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Compost worms benefit from a balanced diet. They will eat most normal kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps. Avoid feeding the worms large quantities of meat, citrus, onions and dairy foods. Some processed food also contains preservatives, which discourage the worms from eating it.
What can you not feed compost worms?
Items you cannot compost in a worm bin: Lemon, lime, orange or other citrus peels and juice (in excess this will make the soil too acidic) Onions and garlic (a good rule of thumb is if it makes you smell, it makes your worm bin smell) Meat, fats, grease, bones or oils (no butter, lard, stocks, soups, etc).
Is coffee grounds good for worms?
Worms love to eat coffee grounds, and that’s great news for your garden. Add coffee grounds to your compost pile to help attract worms, which help speed up the process of turning food scraps into compost.
How do you keep compost worms alive?
How to Keep Compost Worms Happy and Healthy Adequate Feeding. Ensure that worms have enough kitchen scraps, but don’t overfeed them. Feeding the Right Food. Even compost worms need a healthy diet. Ensuring the Right Conditions for the Compost Bedding. Remembering to Harvest Worm Castings. Maintaining the Right Temperature.
How do you fatten up compost worms?
Feed your compost worms a thin layer of the grain-and-eggshell mixture three or four times per week to fatten them. Be sure to keep the compost moist by misting with water or applying moist newspaper every time you add the feed mixture. Don’t feed your compost worms too much coffee grounds.
Do worms eat grass clippings?
Grass clippings are a great addition to a traditional compost pile and worms will eat these as well in their natural setting, but in your vermicomposting system, they will heat up the soil and can kill all of your worms.
What is the best food for earthworms?
The Best Worm Foods for Your Soil Fruit peels (not citrus) Melon rinds. Carrots. Coffee grounds. Teabags (check if biodegradable) Bread. Cereal (unsweetened) Pasta (plain).
Should I stir my worm bin?
There is definitely no need to completely mix up your worm bin contents. The worms themselves – along with various other critters do a lot of mixing on their own. The worms should do a pretty good job of finishing everything off, and leaving you with plenty of nice vermicompost.
Do worms like eggshells?
eggshells – worms simply can’t eat them. Eggshells are good for the garden, so if you crush them up, and put them in the worm farm, they’ll end up adding calcium to your soil. Eggshells don’t harm the worms, but can look a little unsightly in the gardenbeds.
Can worms eat tomatoes?
Let’s dive in! *Tomatoes are slightly acidic, but worms still seem to like it and will tolerate it just fine in moderation. Whether you have an abundance of melon rinds, spoiled apples or fruit trimmings, you can feed them to your worms by slicing them up into manageable portions. Think of it this way.
Can worms eat banana peels?
Bananas are a great and inexpensive snack for both us and our worms. Those peels are desirable to compost worms no matter what shape they’re in. To make food easier for the worms to consume it is good to chop or puree it.
Can worms eat oatmeal?
Aside from animal manure, you can also feed them the following organic wastes: Starchy food wastes – these can be in the form of bread, oatmeal, and pasta. Bedding materials – the materials that you place inside the worm bin can also be consumed by your red wigglers.
What are red wigglers favorite food?
Red wigglers eat most things organic including fruit/veggie scraps, bread, coffee grounds/filters, tea bags, grains, plant trimmings, paper, leaves, etc.
Can I feed my worms weeds?
Soft green wastes, like grass clippings, weeds etc can work well as worm food, but it is best to moisten them, mix them with ‘brown’ materials like fall leaves or shredded cardboard, and let them rot for a bit.
Do worms eat leeks?
and alliums (onions, garlic, shallots, scallions, leeks, chives, etc.) are generally disliked by worms, and they often eat them so slowly that they begin to rot in the worm bin—plus, they are typically strong-smelling food scraps to begin with.
Do worms like potato peels?
Vegetable Waste Carrot peelings, potato skins, broccoli and cauliflower stalks, lettuce, kale, even onion peels (in limited quantities) are perfect for the worm bin. Vegetable waste like this isn’t prone to overheating your bin either, so this is another low-maintenance food.
Can worms eat bread?
Yes, in moderation, bread, and in fact, all grain based foods, are worthy of your worms’ processing power. However, these starchy foods can end up a gooey mess. So, use them sparingly and with a close eye, or just avoid them until your bin is well established and you are comfortable amending as needed.
Can worms eat avocado skin?
Composting worms will eat almost anything that was once alive, and prefer a variety just like we do. Other foods worms like are crushed egg shells, avocado skin and poultry pellets.
Do worms like carrots?
Carrots are a good worm food but you have to consider that worms don’t feed on materials that are fresh so the carrots and any other organic material that you add to your worm farm has to start to decompose to enable the worms to feed on it.
Can compost worms eat ginger?
Vermicomposting or worm composting turns kitchen scraps and other green waste into rich, dark compost that is nutritious to the soil and improves the soil’s structure. You should absolutely avoid adding ginger to vermicompost as the worms will not like the spicy herb.
