Vermicomposting
How Is Vermicompost Prepared?
Vermicomposting utilizes the impressive appetites of earthworms to produce compost in confined spaces. Red wiggler earthworms (Eisenia fetida) can eat their weight in garbage every day, and their digestive systems act as miniature composting units, converting that garbage into castings rich in nutrients and organic matter. Furthermore, because vermicomposting requires very little space, apartment dwellers and ...
Vermicompost vs. Dirt
Vermicompost is to regular dirt as a gourmet meal is to a few crusts of bread. Plants of course can grow in dirt, but an admixture of vermicompost, which is composed of worm castings or manure, optimizes the soil and nourishes greenery to grow its best. From golf courses to home gardens, turf growers to nurseries, vineyards to greenhouses, vermicompost makes an impact in creating lusher grass, plumper vegetables and ...
How Does Vermicomposting Work?
Vermicomposting appeals to apartment dwellers and to homeowners who can't use a traditional compost pile in the winter months. By keeping earthworms housed in a compact bin and feeding them kitchen scraps, newspapers and junk mail, vermicomposters create their own free soil amendment while reducing waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans send about 33 million tons of food waste to ...
Vermicomposting 101
If you can't fit a compost bin, tumbler or pile in your backyard, vermicomposting may be the perfect way to dispose of your biodegradable kitchen scraps. Vermicomposting is an efficient way to compost indoors by using worms to break down waste. The worms consume typical composting materials such as coffee grounds, vegetable peelings and fruit scraps. They excrete compost called castings. Once mature, vermicompost is ...
More Articles on Vermicomposting
How to Control Mites in Vermicompost Bins
Vermicomposting almost seems too good to be true: Keep a small bin of worms and bedding in your house, and they'll turn your kitchen food waste into rich soil for the garden. Nevertheless, that's exactly how it works. A small bin measuring 2 feet by 4 feet and 1 foot deep will hold enough worms to consume an average couple's food waste (see References 1, page 19). Occasionally, you might notice large colonies of small red mites in your bin (see References 2, page 67, 69). They're not harmful, and they're easily controlled by keeping your bin from becoming too wet.
How to Vermicompost in Winter
Composting can be difficult in wintertime. When your compost pile freezes, decomposition slows to a crawl. Any food scraps or other items you add during this time simply freeze until spring, when the pile thaws and composting resumes (see Reference 1, pages 18 and 19). However, it is possible to produce rich compost all winter with indoor worm bin composting, also called vermicomposting. A well-maintained bin won't create odors or attract flies, so it can be kept in any convenient location where it won't freeze.
