To all the lovely people,
To everyone who keeps worms here is a short article from Big Tex Worms on feeding. If anyone has any questions about vermiculture please write me and I will get back to you. We hope you are all doing well.
Paul
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What is worm food? BigTex Worms Or I should say, "What can be considered worm food?" Food Scraps and Bedding are both worm foods. Let's talk about each one. |
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Food Scraps: What can worms eat? Anything and everything However, the following are not recommended : Dairy, Meat, LOTs of citrus, LOTs of onions and dog/cat feces (they contain parasites and bacteria that this cold composting method will not eradicate) Just about everything else is ok but my recommendation is to MIX IT UP. Do not offer a lot of one thing until you know that the worms will tolerate it well. More Feeding tips: 1. only feed 1/2 the weight of your worms at a time. If you have a pound of worms start with 1/2 pound of food. 2. Only feed again when all food is gone 3. Add dry bedding with every feeding (if you are feeding food scraps) to allow for moisture absorption. I recommend 2-3 cups for every cup of food. And I also like to make a food "nest" under the scraps with dry bedding.
Worm Bedding: Worm bedding can be any of the following: aged manure, peat moss, coconut coir, leaves, straw, newspaper, cardboard and even dryer lint. You will need to moisten them before adding to a bin unless you are trying to correct a wet bin. When I was operating a single worm bin for my family I would make a nest with bedding AND always had 2-3 inches of dry bedding as the top layer of my bin. (usually newspaper which would naturally become moist) You add bedding every time you feed. In fact you can skip feeding food scraps and just use bedding as your food source. This will reduce bugs in your bins. Why add bedding? To keep your bin from turning into slop. Think of the bedding as a way to balance the moisture from all the water in the food scraps. |
