Saturday, June 6, 2009

Facts about Worm Farming

By Kevin Lawrence

You should be advised that getting started on a worm farm isn't very complicated all you'll need is a passion for recycling and a little bit of worm trivia so here's some worm trivia that could help to motivate and inspire youmore with your worm farm venture. How much will the worms eat?Mature worms capable of eating up to three times their own body weight on daily basis and those who are just getting their feet wet in the great worm farming world and would enjoy knowing how make the worms consume more to be more productive.

The answer is simple - shred, mash or blend food scraps as these will give added digestibility and is not hard for the worms to eat. Also maintain worm bed temperature at around 23-25 degrees Celsius, since you'll find it's at these temperatures that worms feed better but, avoid acidic foods, since it will hurt their digestive system. Here are some things you may also want to avoid feed your worms at all manure, onions, citrus fruits or peelings, garlic, garden waste sprayed with insecticides, dairy products like milk and cheese or meat.

Keeping the farm moist will double the production of the liquid fertilizer but take care not to add too much water in the farm or the worms will die. Remember that food wastes are about 80 percent water, and that gets released when the worms break them down. So, if you happen to pour water atop the system every couple of weeks, make sure that you only add enough to be sure that the worm bed stays damp, as well as cool and you will have a constant supply of fertilizer. You can't harvest the worms because they regulate themselves within any given or available space and food given to them. Here are a few other questions that you may find yourself asking.

Why is it common for worms to congregate on the lid of the farm when it rains? It is a normal response for these worms to act in this manner during this time to keep from dying. Simply move the worm farm bins or boxes to a place where it won't be exposed to very much rain and drop the worms to the farm bedding.

Why don't the worms just relocate to the upper level of the tray? If could be the result of you having added some new food before the worms have consumed the earlier batch. Worms usually like to stay with leftover food and won't seek out for a new food source until it's done with what they already had. So, before adding additional trays, cause feeding them for at least five days so that you're certain the original food is gone and make sure that the casting levels in the working tray needs to be placed high enough for the worms to be able to go to the next tray.

Are worms able to endure extremely high temperatures? worms can deal with temperatures ranging between ten to thirty degrees Celsius. so if temperatures gets higher than the worms are able to withstand move the farm into a shady, cool place where it won't have any trouble regulating moisture and humidity of the boxes. In especially cold environments cover the box with old garments or carpets, blankets and wool shavings to keep the temperature up. It's also a good idea to feed about a quarter that recommended since more food digested on the worms part permits more heat to be generated within their bodies. So use these ideas and you can be on your way to constructing your very own worm farm.

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