This is the place to discuss not just allotments but all general gardening problems and queries which don't fit into the specific categories below.
(formerly allotments and tips, hints and problems)
I'm trying to work out if it's possible to make my own wormery. I have had a look on-line and in my local gardencenter, and my jaw dropped to the floor! I didn't realise how expensive they are. I posted a wanted on my local freecycle page in hope that there was one no one longer wanted. Or my other option is to build one myself. But i'm confused. There are so many diy's online.Has anyone got any tried and tested tips for me to make my own. And where do you get the worms from. My understanding is you get them from your compost heap, but I don't have one.
Is there a best time of the year to make one ? We are a family of 4 and we still seem to generate a lot of food waste. And I want to cut down on the amount I send out with my recycle bin every week.
Either get tiger worms from a specialist supply or bandlings from an angling shop
Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.
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Die dulci fruere.
I've made my own. It's really quite straightforward.
1) How big do you want it? A larger one is better if it's outside. The worms can shelter in the centre if the weather's too hot or cold. I've got a large, old water butt but you can use a dustbin.
2) How are you going to drain the liquid? Worm wee will puddle up at the bottom of the container. You need to be able to drain it off to stop the compost getting soggy and smelly. It's wonderful fertiliser, so add a tap at the bottom of the container, you can get ones for water butts quite cheaply - try Wilkinsons. My waterbutt just has a hole with a bucket underneath.
3) Stop the tap clogging up with compost. Commercial wormeries have a plastic grid at the bottom that stops the compost falling into the tap. You can use something like a plastic garden sieve, or just clean the tap regularly.
4) Put some soil in the bottom. This will give the worms somewhere to live while they munch through your greens.
4) Fill with worms from the garden. Remember the old school-days' trick of getting worms out of the lawn by pouring washing up water on and covering with newspaper for a few minutes. The worms come to the surface of the soil and you can pop them into the wormery. You can buy tiger worms from a fishing shop but you don't need to.
5) Feed them regularly but don't give them citrus.
I have made the wormery out of 3 blue plastic boxes with lids. I fitted a plastic water tap to the bottom box. I then cut a hole in the bottom of the first box, a hole in the lid and bottom of the seccond box. Then fitted flat plastic draining boards to the holes. So my question is, have i done this right. the liquid collectes in the bottom box, Do I put the worms in the middle box lined with paper and some compost and then the vegie bits. What goes in the top box? Each box holds 35 ltrs. Have I forgotten to do anything? I don't want to kill off any worms before they start http://s1134.photobucket.com/albums/m60 ... 20Wormery/
Last edited by Bristolbelle on Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
DIY wormerys are really doable, but I agree with Dr Syn, in that you are best off getting either tiger worms from a specialist supply or bandlings from an angling shop (much cheaper) as they are much better composters than regular earthworms, which are better off left aerating you soil. We made ours using an old bucket, a bit of rubbing matting and a tap off an old beer-making container. It's not pretty but it works http://contadina.wordpress.com/2010/07/ ... er-garden/
Also, a good thing to remember is that worms don't have teeth and they can't eat massive amounts, so wormeries are best for processing kitchen waste that is already composted....
Wow, you don't hang about do you. Up to you which box you put your worms in. Some of the commercially made wormeries have sections. You start at the bottom, as the section fills up, your worms will tend to stay towards the top. When the section fills up, you move the top layer into the next section and so on. The bottom one is then full of compost.
Tom, it does take a bit longer for the worms to get through fresh kitchen waste but they still manage it. No need to compost it first but just be prepared to wait a bit. I fill one and then leave it a year to completely compost down while I fill the other. But then I have two damaged water butts that make perfect wormeries.
I didn't realise how expensive they are. I posted a wanted on my local freecycle page in hope that there was one no one longer wanted. Or my other option is to build one myself. But i'm confused. There are so many diy's online.Has anyone got any tried and tested tips for me to make my own. And where do you get the worms from. My understanding is you get them from your compost heap, but I don't have one. 
Now going to ring my local fishing shop to see if they stock bandlings. How many do I need? 
