Q: Are the worms that you use in a worm composter or worm farm earthworms?

A: Yes and No

Most people think of 'earthworms' as lob worms or garden worms. Worms that are about 6cm plus long and greyish brown in colour. The type that you would normally see a robin tugging on in the lawn‚ These worms are in fact usually Lumbricus Terrestris, deep burrowing worms, often referred to as nightcrawlers. They like to burrow up to 2 metres below the surface, and they create deep tunnels and mix the different layers of soil.

The worms in your wormery are red worms and whilst they are indeed one species of earthworm (there are 27 species of earthworm in the UK alone) they are surface dwellers and live within the top 10cm of the soil usually in a manure pile or on the top layer of a forest floor.

Q: Why is worm compost so good for your plants?

A: Worm compost is usually referred to as 'Black Gold' and with very good reason. It is one of the richest composts in the world and even better it's water soluble which makes the nutrients easily available to plants. The castings have a neutral pH of 7.0 and are packed full of beneficial microbes that aid plant growth and help fight off disease.

Q: Does a worm bin attract mice, rats and other pests?

A: When a worm bin is properly maintained, it is pretty much odour free and therefore does not attract pests. Instead of a conventional composter where the food rots in a wormery the worms are actually eating the food scraps placed in the bin so there is no smells to attract the vermin.

If you're interested in starting up your own Wormery, please wiggle on over to https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/wormeries.html

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