Worm farms.... stupid things

Ressurected black poly boxes that used to be a successful worm farm years ago. Now in different location and different house, what the 'ell am I doing wrong....

bought box of worms from Bunnies, put them in black box with a pile of sugar cane mulch, then scrap vegies, no onion or citris. kept adding mulch and vegie scraps and now after a month no compost pathetic amount of liquid and smelly mess.

The boxes are out in open but under cover from rain, are exposed to persistent winds from several directions.

Help please

Tony

I have two round, black plastic farms, a home made timber farm and something I was given that I can only describe as a hanging basket. On two occasions during extremely hot weather I have "cooked" the black plastic type despite being partially shaded beneath trees. Did that happen without you noticing? You should put at least a litre of water through the farm each week and quite a lot more during hot weather. This liquid is drained off as "worm juice."

Regards
Paul

Heat not likely where they are and started after our 'summer'

I don't have a worm farm so only what I am going to say is from research that I did when I was thinking of getting one.

There seems to be some variation in what people are saying when worm farming. The most common is to ensure that the farm is not in direct sunlight and that water is added. The amount of water is not clear.

Since my initial research I have moved from living in the city to living in a rural area. One thing that we now have is a fair amount of space and I have taken on digging a hole and dumping the vegetable waste in that hole. I should also add that after reading a book on Practical Self Sufficiency by Dick and James Strawbridge there was mention that putting vegetable waste in a garden bed before planting gives the plants a start on receiving nutrients.

Christos

A friend of ours did exactly what you have outlined and by the time she left that place she was on the second lap of the garden digging holes. She converted the soil from indifferent to rich black. All the indications are that it works extremely well. The trick is to stimulate the micro bacteria to convert the waste into nutrient. We have just started preparation of a vegetable garden using the work castings into half a corrugated iron tank, which is the garden. It has been filled with indifferent soil and some vegetable matter. Now we have to see what happens.

I have also herd recently that gypsum, which is traditionally used to break down clay soils, also works well on other soils as it releases nutrient bound up in the soil and makes it available to plants. You may have to verify this statement though.

Back to Tonto's issue. I think maybe the lack of water could be the problem. I do know that dead worms stink to high hell.

Regards
Paul

We use four shipping pallets, wired together to make an open top and bottomed box filled with yard and kitchen waste. Red worms love it once some bacterial and fungal rot detritus has formed. No need to water, likely due to daily supplementation with wet kitchen scraps.

Are your worms alive?

The lack of worm juice is definitely due to lack of moisture.

As the worm juice is essentially worm farm tea, and if you're not getting any juice there isn't enough water in it.

Worm farms and compost bins done correctly shouldn't really smell horrible, they do have their own distinct smell though

I sprinkle a handful of garden lime on our worm farm about once a fortnight or thereabouts or if the farm is starting to smell. I always keep a layer of moist newspaper on top, the worms love it in their own way. And as others have mentioned moisture is important.

Further to this or technically a totally different aspect.

Saw a bunnings stupid little compost twin tumbler type thing S/H and then a big metal round thing that sits on 4 rubber wheels attached pic. Ignored the worm farm and got these cranking away. The big unit needs some adjusting namely a strip of rubber glued to the bin so the wheels have something to grip rather than smooth metal.
Surprise was to see worm trails on back porch coming from worm farm so its got another lease of life.

Now that winter is here what suggestions are there to improve heating or just keep the containers warm...... warmth = heat = faster composting.... I think.

We live on ridge of a hill and get either of the two dominant winds, there is not a lot of shelter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tonto

Now that winter is here what suggestions are there to improve heating or just keep the containers warm...... warmth = heat = faster composting.... I think.

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I would paint it matt black and make sure it gets the most sun possible.

Regards
Paul

I really think that the bad thing in all that history is that you bought the worms from Bunnings.
They sell the worms by numbers which is, usually just BS. So what you did is that you trusted them with the numbers they were saying and you kept feeding. Not enough healthy worms in there, too much food that is left uneaten, hence the rotting smelling mess.
I would say that, at least for now, you should stop feeding them and let them go through all that food.
Even better you could find a good worm farmer in your area and buy 500g or more if you have lots of food scraps and monitor your feeding.
That would probably make your worm farm thrive again.
Here are some tips I have found from the guy I bought my little critters.
ELTHAM WORMS

When at the counter with my box of 500 worms and opened the box and started pulling them out.
"What the hell are you doing?" said dumb supervisor,
"counting them you stupid p**#k, you count everything else seperately, and besides if I get home and find 480 do I get a refund?"

I still smile at dumb face when I go in there, he hates me I just know it.

They are actually doing very well, in a freezing windy place but munching through anything put in the farm.