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Easy if using a trough with a plug hole I just double over some shade cloth and hold in place with a rock. I have had the best result when stacking the bottom half with dryish cow pads. Then use bout 100 mm of good dirt try not to use any sand they don't like it. lots of vegie scrapes and old bread with pumpkin a must. when travelling back from the riverland I always stop in for a bag or 2 of pumpkin which can be frozen whole and used at a later date.

 

As for starting I buy a box of worms from a big shop and I find this the easiest and cheapest.

 

As said keep out of the summer hot sun and keep moist.

 

I too cover with hessian bags normally 2 or 3 deep, and then a piece of carpet held down by some bricks. I find that this keeps it darker and cooler

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Trof meaning an old laundry sink? Doesnt really matter as yes you will need drainage. Suggest:

  • ensure it actually drains to the outlet,
  • covering the outlet with that plastic guttter quard,
  • filling base with 50-100mm of washed 20mm gravel, top with geotextile fabric and then into your worm farm base material: coir, newspaper ect.
  • keep a bucket under that drainage hole. Worm wee is good gear!

Yes also cover as worms do not like the the sun/light. covering will ensure they come right up during he day as well as the night, plus stop things drying out too much. Hessian is great.  Old carpet/carpet underlay is also excellent.

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Thanks how deep should it be

Not sure what you mean? Your trough will be as 'deep as it is'. The total depth of the active worm farm will grow as the worms do their thing.

 

As per points above; the gravel & textile ensure the entire farm free drains well and greatly assist aeration.

 

I'd be topping the textile layer with a few sheets of newspaper, and then a block of soaked & broken coir fibre - ensure its not the stuff with the fertiliser added! (surprisingly hard to find, read all the label)

 

Add a box of at least 1000 worms to the coir fibre and cover with hessian/underlay/carpet etc. Leave them overnight to settle in before feeding any veg scraps.

 

Start feeding the worms only small quantities of mixed kitchen veg scraps, spread lightly over one side of the trough only.  Cover the whole trough and don't re-feed until this has been eaten otherwise it will rot. Re-feed from the other side.

 

The worms will reproduce and begin to eat more, particularly as the weather is warming up. Its a bit of a case of watch & learn as they gradually eat more.

 

They will consume pretty well anything organic from the kitchen; fruit & veg peels & scraps, eggshells, coffee grinds & animal poo - remember most stock & pets are regularly 'wormed', wormicides are passed thru into their poo and can kill your compost worms too! So leave any poo from a wormed animal out to 'age' before adding to the farm or dispose elsewhere. garden refuse such as weeds & grass clippings are ok, just don't overload with too much. Probably better to compost most of this as quantities are generally too much, all at once anyway.

 

If adding animal poo, suggest either avoiding or a cautious approach to using the casts/wee for foliage application to veggies.

 

Maintain a varied diet, nothing of too much 1 item at once. They particularly dislike onions & citrus, avoid fats & oils. Contrary to popular belief, they will consume small quantities of meat scraps, if the dog doesn't.

 

Water regularly, particularly in warmer weather and keep a bucket under the drain hole to collect all that goodness.

 

Shade from the sun. But sun can be good in winter, where it can help keep them warm. Cover to keep rain out too; you want things moist not wet.

 

Vermicast will slowly build up and is brilliant in the (veggie) garden. It is a good idea to harvest casts sparingly as they provides a stable mass for worms to 'ride out' temperature fluctuations and maintain moister levels.

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I did this a few years ago. Used my farmed tiger worms as bait and food for my pet goldens/silvers.

 

I used a black crate. "The great Aussie crate... mate!" - one of them. A flat piece of timber became the lid, which I weighed down with a brick.

 

Drilled a few holes in bottom for drainage, line the bottom with a hessian sack to stop your friends escaping. Stapled hessian sack flat.

 

Fill crate/tub/trough with potting soil. Buy a large pack of tiger worms from bait shop - Got One St Marys managed to get me a thousand relatively cheaply when they were open.

 

Feed them food scraps, but never citrus. Keep them moist - a drop of water every so often will help this. Keep in the shade to stop them overheating and can't go wrong. They breed like.... worms.

 

Can't go wrong.

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