Q. What should I feed my worms?
A. We recommend feeding your worms a balanced diet. Not too much of one thing. Here are some general guidelines. Fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, shredded cardboard, bread, pasta, and rice are all great for the worms. The smaller the pieces you put in, the faster the worms will eat through them. Citrus, glossy paper, leaves, grass clippings should be limited in their addition. The worms can eat through this, though do so at a slower rate. Finally, meat, bones, oil, fats, vinegar, and salt should not be fed to your worms.
Q. What best practices do you recommend when feeding my worms?
A. We would recommend the following best practices. 1) bury the green garbage under half an inch of surface material. This surface material can be soil, shredded newspaper, or other bedding material such as coconut coir. 2) Establish a regular feeding pattern for your worms. 3) Put your green garbage in a different spot in the composter each time you feed your worms. 4) Consider blending your green garbage if you want to speed up the composting process
Q. How much and how often do I feed by worms?
A. Give your worms a couple weeks to get settled in their new home and get hungry. Be patient. Don’t expect too much initially as it takes time for the worms to get established. A good working kit with one pound of worms will consume 3 to 5 pounds of worm food each week. It is not necessary to feed the worms daily; however, be certain they always have some food and are not too dry or too wet.
Q. Where can I store my Worm Factory 360?
A. We recommend you store your worm factory at room temperature (15 – 20°C) in a convenient location and an area with good air circulation. Popular places include the kitchen (easy access for additional kitchen scraps), basement, laundry room, or any room.
Q. What are the dimensions of the Worm Factory 360®?
A. The dimensions of the Worm Factory 360® are 18” x 18” x 15”
Q. My bin is too wet – what should I do?
A. If your bin is too wet (lots of excess liquid pooling in the bin), add shredded paper or other dry absorbant bedding material. Make sure your bed isn’t too dry as a wet, warm bed promotes egg capsules hatching, which means more hungry worms to create more beautiful compost.
Q. My bin is too acidic – what should I do?
A. Acidic conditions can arise from a variety of factors, including naturally decomposing green garbage, or the adding in lots of citrus products. To bring your conditions back to a more neutral state, add in crushed eggshells. You can also sprinkle in powdered limestone or calcium carbonate in every other feeding. Do not use dolomite lime (which is meant for outdoor garden use) as it contains magnesium which is harmful to your worms.
Q. How do my worms reproduce?
A. Worms are hermaphroditic, which means they are neither male or female. When they do breed, 2 worms come together to form an egg capsule. After breeding, each worm will contain a fertilized egg capsule which it will release into the soil. Each capsule usually produces several worms.
Q. Can I just dig up worms I find in my backyard and put in my composting bin?
A. No, the majority of the worms you find in your garden are nightcrawlers and are not suited to a confined composting bin. These are specialized worms that are best suited to vermicomposting
Q. Do you ship across Canada?
A. Yes. The Worm Factory and Worm Factory 360 can be shipped across Canada, though shipments of worms are limited primarily to Ontario, Quebec, though we can ship to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and major cities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Alberta. If you live outside our prime areas of Ontario and Quebec, please contact us for a detailed estimate on shipping times and availabilities as our worms are fragile and can’t always handle the multi-day journey across the country.
Using the Worm Castings
Vermicompost or castings is a living organic, nutrient-rich, fertilizer that no plant should be without. When harvesting, utilize the castings as soon as possible.
