compost bin/pile AND worms

robin1916

12 years ago

Greetings!

I posted this question over on the worm forum (vermicomposting) but they are either a quiet forum or they are just in shock that I am considering what I am asking about.

I would like to combine the principles of composting with the principles of vermicomposting. I've done each (by themselves) on a lark just to see if I could produce something and my attempts were successful.

The compost piles were just piles of leaves to which I added one thing only to each of the piles to see which did better. I did not turn any pile. Some were better, but they all were successful.

The worm bin had either red worms OR red wrigglers. I bought them at a local bait shop and my vague recollection is that they were bigger than what I'm currently reading about red wrigglers.

I want to start a compost pile because 1) my life is simpler than it used to be and 2) in the summer we have a BOATLOAD of watermelon rind and lemon rind (real lemonade) that it just urks me to throw away and 3) I have a real honest to goodness garden now.

My theory is that the worms might help compost all the kitchen waste (2-3 watermelon rinds a week and 20-60 lemon rinds a week depending on how much lemonade I make.)

I BRIEFLY thought about just adding the red wrigglers to my garden, but a gal on the hosta forum convinced me that was not a good idea AND it occurred to me that I didn't want the worms composting up my mulch.

Besides having to prevent raccoons and possums from digging through the piles for the kitchen scraps and the worms is there anything I should consider and does this seem reasonable to you or more like a mad scientist?

Robin in NC

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Comments (4)

rookie09
12 years ago
Worms would love the watermelon. The lemons I would be leery of.
I have a lot of worms but they don't get citrus until it gets pre-composted.
Not saying they won't be fine, just that it is not something I would do.
If you still have lots of leaves I would compost the leaves and lemons and feed that to the worms.
The watermelon would go straight in but watch your fingers. My guys love their melon.
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Kimmsr
12 years ago
Worms are not very important digesters of the material in a compost pile and their presence could be an indication the material is too wet and is not being digested. Those worms need a cool, moist environment, too cool and moist for the thermophilic bacteria to function.
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tn_gardening
12 years ago
If you have a loosely defined pile, you ought to be fine with keeping/attracting worms to your compost. kimmsr is correct in that the worms won't live in the middle of a hot pile. However, they'll probably be happy around the edges.

Maybe you can enlighten me about the downside of worms eating mulch. To me, having worms break down organic matter in the garden (including mulch) is the circle of life and ideal. Otherwise, I'd have to remove the mulch in the Fall so I can add compost to the garden (as it is now, I simply shovel on the compost and pray the worms mix it up for me so i don't have to work as hard).

Bottom line, I'd put the worms in the compost pile along with the kitchen scraps and let the worms find a happy spot in your pile (they're smart enough to move around).
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robin1916
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for all the things to consider.

I think I'm just gonna revert to my homeschooling ways and have some experiment piles ... worms, no worms, turning, no turning, lemon rinds (someone on the worm forum suggested they may not like them), pre-composted lemon rinds.

Tn_gardening, I wouldn't mind if the worms composted up SOME of my mulch, I just don't want to have to replace it MONTHLY and I didn't know just how fast they would do that. With the size of my beds (although I did just subdivide one with a path so it is now two more manageable beds. Love it now!) if they were very voracious, I'd be spreading mulch ALL the time. I do want the mulch to help retain moisture most of the summer.

I did add some earthworms to the beds to help with aeration.

I'll let you guys know how it all goes!

Robin in NC
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compost bin/pile AND worms

Comments (4)

rookie09

Kimmsr

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compost bin/pile AND worms

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rookie09

Kimmsr

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