Tips on Raising Worms for Compost- Red Worms Composting

Raising worms for compost is very beneficial. It is a great asset in cutting down your amount of garbage thrown then producing organic fertilizers in the process. Red Wiggler worms are amongst the favorite specie in worm composting because of their efficiency. As long as there's plenty of organic waste material as food, they can eat up to 1 and a half times their own body weight in 24 hours and can produce worm castings as much as 75% of their own body weight. Red Wiggler worms being classified as Epigeic composting worms will burrow no deeper than 12" from the soil's surface- making them very ideal for worm composting.

A review on Red Wiggler worms(Eisenia Foetida) for vermiculturing are already heavy eating machines even at their juvenile stage; they will do nothing but eat. When introducing food please remember the following:

• Don't give foods that are acidic, salty and may have chemical residues in them.
• To avoid having bad odors when raising worms for compost, avoid giving too much meat and dairy products.
• Always feed your worms properly to avoid having them wandering out of your bins looking for food.
• Don't put too much food into your worm bin; too much rotting food will alter the PH balance in your bins.
• Cover the given food with moisten paper to lessen the smell of mixed organic waste especially with table scraps.

Red worms composting is the best organic fertilizer for conditioning your garden soil. Red worms composting is 5 Times Nitrogen richer than a plain garden soil. Nitrogen is mainly responsible for stem growth, flower bloom and fruit bearing. Red worms composting is 7 Times Richer in Phosphates which is important for the plants' roots and flowers and 11 Times Richer in Potassium that aids in growth, immune system and overall health of plants. Red worms, being classified as Epigeic worms means that these kinds of species won't burrow any deeper than 12" from the soil surface making them excellent composters and does a great job in keeping the topsoil loose aerated.

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Adding different kinds of beddings for your Red worms composting will be great for the composts' texture. When harvesting, you'll notice some of the bits and pieces of beddings that the Red worms can't digest. Using different kinds of beddings will make the compost pile richer- having more volume.

Things to watch out for in using materials for bedding:

• Chemically treated wood carvings
• Moist dry grass that was sprayed with pesticide
• Chemically colored papers
• Newspapers with clay and chemicals to prevent ink blots
• Accidentally introducing worm-preying insects with lawn wastes such as the Tiger Beetle.
• Too much bedding

Raising Worms for Compost, you can also make worm tea. Worm tea is also an effective organic pesticide for your vegetable plants. The compost is great in conditioning your garden soil, just mix it in as an additive and you'll notice improvements on the soil's consistency, it is more loose and packed with nutrients for plants. In keeping your pile of Red worm composting, it should be kept in containers with lid to prevent weeds from growing in.