Worm Farms for Sale
Worm farms are one of the best systems available for sale to recycle household waste. They are clean, odourless and efficient with few problems. Composting worms, such as tiger worms are the best type of worms for worm farms in Australia. Worm farms are also a great introduction to kids, providing them with an insight to recycling.
Used to quickly and efficiently decompose organic matter and turn it into vermicaste and liquid worm waste, both of these products are fantastic fertilizers. They also make a great activity for kids in the garden. Worm farms and worms are both great for the garden. Worms in the garden itself are experts at aerating the soil and converting organic matter into worm castings or vermicast.
Worm castings can be used in a number of ways in the garden, both as liquid and solid fertiliser.
A worm farm is a fantastic way to harness this natural composting method. Red Worms or Tiger Worms are the best to use in a worm farm and they can be purchased online or from retail stores across Australia or even local councils.
Remember worms like dark cool places, so keep your worm farm shaded. Avoid citrus or onions, worms hate onions and citrus and will run away (literally try to climb out of the worm farm) Meat scraps are not suitable for worm farms, worms will eat meat scraps, however meat scraps attract flys and maggots. Use the castings on the garden or in pot plants, or mix with water to create a liquid. Use the liquid waste as a fertilizer, but dilute it with water.
How to Make a Worm Farm.
Without doubt the easiest way is purchase a ready made worm farm, and these come in a range of sizes and materials. Size is important as you will be surprized how quickly you can fill up a worm farm.
Worm farms can also be made from old bathtubs and other large containers that have drainage at the bottom. With this method instead of stacking containers on top of one another allowing the worms to mo ve up as they digest one layer, the worms are contollled to move from one end to the other.
The secret in building a worm farm is to find a cool dark place to position the warm farm, preferably close to where the scraps will come from. So maybe close to the kitchen, or in a shaded part of the vegetable garden.
Worms used in worm farms do best on a mixture of Nitrogen Rich Materials and Carbon Rich Materials.
It is best to ensure that you have a mixture of these two types of material to help promote a healthy worm farm. Vegetable scraps and peelings alone tend to get a little to damp. Its OK to turn the contents of the worm farm every week or two to help with aeration.
What can you put in a worm farm?
Nitrogen Rich Materials for worm farms include:
- Vegetable and food scraps (not meat or dairy foods)
- Tea leaves / tea bags
- Soft stems from plants
- Dead flower heads
- Grass cuttings (Limit the amount of grass clippings to 1/5 and allow them to decompose for a few weeks before adding them)
Carbon Rich Materials for worm farms include:
- twigs & sticks
- shredded or torn dampened newspaper or cardboard
- wood ash
- sawdust (from untreated timbers only)
- fallen leaves (limit to 1/5)
A mixture of Coffee grounds and crushed egg shells (from cooked eggs) is also good for worm farms.
The mixture of coffee grounds and egg shells helps balance acidity.
Worm farm problems
A lot of the basic problems with worm farms are related to what you put in them and how you put it in. However a few other issues ar e rarely delt with so lets look at anaerobic worm farms.
Worm Farm Smells
If the material in a worm farm becomes to wet then it becomes anaerobic, (not enough oxygen), it will begin to smell, and this can be caused in a number of ways.
- to much wet material
- leachate tank is not drained every week, all the accumulated fluids (worm urine) will go anaerobic and smell
- or even worse is full and not draining, this causes the bottom layer to become very wet and again anaerobic
- lots of rain, rain can seep into the worm farm and make the material wet, and again anaerobic, put you worm farm under cover
How to fix an anaerobic worm farm
- Slow down the amount of food you are putting in
- Drain the leachate tank
- If you have a layered worm (the stackable ones) farm take the bottom later and place it on the top with the lid off. This will cause the worms to go down to the next layer and then you can dispose of anaerobic layer without losing the worms
- Put some shredded paper in to ‘open up’ and aerate the worm farm
Grubs in worm Farms
We are often asked the question about grubs appearing in worm farms, these grubs are usually the lavae of the soldier fly, or vinegar fly. They do not cause much of a problem however a sprinkling of garden lime will usually get rid of the grubs from the worm farm.
However if you have been putting meat scaps, then you may indeed have maggots in the worm farm. You might need to try removing the offending material, try lime and then if this fails, clean out the form farm
Do I need to use a worm farm compost conditioner? If you are using the right mixture of materials, have your worm farm in a sheltered shaded position then you probably do not need a worm farm compost conditioner. If you have problems, usually related to acidity, try adding Dolomite lime, widely used as a worm farm conditioner and compost conditioner.
READ ABOUT
Worm Farms
Organic Vegetable Gardening Basics
Organic Seeds
Organic Fertilizers
Growing Vegetables in Containers
Fruit Trees
Berry Plants
Seed Potatoes
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Saffron
Do I need to use a worm farm compost conditioner?
If you are using the right mixture of materials, have your worm farm in a sheltered shaded position then you probably do not need a worm farm compost conditioner. If you have problems, usually related to acidity, try adding Dolomite lime, widely used as a worm farm conditioner and compost conditioner.
Worm farms for sale online
Suppliers of Worm Farm Kits which include everything you need to start making your own High Quality Fertilizer in your own backyard. We supply Compost Worms, The Swag Worm Farms, Worm Castings, Worm Juice and Can even make Compost Tea to order.
www.wormtech.com.au