Wormeries

Loraine3

I have inherited a wormery which is almost full of compost but which is very wet. The tap  at the bottom is broken and I have to use pliers to turn it on. Very little of the liquid comes out. There are loads of worms. I also need to know what percentage of the liquid to use for feeding and is it suitable for all plants.

Rick greenfingers

hi use 1 part liquid feed to 10 parts water, i would invest in a new one as they dont like being waterlogged, but they do give a very good feed to plants

Dovefromabove

This might help http://www.wormcity.co.uk/wormfaq.htm 

figrat

Rick's right, you do need to get the drainage sorted out otherwise the worms will drown. In the meantime, would it be possible to put some sort of container under the faulty tap ( left turned on as much as you can) to catch the worm juice? You could then decant that into, say, empty milk cartons to save it.



I had a wormery yonks ago, and remember being amazed at how much liquid it produced. But in the end, I found it to be a bit too high maintenance, so I went over to regular composting with dalek bins.

FloBear

I leave the tap on my wormery permanently open to stop the build up of liquid in the sump where the worms can drown. There is room to wedge a 2pt milk carton under at an angle and when it is full I put the lid on and wedge another one. As figrat says, a wormery is more of a faff than compost bins but I have to say I like having mine and although I get much less compost than a bin, it happens quickly and I use it as a special treat for plants how daft is that?

jo4eyes

I'm another who permantly leaves the tap open with a large glass jug beneath. That way I can spot signs of possible blockage, ie no liquid, & deal with it promptly.

Empty, plus lid, milk bottle cartons are used for the liquid which I try to dilute, very approximately, at 10water:1liquid. Great food for my permanent plants in pots/containers. As my wormery is outside the back door it's conveneient to add to it little & often. Great when weather too cold/wet to trot down to bottom of garden to my main bins.

The resulting compost is fine in texture & I sometimes add it to my other compost for planting, or use as a neat mulch on any bare soil that needs it. Other times I've used it as an accelerator for my bigger bins & vice versa if the wormery seems less active. J.

figrat

Hmmm. You lot are making me rethink wormery. Can you put cooked waste food in them? That's just about the only thing I don't put in the compost bins.

artjak

Figrat, I agree; what can we put in it?

figrat

I've just had a look at the link that Dove put on earlier in the thread which is very comprehensive. And yes, you can cook cooked food in..and dog poo apparently, though I think I'd rather bag and bin that!

artjak

Have just looked at the link and am seriously thinking of getting one. I'll wait until after I've done this composting course next week to find out more about it. I love the idea of free plant food without nasty chemicals and plastic bottles.

FloBear

Like Jo, mine is outside the back door and handy for small amounts when the weather precludes a trek down the garden!