Your worms have been freshly harvested from a working worm farm so they are fit and well fed and will be able to manage overnight without the need for extra food or water. However, worms are great escape artists and they will make efforts to get out of their container. To prevent this, you need to keep your worms well lit. You can leave them near a small lamp (not close enough to heat them though), or leave them in the laundry or bathroom with the light on overnight.

I’ve got my worm bin home, now what’s the first thing I should do?

Once you’ve opened up your Can-O-Worms, the first thing you should do is prepare the coconut fibre block included with your worm farm for use as worm bedding. Place the block in a 9-10L bucket and half fill with water. Allow to soak for at least half an hour, stirring occasionally to ensure the fibres separate and become wetted. If all of the water becomes absorbed, add some more. Don’t add so much water that the material becomes a slurry. The coconut fibre block will swell to four or five times it’s original size and break apart to form a moist, loose material for your worms to shelter in. While the block is soaking, you can put together your Can-O-Worms.

I’m finding the tap a bit tricky to fit. How can I do this more easily?

Fitting the tap is easier if you hold the nut steady, and turn the tap. Put the tap through the hole of the worm bin and position the securing nut over the thread. Hold the securing nut steady and turn the tap to screw it into the securing nut.

I’ve heard that I shouldn’t put onions and citrus in my worm farm. Is this true?

A common myth about worm farms is that you can't put onion and citrus in them. This is not entirely true. Small amounts of these materials in a worm farm receiving a variety of kitchen scraps will not be harmful and will break down normally. As with many things in life, balance and moderation are the key. So the rind of a lemon or two each week will be managed by your Can-O-Worms. However, if you're squeezing your own orange juice every day (or eating a lot of onions!) and these materials form a large proportion of your kitchen scraps, you should divert some of these materials to your normal composting system.

What are the worms in my garden?

In Australia, we can group worms we commonly come across into two types; those that work well when their needs are met in specifically managed composting systems , and earthworking worms that live free in the soil and are adapted for burrowing and working in the soil. The worms that you find when digging in your garden are most likely to be earthworking species. These can be native or introduced species, depending on your location. They play an important role in your garden, burrowing and creating channels for the movement of water into and through the soil, and creating paths for root growth. Many of these species ‘oestivate’ or retreat to depth in the soil for a sleep over summer, returning to the topsoil in autumn and working throughout winter. It is unlikely that the worms you find in your garden will survive for long in a worm composting system. Likewise, it is unlikely that your composting worms will survive for long in your garden. Composting worms require controlled levels of moisture and temperature and a wealth of decaying organic matter. Composting species are not good burrowers, so even if you can get them to survive in your garden, they won’t give you the same benefits as the earthworking species. You can encourage your earthworkers to work harder by providing them with food and a more stable environment– organic matter applied to the soil surface, such as straw mulches, rotted manures and low rates of compost, work very well. A key exists for identifying sixteen of the most common earthworms in Australia. Contact EcoResearch on (08) 8339 8628 for details.

Will my composting worms live in my compost pile?

Your worms may survive in your compost heap if it is protected from cycles of wetting and drying, is well aerated, and protected from direct sunlight, rats, ants and birds. Composting worms require consistently moist conditions, and will not tolerate temperatures greater than 40C. The compost pile also needs to be turned regularly so that the materials are soft, well aerated and easy for the worms to move through (compost worms are not great burrowers). Predators are the greatest enemy of worms in compost heaps. Rats are particularly efficient in wiping out a population, and may even live in the compost heap if it is not turned and watered regularly. Dry conditions may also allow ants to become established, particularly if food scraps are put in the compost pile. Ants will sometimes attack and destroy worms, seeing them as competitors for food sources. Birds may scratch around the edge of the heap and take the odd worm, but are unlikely to destroy the population.

How much vermicompost will I get and how should I use it?

This will depend on how many people live in your household, how effectively you manage your worm farm and how well worked you want the vermicompost to be. A single person household might expect to empty one tray of vermicompost every six or so months. In a three or four person household with someone taking good care of the worm farm, you might get a tray of vermicompost every two to three months. Vermicompost can be applied to potplants and around the garden in a layer up to 2cm deep. The vermicompost is a biologically active material – you can think of it as a living community of beneficial microbes and fauna. It will work most effectively in the garden if you protect it from the sun and from drying out by applying a straw or compost mulch over the top. Keeping the topsoil mulched will also allow plants to establish roots close to the surface, and gain the benefits of plant regulating hormones and nutrient releasing enzymes present in the vermicompost.

How do I harvest the vermicompost?

Get a sheet of plastic or an old tarp which will give you a working area of about 1m by 1m. Put the plastic sheet on the lawn or patio where it will be in direct sunlight. Tip the entire tray out onto the plastic, worms and all. Form the pile into a rough cone shape and leave for about five minutes. This will allow the worms to retreat from the sun into the centre of the pile. Scrape the top of the pile checking that it is free of worms, and place off to the side of the main pile. When you reach the area where worms are present, reform the main pile into a conical shape and again leave for five minutes. Repeat this process of forming the pile and scraping away the worm-free material until you end up with a small amount of vermicompost with a mass of worms hiding underneath. Scrape up the worms and return them to the worm farm with fresh bedding, fresh food scraps and a handful or two of the vermicompost to inoculate the new tray with beneficial microbes and fauna. The vermicompost should now be free of worms and ready to use on the garden.

Can I use the liquid that comes out of the worm farm on the garden?

Yes. The liquid should be drained away regularly and it is suited for gardening. For garden beds, trees and shrubs, if the soil is already well moistened, the liquid can be applied directly. If the soil is fairly dry, or conditions are warm, dilute the liquid. Drain the liquid into a 9L bucket, then top up with water. Use this method for pot plants as well. The reason for diluting the liquid is that it can contain many water soluble salts and nutrients. While these are beneficial to your plants, in high concentrations they can burn the plant or reduce water uptake. Unless you have equipment to monitor the electrical conductivity of the liquid, it's safest to dilute it before applying to potplants or dry soil.

Where should I put my worm bin?

In Australian conditions, the biggest killer of worms is heat. Worms have a temperature range of around 0-35^oC. A worm bin left in a sunny position can quickly heat up. While this may be beneficial is winter, in summer it is easy to kill a population of worms. Remember too that your kitchen scraps break down in the bin and can generate their own heat. In summer, it is most important that the worm bin is in a fully shaded position, preferably on the southern side of the house, close to walls that don't heat up during summer. In very hot conditions, where the temperature is above 35^oC, consider placing a wet hessian bag over the top of the worm farm and water the worm farm twice a day with 9L of cool water (check it's not hot from being in the hose!) and drain. This will help flush the heat out and leave the worms well hydrated.

There are lots of small white worms living in my worm bin. Are they baby worms?

No. Young worms have the same pink or red colouring as larger adult worms. The small white worms are creatures called enchytraeids, pronounced en-ka-TRAY-ids. They are beneficial and a sign that your worm bin is ticking over nicely. They will assist in the breakdown of organic materials in the worm bin.

When I drain out the liquid from the bottom of the worm farm, there are lots of small white dots on the liquid. What is that?

They are collembola, commonly known as ‘springtails’. They are beneficial creatures living in your worm farm contributing to the breakdown and cycling or organic matter. They often get washed out of the worm farm when you water it. If you have a hand lens, look closely at them and you will see that their tails are held underneath their bodies, ready to act like a spring, so they can jump quite some distance. However, the surface tension of the water traps them, and they end up massed on top of your worm liquid.

What can I do about ants?

Ants can be quite a problem if they infest a worm farm. They tend to dominate the areas they overtake, and will attack and destroy worms that seek access to those areas. Ants can be prevented with several strategies. Firstly - physical prevention. Ensure the worm farm is not sitting on the ground, or leaning against anything that ants can use to get access. Ensure there is no long grass for ants to use as a ladder. Put each leg of the worm farm in an icecream container and keep half filled with water. Secondly - moisture. Ants like dry conditions, so if they've moved in, it's a sign your worm farm is too dry. Water immediately with a 9L bucket of water and drain. Use a hand-held garden fork to rake through the colonies, and water again. Repeat each day until the ants have been encouraged to move on. Ensure thereafter that the farm is kept moist and that the physical preventions to limit ant access have been undertaken. Tuck three or four sheets of damp newspaper inside the top of the tray. Thirdly - food types. Ants often seek sweet and sticky foods. Either limit the amount of these foods going in, or ensure they are well wetted and covered with damp newspaper.

LINKS AND RESOURCES

Websites:

Reln Can-O-Worms and Worm Factory information

Zero Waste South Australia - home vermicomposting information

KESAB - Wipe out Waste - home and school vermicomposting information

Books and Video:

Worms Eat My Garbage - Mary Appelhof. How to set up and maintain a worm composting system.

Wormania! - Educational Video for ages 8 and up on home vermicompost systems.

(please contact EcoResearch for further information about books and videos).