Feeding Worms Your Waste

When you are feeding your worms it is advisable to first chop up scraps or put them through a Vitamix or blender if possible. The smaller the food particles, the easier it is for the worms to consume. The faster the worms consume the waste, the more castings you will have available to use on your plants. NEVER put more than 1.5 inches of organic material in at any one time, too much organic matter breaking down can heat up to 150º F + or can create an ammonia enhanced environment. Both of these problems can kill your worms very quickly!!!

DO NOT OVER FEED!

If you overfeed your system the organic waste will become smelly and anaerobic, becoming unattractive to worms and may even kill them.

When you can see your worms moving into the material that you have fed your worms, add your next layer. If you put a constant supply of material in daily try to ensure it is no more that 1/3 inch per day as a guide.

For more information contact the outlet you purchased the Eliminator from and they will be happy to help. Allow the worm castings to build up to 12 inches or about 4 inches from the top of your Eliminator before removing your castings. This will allow the worms to be free of the bottom area of the unit, by using the worms natural instincts to move up to each new layer of food they will be away from the bottom area where the castings will come from when you harvest with your breaker bar.

When you are ready to take your castings from the Eliminator make sure your catch tray is empty of liquid. Apply the brakes on your castors or wheels, then simply hold the handle of the breaker bar and pull it and push it back and forth two to three times. When you do this it breaks up the castings and allows them to fall into your catch tray allowing you to use your castings on your plants immediately.

Follow the directions above and allow your worms to feed up and produce more castings for your use and to quickly break down your organic waste.

HANDY HINTS
Every month add a light coating of Dolomite/Lime or Worm Fattener (broken up egg shells help) to the surface of your waste. Do this even if you do not have an odor problem. Worms use the calcium in this material to help them “grind” the waste in their gut and better “digest” it.
The Eliminator is designed to run reasonably dry. Do not put too much water through the unit at any one time, rather, add small amounts with a spray bottle on a regular basis.
Timber has a tendency to warp if it is allowed to dry out too much. Try to moisten the whole unit regularly if you are using it under cover and especially in the height of summer or where it is exposed to sun. In addition, keeping the unit moist helps to control the temperature inside the Eliminator, which will assist the worms.
Always place 3 to 4 inches of shredded moist newspaper on top of the food waste in your bin. This will reduce the amount of unwanted pests in your bin and provide a cozy, dark, romantic hideaway for your worms.
Worms will eat anything that was once alive and is now dead. You can compost food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, pulverized egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds. It is advisable not to compost meats, dairy products, oily foods, and grains because of problems with smells, flies, and rodents. No glass, plastic or tin foil, please.
Be careful not to overload your worms with too much citrus or acidy foods as that can cause the bin to become acidic and thus harm your worms and attract unwanted pests.

OTHER DECOMPOSERS
After your vermicomposting bin has been in use for a while you will begin to see a variety of other creatures that are common to a compost pile. Most of them are beneficial and play important roles in breaking down organic material. Together with your worms, they make up the whole array of decomposer organisms. Keep the pH between 5 and 7 to prevent unwanted pests.

In any healthy bin you may find:

Molds, Fungi, Bacteria, Mites, Sowbugs, Enchytraeids, Fly larvae, Springtails, Beetles, Protozoa, Rotifers, Centipedes, Ants, Millipedes, Snails, Fruit flies.

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