Worm towers are an excellent way to recycle kitchen scraps and other organic waste into nutrient-rich soil for your garden. These simple and effective composting systems consist of a tube or column filled with composting worms, which consume the waste and produce a valuable by-product known as worm castings. Not only do worm towers reduce the amount of organic waste that goes into landfills, but they also provide a sustainable source of fertilizer for your plants. However, as with any composting system, there are some common issues that can arise when building and maintaining a worm tower. In this post, we’ll discuss how these systems work and everything you need to know about them in order to have a thriving abundant flow.
What is a worm tower?
Worm towers come in many shapes and sizes and basically they are a long cylinder with holes in the part that sits below ground. You fill these cylinders with compost worms and they break down the waste that you put in there.
What can go in my worm tower?
- Kitchen scraps: Vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, tea leaves, and eggshells can all be added to worm towers.
- Yard waste: Leaves, grass clippings, and other plant debris can also be added to worm towers.
- Shredded newspaper: Worms can also eat shredded newspaper, which can help to provide bedding for them.
- Cardboard: Like newspaper, cardboard can also be used as bedding for worms. We also tend to throw in any paper bags that we accumulate when we buy our dry goods.
- Compost: Adding compost to the worm tower can help to introduce beneficial microorganisms and nutrients to the soil.
- Worm castings: If you already have a worm bin or vermicomposting system, you can add some of the worm castings to the worm tower to help establish a healthy population of worms.
What shouldn’t go in my worm tower
- Meat, dairy, and other animal products: These foods can attract pests and create unpleasant odors in the worm tower.
- Oily or greasy foods: Like animal products, oily or greasy foods can also attract pests and rodents.
- Processed foods: Processed foods are often high in salt, sugar, and preservatives, which can be harmful to the worms and other soil organisms.
- Citrus fruits: Citrus fruits are acidic and can harm the worms if added in large quantities.
- Onions and garlic: While these foods are not toxic to worms, they can create strong odors in the worm tower and may be avoided by some worms.
- Pet waste: Pet waste can contain harmful bacteria and parasites that can be harmful to the worms and other soil organisms.
- Diseased plants: Avoid adding plants that are infected with diseases or pests, as this can spread the problems to other plants in the garden.
- Synthetic chemicals: Pesticides, herbicides, and other synthetic chemicals can harm the worms and other soil organisms and should be avoided.
Whilst these things are not promoted in the worm towers they are however ok in tiny doses! These things have to break down somewhere in our eco system and if you can manage to do that in your own home it is fantastic.
Can’t see any worms?
If you don’t see any worms in your worm tower, it may be because the environment is not suitable for them. Check that the soil is moist, but not waterlogged, and that there is plenty of organic matter for the worms to feed on. You may also need to add more worms to the tower.
Pests or rodents:
It is very common that in your composting practices you may attract rodents or other pests.
An important thing to keep in mind is simply ensuring that the tower is sealed tight. it is important to try and observe the behaviour of the pests that you have acquired to begin to know how they move and what they are particularly looking for.
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