08/16/2022 / By Zoey Sky
Fertilizer can help the plants in your home garden grow strong and improve production. If you’re looking for an endless supply of compost, start vermicomposting. (h/t to HomesteadSurvivalsite.com)
Vermicomposting is a form of composting that uses worms, usually red wigglers, white worms and earthworms, to help break down organic matter. Unlike traditional fertilizers, the worm castings or organic matter processed by the worms will provide nutrients to your plants without burning the roots.
The two main vermicompost systems are tray-based and continuous flow.
The tray system has multiple containers stacked on top of each other. You add food to the top tray until it is full, then switch to the next one until all containers are done. Meanwhile, the continuous flow system is a single container or bag and you add food to the top.
After the process is done, you can remove castings from the vermicomposting bin and add them to your crops. Using vermicompost can help improve yields and boost plant health.
When SHTF, you can use vermicomposting to produce an endless supply of fertilizer for your garden.
Additionally, vermicomposting accelerates the composting process. A traditional compost heap can take as long as several months or longer before vegetation will decompose.
With vermicomposting, worms significantly hasten the process to produce one of the best organic fertilizers you can use in your garden. Vermicomposting can also help you save money since you won’t need to buy commercial fertilizers anymore.
Some people believe that large night crawlers are the best choice for vermicomposting, but red wrigglers are the better choice. The smaller earthworms are sometimes called red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) or redworms (Lumbricus rubellus).
Night crawlers need soil and they also produce dirt.
Note that red wigglers and red worms are different. These two species are great worms for vermicomposting because they prefer a compost environment instead of plain soil and they are easy to keep.
Worms that feed on vegetable waste, compost and organic bedding produce richer castings than worms that feed on plain soil like night crawlers. While night crawlers are great at aerating the soil, they don’t add much nutrient value to fertilizer. It’s best to use redworms and red wigglers.
To get started immediately, buy your worms from an online retailer. Otherwise, it may take you a while to harvest worms from the soil around your location. Harvested worms will eventually reproduce, but buying them in bulk online is ideal if you want to start without waiting too long. (Related: Home gardening basics: Why you should start making DIY fertilizer for your garden.)
You can use different shapes and materials for vermicomposting. You can also personalize the setup based on your preferences.
Below are some standard vermicomposting designs:
All of these options will work for vermicomposting as long as your stay true to the basic design concept.
The recommended standard vermicomposting bin size is usually 18 inches wide, 24 inches long and 18 inches deep. You can use larger or smaller sizes depending on your available space.
There are five important factors for a successful vermicomposter design:
Accomplish these design parameters for consistent success regardless of what materials you choose for your vermicomposter.
For vermicomposting to work, you must create a comfortable and healthy environment for a worm population and regularly feed them compost materials like vegetation.
On average, one pound of worms can convert a pound of vegetation into a pound of composted worm castings every day. This means you must consistently add vegetation to the vermicomposter if you want a regular supply of vermicompost.
Kitchen scraps are great if you need worm food. You can use the following for your vermicomposter:
Always chop up the vegetable trimmings to a coarse dice before adding them to the vermicomposter. This makes it easier for the worms to eat and digest them. Chopping the trimmings also helps accelerate the overall composting process.
However, not all kitchen scraps will work in a vermicomposter. Some will inhibit the overall composting process, cause bad odors or kill the worms.
You can also feed the worms leaves and vegetation from your yard or garden. Just cut them up and don’t add any vegetation treated with lawn chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. These chemicals will also inhibit the overall composting process and kill worms.
Try to create a diverse combination of vegetable, fruit and vegetation trimmings for best results.
Once the composting is done, you can finally harvest the worm castings.
Follow these tips to make sure you only harvest the castings and not the undecomposed vegetation and newspaper or worms:
Vermicomposting is considered safe as long you make your vermicomposter an ideal environment for worms, not fungus or bacteria.
Here are some of the many ways you can use vermicompost in your home garden:
For best results, moderate temperatures, add moisture and feed the worms properly so you have an endless supply of plant-enriching organic fertilizer for your home garden.
Watch the video below to learn more about vermicomposting.
This video is from the A Wizard’s Workshoppe channel on Brighteon.com.
Home gardening tips: A beginner’s guide to composting.
Homesteading done right: Chicken droppings composting guide.
Soils are healthier when they are treated with organic fertilizer: Study.
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crops, fertilizer, gardening tips, green living, harvest, home gardening, homesteading, how-to, offgrid, organic farming, Plants, preparedness, prepping, prepping tips, vermicompost, vermicomposting
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