbon, and materials that are rich in nitrogen.

More specifically, you should be aiming for a ‘Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio’ (C:N) somewhere between 20:1 and 40:1, but there is really no need to spend too much time worrying about this – everything will work just fine if you think in more general terms. As long as you have a mixture of c-rich and n-rich materials (or are using a single material that just happens to be in the perfect
C:N range) you should be just fine.

When you end up with too much n-rich material – such as grass clippings, food wastes, and (some) manures – excess nitrogen tends to be released in the form of ammonia gas which can be very
harmful for your worms. On the other end of the spectrum, if you only add carbon-rich materials – such as sawdust, paper, cardboard, and peat moss – there won’t be enough nitrogen available to support the diverse microbial population needed to provide nutrition for the worms.

You MAY see an increase in worm reproduction (if using cardboard or paper specifically), but there is a good chance your worms will be much smaller in size.

It is important to consider your overall goals as a worm farmer when deciding what to feed your worms. Are you simply trying to compost your food scraps from home/work? Are you hoping to
produce a large population of juicy worms to sell to bait shops? Or, are you focused mainly on the resulting end product – the worm castings? (obviously there are other possibilities and many
combinations thereof, but you get the idea)

For the casual home vermicomposter (especially newcomers) I would recommend aiming for the high end of the C:N ratio – in other words, make sure you are using (and continuing to add) lots of
carbon-rich ‘bedding’ materials such as shredded paper/cardboard, straw, peat moss or coir (a more ‘eco-friendly’ alternative to peat).

You may not end up with the largest population of fat juicy worms or the fastest worm castings production, but you’ll be providing your worms with a safe habitat and your system will generally be more ‘hands-free’. These bedding materials are also well suited for moisture absorption – something especially important when using water-rich food wastes.

If you are looking to optimize your system for worm production (rapid reproduction and larger size) you’ll obviously want to select a food material that offers excellent nutrition. One such
material is animal manure, which we’ll discuss further in the next section.

Optimizing for castings production will be somewhat similar in that you will want to use starting materials that are very rich in nutrients (so your end product is also nutrient-rich), but you
will also want to consider the aesthetic appearance of your final product and the speed at which it can be produced.

Grinding, mixing and potentially even ‘precomposting’ your food mixture will definitely help, but you may also need to avoid using some of the more resistant c-rich materials such as wood
shavings, plant stalks etc in order to reduce the amount of screening needed.

Lastly, in order to ensure a consistent end-product you will need to make sure you are consistent with the type (and ratio) of food materials you are using – if the food stock is constantly changing, so too will your castings!

Regards,

Bentley Christie