Starting a worm bin can feel overwhelming – where do I keep it? What kind of worms do I need? What if it smells awful? What if I kill my worms?
Not to worry! Humans have been throwing food scraps in a pile for thousands of years.
蚯蚓箱是一个很好的方式把废物变成堆肥,把营养从你的厨房回到你的花园。蚯蚓箱也可以是一个有趣的教学工具,与孩子或孙子谈论分解、废物和生态系统。最重要的是,它很简单。
There are 3 key components you need in order to start a worm bin.
Let’s take a closer look:
The Right Worm Bin Container
This is the simplest part! Anything can be a worm bin. My first worm bin was the bottom drawer of an old filing cabinet, which we left in the backyard. That was less than ideal for a number of reasons, but don’t get stuck because you can’t find the perfect container.
One important consideration is size. Depending on how fast your household produces food scraps, something the size of a file drawer will quickly fill up (oops). Often, worm bin experts advocate a cubic yard or meter, which is great if you are building a worm bin and have lots of space, but something closer to the size of a kid’s toy box can be more realistic. Be sure to consider that a bin full of damp food scraps and compost may be too heavy to lift alone.
蚯蚓箱可以在室内或室外。人们在城市公寓和大学宿舍里养虫箱,而不仅仅是在有花园的房子里。如果你住在冬季气温低于冰点的地方,室内的虫箱实际上是一个更好的选择。把蚯蚓冻成一个棕色的冰块对蚯蚓或其他有益的微生物没有好处!如果你担心夏天的气味,你可以计划在炎热的天气到来时把它移到室外。
Should I Buy or Build A Worm Bin?
This is an early decision and both options have pros and cons.
Worm Bins For Sale:
There are many options available if you want to save yourself some time and buy a premade worm bin.
The most common type available commercially is amulti-tray system, shown above:
The trays stack on top of one another and have mesh bottoms so that worms can migrate between trays. This means that once your vermicompost on the bottom has been “finished” you can remove the tray and use the compost without digging through the layer of still-decomposing food scraps on top. It is clean and convenient. Many stacking worm bins also have a water-catching system at the bottom that helps keep your worms from getting soggy. A spigot or valve on the bottom layer allows you to drain off the brown water, calledleachate, which unfortunately shouldn’t be used on edible plants.
The drawback here, of course, is price. Worm bin stacks run anywhere from $60 to upwards of $100, depending on how many trays are included. Nevertheless, for many people the benefits and ease outweigh the cost.
If you’re not into plastic, there are also wooden options for sale:
DIY Worm Bins
DIY worm bins may be more flexible, and the cost and amount of labor varies hugely, depending on what you want and what you already have around.
If you buy all your DIY materials new, you could end up spending an amount similar to what you would spend on a manufactured worm bin – that’s fine if your goal is to gain the experience and satisfaction of building one yourself.下面是一个很好的指南,教你如何从零开始用木头做一个2022世界杯四强亚盘赔率垃圾桶。
好消息是,你或你当地的二手商店可能已经有了一个基本的蠕虫箱所需的一切,有时它根本没有必要花任何钱!
Many mid-sized containers can be repurposed as worm bins. Large plastic storage bins are excellent – however – they should not be airtight. Worms need oxygen, too. That can mean drilling holes in your worm bin lid, or just leaving it cracked open.
If your container has a waterproof bottom, like a plastic bin, your compost will be prone to sogginess and you may sometimes need to drain the liquid off. That can be as simple as tipping your worm bin over and collecting the liquid. Some people prefer to drill holes at the base of their worm bin also and put a catchment tray underneath – you have to keep an eye on it though, or it may overflow. A water drainage system is not necessary. Without one, you just need to keep a closer eye on your worms to make sure they don’t get too waterlogged.
The Right Worm Food
Your worm bin shouldnotbe used to compost meat, eggs, or dairy.
Let me emphasize this:your worms are vegan.This is the key to making worm bins an indoor activity – composting animal products will attract rodents and cause truly horrible smells.
Great Food For Worm Bins:
Great Bedding For Worm Bins:
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Bad for Worm Bins:
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Other than that, your worm bin can take any of your kitchen waste, including paper products. In fact, worm bins need woody or paper filler, called bedding, to balance the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. This means your finished compost will be more nutrient balanced and ready to throw on your raised beds, and it supports a healthy environment for your worms. Having enough sources of carbon will also help control excessive moisture and prevent your worm bin from smelling up the house or yard.
The classic carbon material for worm bins is shredded paper or cardboard. Those work fine, although cardboard glues, glossy paper, and newsprint ink contain non-organic chemicals that can become toxic at high concentration. Don’t worry about avoiding those things entirely, but best practice is to mix those processed paper products with other sources of carbon. Yard scraps, bush trimmings, and other garden debris are always great. If you bought a bale of straw to mulch your garden or bed your chickens, that is an excellent carbon-filler material as well. Wood shavings are great if you have them, although they take somewhat longer to break down, and you’ll want to be sure not to use shavings from treated wood.
当你倾倒厨房里的食物残渣时,只要在堆肥下面或上面放一把碳残渣就可以了。床上用品会吸收水分,上面的一层也有助于减少气味。
The Right Worm Species
在堆肥系统中,并不是所有的蠕虫都是一样的。从你的养床里取出一把虫子,效果不会很好。与花园土壤相比,你的蚯蚓箱中的氮含量更高,你的蚯蚓数量也会更拥挤。You need a variety of worms that will be happy in those conditions.
The classic compost worms are red wrigglers,Eisenia fetida.You can buy them at garden or farm stores,order them online,或者有时你可以在鱼饵和钓具商店找到它们——尽管他们可能不知道确切的种类。当然,最简单的选择是找一个有蠕虫箱的朋友或邻居,让他们给你一把。你的蠕虫可能需要几周的时间来适应新的系统。先给它们一些材料(包括食物残渣和碳),然后让它们休息一段时间,然后再恢复正常喂养。
Looks like online prices range as follows, though there were more expensive examples that we’re leaving out:
- 100 wrigglers – $30 with shipping
- 600 wrigglers – ~$45 with shipping
- 1,000 wrigglers – ~$65 with shipping
Feel free to mix species of worms as well. Some vermiculturalists swear by other varieties of earthworm like the European and African Nightcrawlers. Different species of worm prefer different temperatures and dampness levels, so experimentation will determine what is best for your environment. If you can get a worm mix from a neighbor or from a good local garden store, that’s a good way to guarantee that your species will thrive in your climate.
One thing to consider is how many worms you need to get started. Worms for compost are sold in batches of 250 or 500, and starting with1000 worms is generally recommended. A thousand worms weigh about a pound. If you are getting a handful from a friend, you will likely have fewer to start with, so you will need to give them even more time to adjust and reproduce before beginning regular feedings.
Worm Bin Troubleshooting:
My worm bin smells terrible – I can’t get rid of the excess ‘worm juice’!
如果你对气味或过度潮湿有问题,试着增加蠕虫箱里的碳填料的数量,并给蠕虫更多的时间间隔食物废料的喂养。你的蚯蚓箱的pH值主要是自我调节的,但如果你的箱闻起来尖锐或酸,你可以添加碎蛋壳来降低酸度。如果容器太湿,你会淹死你的蠕虫。足够的碳垫将有助于保持水分,但如果你的堆肥真的饱和了,你可以把液体排掉。Here are some other tips.
就是这样!现在你有了所有的工具,可以愉快地在你的房子里养几千只虫子。Once you get started, worms are the most low-maintenance pets you’ve ever had,and它们会把你餐桌上的残羹剩饭变成你花园里的肥料。谢谢,蠕虫!
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