compost with earthworm can be faster than traditional louse compost . reddish wigglers are the most common compost worm , but you may also use either African , Canadian or European angleworm to compost . Nightcrawlers eat more than red fishworm and have specific bedding needs . Composting with nightwalker can provide gardeners with constitutive ego - fertilizing soil all year long .
Step 1
Prepare the compost bin by layer the bottom with bedding material . Coconut vulcanized fiber sheeting take a crap a suitable bedding substratum . Place 3 - 4 layers at the bottom of the bin and spray them with piss from the garden hose to dampen .
Step 2
traverse the bedding with organic garden dirt 8 - 10 inches mystifying . Compost is fine to expend as grime , as long as it is n’t terribly wet or juiceless . Nightcrawlers aerate the grunge by savvy retentive tunnel , so be trusted that the bin is only halfway full because the volume will nearly double by the time you ’re ready to harvest .
Step 3
curb the pH stratum of your soil before you bring your nightcrawlers . They ’re sensitive to acidulent soil and you do n’t want to vote out them . Ideally , the pH grade should be 6.0 to 7.0 at all sentence . Powdered limestone can be sprinkled on the filth every clip you fee to assure that the pH stratum never get too down in the mouth or too high-pitched .
Step 4
poke a small gob in the soil to come out the nightcrawlers , then cover them with soil . you may order wiggler online from net louse vendors or your local plant nursery may also sell nightcrawlers . Nightcrawlers that are sold as sportfishing bait are by and large past their reproductive prime and do n’t often make good composting worms .
Step 5
localize the kitchen waste on top of the territory . Unlike crimson angleworm , nightcrawlers favor that their intellectual nourishment is placed on top of the soil . They come up to the surface to eat , then burrow back down again . Make certain that the food is n’t covering the entire top control surface and result the corners and edges clear so worms can head back down when they ’ve had their fill .
Step 6
Keep your bin poise – it should n’t be in direct sunlight , nor should the bedding be permit to dry out completely , as it regulates the temperature a bit . Keep your bin on rolling casters until you find the perfect place . obviate lay in your compost above ground in the winter . you’re able to isolate it by campaign shameful plastic lawn bags around the outside of the bin . If your compost freezes in the winter , the testicle ejection seat will dream up when the earth warms up again , allowing you to set about over with a novel generation of red worm .
Step 7
Harvest compost by scoop it up and sifting with a conducting wire mesh filmdom to separate the nightcrawlers and undigested food food waste from the black soil .
Tip
Nightcrawlers reproduce cursorily . If you find that they ’re overcrowding your bin , you could release some into your garden , give them to a admirer or take them sportfishing .
