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Why do people have worm farms?

Updated: 9/27/2023
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13y ago

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You can make a worm farm from two or three plastic boxes, like recycling crates or even polystyrene boxes. They should fit tightly together to discourage cockroaches or rats.

The bottom box or tray catches the worm urine which is an excellent garden fertilizer, when diluted with 10 parts of water.

The other two boxes have plenty of holes in the bottom to allow drainage and air, and also to let the worms climb up to the food.

The middle box holds the worms in their bedding which can be coconut fiber or peat moss.

Put the food scraps from your kitchen into the middle box. It should have a lid or a layer of wet sacking or newspaper as the worms do not like sunlight. When the worm castings fill it enough for the worms to reach the next box, then put their food into the top box. The worms will gradually migrate into the top box, and you can then use the de-wormed middle box as humus for your garden. It will then become the top box when the other box fills up.

Or you can buy commercial worm farms which contain all the above. This is just a very rough guide. You'll need to know a little more about temperature, moistness and what kind of food. Check some more information in the Related Questions below or search WikiAnswers for "worm farm". ... if, like me, you're not interested in "humus" or worm urine for your garden, but only want worms for fishing or for sale to others, just use one (1)10-gallon plastic tote with lid (available at Walmart for <$5). Drill 1/8 inch holes around all 4 sides and the bottom, about one hole per square inch, for air. Then drill a larger hole (1/2 inch) in the bottom for drainage. Then put in 6-8 inches of moist (not soaking wet) peat moss (you will have to soak the peat moss in water a while). Then order yourself a pound of worms (you can get them on the internet for around $40, including shipping). When the worms arrive, just dump them on top of your peat moss. All the lives ones will dig down into the bedding, and you can discard the dead ones. You can feed them corn meal, or table scraps and kitchen waste. However, you should avoid giving them meat, dairy products, and fats, not because it hurts the worms, but because it makes the bin stink. Acidic foods, like tomatoes or citrus peels, WILL hurt the worms, by throwing off the pH in your bin. One thing that is very good for worms is egg shells. But only BOILED egg shells. If you use raw egg shells, you'll have an odor problem, as well as a potential disease problem. If you have a bunch of raw egg shells, you can just boil the shells for 5 minutes. Egg shells contain calcium, which not only balances out acidity, but promotes reproduction. Also, I have found that the thin, flexible membrane on the inside of an egg shell is a very popular place for worms to lay their eggs. You also need to keep the bedding moist. Not soaking wet, but just moist. Worms need moisture. For optimum breeding and egg hatching, you want to keep your bin between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. So don't expect many babies in the winter. But even in the winter, you want to keep your bin above freezing, in fact, above 50 if you can. Move it inside your garage or basement - that shouldn't be a problem if you stay away from feeding them things that cause odors. Actually, if you're raising your worms outdoors, the VERY best thing for worms, both as bedding and food, is cow manure (or manure from any other ruminant, or hebivore, species, but avoid dropping from carnivorous animals like dogs, cats, or humans). These instruction are for raising the common "red wiggler" worm, also known as "manure worm" (scientific name Eisenia foetida). They may also work for other species of small earthworms. However, they will not work for Night Crawlers and other large worms, that like to burrow deep into the ground, up to 10 feet deep in some cases.

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15y ago
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15y ago

A worm farm is a method of diverting kitchen food scraps away from landfill and instead feeding them to worms which turn them into beautiful garden soil and fertilizer.

A simple worm farm for your garden or balcony is made of two or three boxes, stacked on top of each other. The bottom one is a tray to catch the worm urine which is an excellent plant fertilizer. The next one holds the worms in their bedding, and the top one holds the food scraps from your kitchen that the worms feed on.

The top two boxes have holes in the bottom to allow drainage, and also to let the worms move up and down. The top box should have a lid, or be covered with wet sacking.

The worms are not your usual earthworms, but are red, blue or tiger worms which come up to the surface to feed. You can buy them from garden shops or on the internet.

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15y ago

You have to use compost worms, which are not the same as ordinary earthworms.

Compost worms are usually red, blue or tiger worms and they can be bought by the thousand from nurseries or on the internet. You would need one or two thousand to start a worm farm, but with the right conditions, after a year, you might have 20 thousand worms.

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13y ago

Worm farming is raising worms that can be used for fishing, composting, feed for fish and other animals. Worm composting is the use of worms to compost household waste. Items such as table scraps (no meat or dairy), cardboard, paper(no colored newsprint) can be feed to the worms. By worm composting one third of household waste can be kept out of landfills.

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13y ago

People have worm farms because worms help plants and other living things such as: food for birds. Worms soften the soil for the trees so water can get into the ground easier and can reach the tree roots. They can also have worm farms for fishing bait.

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9y ago

A worm farm works by turning vegetable and fruit scraps into great fertilizer. This is a particularly popular process for people who like to compost.

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14y ago

A worm farm is where people feed, grow and care for worms. A worm farms purpose is to make and sell fertilizer. And you don't want to know what that's made out of.

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14y ago

They mate and mate

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11y ago

it has a lotof worms

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Related questions

Why do you have worm farms?

A lot of people, especially gardeners and organic people, have worm farms because it makes the soil nurtritious from the worms stool. Which is great for garderners, because it is like organic fertilizer for their plants!


How is the urine from worm farms useful?

it fertilizes the soil


Who created worm farms?

Jonathan David Young


What is a tiger worm?

The tiger worm is a small reddish worm that is excellent in worm farms and compost heaps. It is the Eisenia fetida and it gets its "tiger worm" name because of the rings on its body.


Are worm farms profitable?

They were a big thing in the 1970s, but not sure how the economics worked out on that.


What are the advantages of worm farming?

There are many advantages to worm farming. Worm farming helps to cut down on global warming, and the farms create an excellent liquid fertilizer for crops.


Why might one have a worm farm?

Worm farms are beneficial both to the farm owner and to the planet. You make nutritional soil to use and that soil helps the planet by being nutritional.


Do people is Seattle farm?

There are no farms in Seattle. There are farms in the region, but no one farms in Seattle.


What types of farms do people have?

Truck farms,horse farms,hog farms,dairy farms (cow &amp; goat),cash crop,fish farms,ect. geterdone!


Did eastern woodland people have towns and farms?

Eastern woodland people did indeed have towns and farms. These towns and farms may have looked differently than towns and farms today do though.


Did people in New Hampshire have farms?

Yeah people in New Hampshire have farms! Both had and continue to have!


Do more people live in cities or farms in tajikistan?

most people in tajikistan live in farms.