How to use vermicompost
You have been feeding and caring for your worms for months and now your worm bin is full , what ' s next ? How is vermicompost harvested and how to use it ?
It is usually recommended to harvest for worm compost only after 120 days from the day you started the worm bin , this is to ensure all food particles , even non visible ones , to be fully composted and for the compost to be safe to use even on edible plants . With a stacking system with three or four trays this should be easily achievable if you didn ' t rush by overfeeding .
When ready to be harvested , your compost should look dark and fluffy with no sign of bad smell or recognisable food material . Some material such as eggshells , avocado rinds or small amount of cardboard might still be found in the bottom tray , this is OK and they can either go back into the worm bin or be added with the vermicompost into the garden where they will continue to break down .
The vermicompost should be moist and crumbly but not wet and muddy or else this means the system is too wet and there is a risk of the material being anaerobic , which should be avoided . A muddy vermicompost makes it hard to harvest and separate the worms , then when applied to the garden it is not simple to work it down into the soil and it can become really hard when it dries and won ' t absorb water easily to soften back . There are several ways to fix a muddy compost :
• Mix in a lot of dry shredded corrugated card board and wait for few days and apply both into the garden . The cardboard will eventually break down .
• Add a layer of dry carbon rich material on top of the muddy compost and wait few days without a lid for the dry material to suck up the moisture that will then evaporate in contact with air . Rolling sheets of corrugated cardboard and pushing them deep into the compost , sticking out from the surface will help the drying process . In the end remove the cardboard material and reuse it in another tray as bedding .
• For several days , fluff the vermicompost daily and leave the lid open for it to dry .
Once the vermicompost is dry just enough you should be able to make a ball in your hand and it will break down with a slight squeeze . You now can harvest it from the tray .
If you have a stacking trays system , separating worms and cocoons from the harvested tray ( bottom ) is not necessary , there should be enough left in the other trays so sustain the whole system . You can release them into the garden where they will survive if you have added mulch on the surface and keep it moist . They will , there , continue to do good to the plants . However , if you need to separate the worms you could try one of these methods :
• Use a bait such as half an avocado or a slice of cantaloupe ( rock melon ) placed on the surface of the compost . In a day or two most of the worms should be gathered under the bait , just scoop them out .
• Use the light method which requires you to pile up the vermicompost into mounds under a light source . Wait few minutes for the worms to dive down and start scratching the top of the mound away . Repeat the process until you reach the bottom where there should be only a ball of worms left .
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