Expert Advice

The great news is that worms love spring – its not too cold or too hot – in fact it’s the perfect season!

As it gets warmer, the first thing they’re going to do is become more active. They’ll want to eat more which means they’ll produce more castings for your garden – and that’s just as well because rich worm tea is what your garden needs right now to get the fruit and veges flourishing!

To get the most from your composting worms, increase the amount and variety of scraps you add to your worm farm and add some extra Worm Conditioner to boost the nutritional value. Water the farm every week – that way you’ll produce the worm tea your garden needs!

If you’ve moved your worm farm to a sunny spot for the winter, now is the time to move it back into the shade – a worm farm will warm up quickly in the sun and your worms will suffer – they enjoy an environment that’s around 18-25 deg C.

Finally, check the condition of your worm blanket – with warm dry weather just around the corner, a good blanket will help keep the moisture in.

Composting earthworms, our ‘soil-making’ friends, are cold blooded. That means the temperature of their environment affects their body temperature. 

Ideally you need to keep their bedding at around 18-25 deg C. If it drops below that, your worms will cool down, then slow down and eat less food.

It’s easy to keep your worms warm and comfortable during winter by managing their environment.

Here’s what to do…

Move your worm farm to a sheltered spot to avoid drafts. If possible, find a position that captures morning sun…. consider a closed-in veranda, garage, cellar – even under or inside your house.

Make sure the ‘bedding tray’ is full – that’s the one that holds your compost/rich soil under the feeding tray. You could even add an extra tray of ‘bedding’ because these trays help keep out the cold and maintain a more even temperature.

Use at least one ‘worm blanket’ on the surface of your feeding tray then place a blanket or bags or something similar that ‘breathes’, over the top of the entire worm farm.

When doing your weekly worm farm flush, use warm water (20-25deg C) - but NEVER HOT!

In very cold climates where freezing occurs, some people dig a hole in the ground, and place the entire worm farm into the hole. Then they cover the surface with a layer of straw or dry leaves that is at least 200mm thick. Luckily, in Australia there are very few of us who need to resort to these measures!

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to keep your worms warm in the winter – and in doing so, keep them active and producing rich worm tea!

There are a couple of things you can do to ensure your worms have plenty to eat while you’re away.

My preferred method is to use 5 litres or so of Lucerne Chaff or Lucerne Hay (Alfalfa). Lucerne is a high protein food that releases slowly. It should keep your worms happy, safe and sound for 3-4 weeks!

Soak it really well in a bucket of water then lift off the lid of your worm farm and your worm ‘blanket’. Place a layer of wet lucerne over about 90% of the top feeding tray then sprinkle some rich soil on top. If you can’t get lucerne then you could feed your worms slightly more than usual.

Make a layer of mixed food scraps over about 80% of the surface of the top feeding tray, then add a thin layer of rich soil. Make sure the layer of food scraps is no thicker than 20 to 30mm or it could become anaerobic (no oxygen). This will cause your worm farm to go putrid and stink… and then your worms will go elsewhere!

Once you’ve provided an extra layer of food, kiss your worms goodbye then replace the worm blanket and lid. I suggest you put a rock or something similar on top of the lid to ensure the wind (or an animal) does not knock it off.

Without the lid your worm farm will dry out very quickly! It’s a great idea to find a friend or next-door neighbour that loves worms, to drop over once a week, water the worms and check them - just so they don’t feel too lonely while you’re away.

Have a great holiday and thanks for taking good care of your worms!

Eco Logos and Worm Regards

Pete Rutherford