Releasing a few worms?
My new wormery seems healthy and I'm feeling confident that the population will keep growing. I also have a compost heap in my garden so thought it'd be fun to just take a handful of the tiger worms and add them to the heap. Do you think they'll stay or just wander off? Also, is there any benefit to releasing a few worms into your garden?
RE: Releasing a few worms?
Hi Alef, the compost heap is a natural place for our worms to be living so they should be fine in there. The worms will wander in and out out of the compost heap but where ever they end they will be a benefit to your garden.
One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up a worm tower. The is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long with a number of holes drilled in the lower third of its length. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of you worms to be, put the pipe vertically in the hole, to a depth so the holes will be covered when the soil is put round it. Now place some compostable food/weeds in the bottom of the pipe then add worms and a The worms will wander in and out out of the compost heap but where ever they end they will be a benefit to your garden. One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up a worm tower. The is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long with a number of holes drilled in the lower third of its length. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of you worms to be, put the pipe vertical in the hole and cover with soil so it little bedding from your bin. The worms will eat and breed in the pipe but will regularly travel out and around leaving castings where ever they go. Some worms may choose to stay out and live in the garden. You will find a lot of information about worm towers on line.
Hope that helps
Willy
One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up a worm tower. The is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long with a number of holes drilled in the lower third of its length. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of you worms to be, put the pipe vertically in the hole, to a depth so the holes will be covered when the soil is put round it. Now place some compostable food/weeds in the bottom of the pipe then add worms and a The worms will wander in and out out of the compost heap but where ever they end they will be a benefit to your garden. One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up a worm tower. The is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long with a number of holes drilled in the lower third of its length. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of you worms to be, put the pipe vertical in the hole and cover with soil so it little bedding from your bin. The worms will eat and breed in the pipe but will regularly travel out and around leaving castings where ever they go. Some worms may choose to stay out and live in the garden. You will find a lot of information about worm towers on line.
Hope that helps
Willy
RE: Releasing a few worms?
Willy, thanks, that sounds a fun idea. I'm certainly going to look into making worm towers 
RE: Releasing a few worms?
I have repeated this post because some how it got chopped up before. I hope it's easier to unde stand now. Sorry about that.
Hi Alef, the compost heap is a natural place for our worms to be living so they should be fine in there. The worms will wander in and out out of the heap but where ever they end up they will be a benefit to your garden. Remember when removing worms from your bin that you need to maintain a good population for your bin to work efficiently, 2,000 worms is a good number for your bin.
One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up worm towers/cafe. This is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long, with a number of holes drilled in the lower two thirds of its length, you can block/cover the bottom of the pipe or leave it open. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of your worms to be, put the pipe vertically in the hole, to a depth so that the holes in the pipe will be covered when the soil is put back around round it. Cover the top with a slat, piece of wood or an up turned can. Now place some compostable food/weeds in the bottom of the pipe then add worms and a Little bedding from your worm bin. The worms will eat and breed in the pipe but will regularly travel out and around leaving castings where ever they go. Feed your tower regularly just like your worm bin, there is no need to add more bedding or any sort of grit. You can set up as many worm towers as you wish. Move your tower around the garden in order to spread the benefits widely. You can use buckets with lids instead of pipe. I even use a three foot wide plastic planter, with a plank of wood as a lid, which fits across my raised beds. Some worms may choose to stay out and live in the garden. You will find a lot of information about worm towers on line just google "worm towers"
Hope that helps
Willy
Hi Alef, the compost heap is a natural place for our worms to be living so they should be fine in there. The worms will wander in and out out of the heap but where ever they end up they will be a benefit to your garden. Remember when removing worms from your bin that you need to maintain a good population for your bin to work efficiently, 2,000 worms is a good number for your bin.
One way to put worms to work in your garden is to set up worm towers/cafe. This is a piece of downpipe about 18inches (45cm) long, with a number of holes drilled in the lower two thirds of its length, you can block/cover the bottom of the pipe or leave it open. Dig a hole in your garden, close to where you want the maximum goodness of your worms to be, put the pipe vertically in the hole, to a depth so that the holes in the pipe will be covered when the soil is put back around round it. Cover the top with a slat, piece of wood or an up turned can. Now place some compostable food/weeds in the bottom of the pipe then add worms and a Little bedding from your worm bin. The worms will eat and breed in the pipe but will regularly travel out and around leaving castings where ever they go. Feed your tower regularly just like your worm bin, there is no need to add more bedding or any sort of grit. You can set up as many worm towers as you wish. Move your tower around the garden in order to spread the benefits widely. You can use buckets with lids instead of pipe. I even use a three foot wide plastic planter, with a plank of wood as a lid, which fits across my raised beds. Some worms may choose to stay out and live in the garden. You will find a lot of information about worm towers on line just google "worm towers"
Hope that helps
Willy
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WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
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RE: Releasing a few worms?
Our dalek cold composting bin was quite neglected, but when the green/brown ratio was adjusted and the compost aerated, it became a giant wormery! I've no idea where they all came from, but there were thousands upon thousands of worms in there. The compost was still not fully broken down and not suitable for potting, so I spread it all in a layer a couple of inches thick on top of the empty raised beds, worms and all. A couple of months later and the worms have broken it down into a lovely, fine, lightweight tilth and it is gradually becoming a part of the topsoil. Anything planted in those raised beds has done exceptionally well, considering the summer we have had. Worms are amazing!
RE: Releasing a few worms?
Good to hear McWorm, keep up the good work. It's amazing what how worms can do when given a little help
Willy
Hi Mcworm, just a thought, you said the stuff from the garden compost bin was "not fully broken down" provided it is not slimy and smelly (anaerobic) then it would make perfect worm food for your wormery. It will have a good mix of Browns and greens, be loaded with microbes and bacteria, which means most of the work is done and the worms in your wormery will complete the task in a very short time. The introduction of this to your bin may even introduce some new blood to your breeding stock.
Willy
Willy
Hi Mcworm, just a thought, you said the stuff from the garden compost bin was "not fully broken down" provided it is not slimy and smelly (anaerobic) then it would make perfect worm food for your wormery. It will have a good mix of Browns and greens, be loaded with microbes and bacteria, which means most of the work is done and the worms in your wormery will complete the task in a very short time. The introduction of this to your bin may even introduce some new blood to your breeding stock.
Willy
Last edited by WillyWorm on Sat Aug 20, 2016 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
RE: Releasing a few worms?
If you do want to release worms to your compost bin, in the garden, it's important to check that the bins contents are cool. A compost bin can reach 80c during the composting process and worms die at 40c!!!! So introduce them in the bottom of the bin or when you are sure it's finished "cooking.WillyWorm wrote: Good to hear McWorm, keep up the good work. It's amazing what how worms can do when given a little help
Willy
Hi Mcworm, just a thought, you said the stuff from the garden compost bin was "not fully broken down" provided it is not slimy and smelly (anaerobic) then it would make perfect worm food for your wormery. It will have a good mix of Browns and greens, be loaded with microbes and bacteria, which means most of the work is done and the worms in your wormery will complete the task in a very short time. The introduction of this to your bin may even introduce some new blood to your breeding stock.
Willy
Willy