Title: Fascinating Facts
1Fascinating Facts
Worms never sleep, so are producing compost all
the time.
A worm has 5 hearts!
In the right environment, they can eat and digest
between half and all of their body weight in a
day.
Some wormeries are suitable for indoor use
Worms are most active between 10-30 degrees C
Worms do not have lungs, they take in oxygen
through their skin.
2What do they look like?
3What is a Wormery?
A plastic or wooden container that contains
composting worms
A compost worm is not the same as a normal garden
worm as it stays on the surface and lives off
decaying food there. An earthworm burrows deep
into the ground.
It is an easy way to convert kitchen food waste
into liquid fertiliser and rich organic compost.
4Frequently Asked Questions
Will it smell? Not at all. As the waste material
you put in starts to decompose in the wormery, it
is consumed by all the worms effectively
eliminating the possibility of odour.
What type of worms live in a wormery? The most
common worms used are tigerworms, also known as
brandling or redworms.
What happens to my worms in the winter? When it
gets colder the worms will slow down and not be
able to digest as much. You will probably have to
cut down the amount of food you are feeding them.
5Frequently Asked Questions
What do worms eat? The guidelines for what you
can put in a wormery are basically the same as
for composting, however it is a good idea to keep
to fairly small pieces and to feed them little
and often.
What happens when the bin is full? When the
wormery is full the worms should be at the top in
search of food. Remove the top third and place to
one side. The remainder can be removed and the
compost used . Then just put the top third with
the worms in it back in again.
Do I have to keep buying more worms? No worms
will expand their numbers to suit the conditions
they find.
6What Can I feed Them?
Yes Foods Vegetables Vegetable Peelings Fruit /
Peel Coffee / Tea Bags Bread Rice Pasta
CerealsCrushed Egg Shells Cakes/ Biscuits
Sugar CheeseCardboard / Paper Hoover Contents
Baked Beans Pet Faeces (Rabbit / Gerbil Etc)
Leaves
No Foods Meat BonesPet Faeces (Cat / Dog)
Garlic Spicy Foods Eggs Dairy Products (milk,
yoghurt, butter) Insecticides / Pesticides Salt
Oils Weeds