What to feed your worms?

Often many queries that we received from our customers would be, " What should we feed our worms?" Or " What waste will the blue worms eat the fastest?". We have already written an article over here but this time round this post will be a little more light hearted.

One of our worms' favourite diet would be red apples. As mentioned previously, " An apple a day, keeps a worm happy :)"

This is certainly not true if all our apples are eaten this way. 



For us, we always like to have the thought that no food shall go to waste and thus we feed mainly apple cores to our worm bin. We do believe that most average people, actually eat apples with their cores intake. After all, what is wrong by eating that way? We do get more worm castings and not to mention worm tea.

For more enquiries, call us +65 9386 4388

Worm Leachate is an Excellent Garden Fertilizer

Worm leachate is a liquid produced naturally in the worm composting process. Worm compost has an extremely high level of microscopic activity within it and it contains a large amount of microscopic bacteria breaking down your waste within the compost bin. The level of microbes and microbial activity within the worm bin is extremely high, far exceeding the levels found in normal soil, by 10 to 20 times. When liquid is passed through the worm bin, it mixes with the microbes and the resultant by product liquid is called leachate. Leachate is more commonly known as Worm Tea or Compost Tea, all referring to the same by-product of a liquid collected at the bottom of the worm bin.

Leachate is commonly collected 1-2 months after setting up your compost bin. While you may experience some liquid collection in the first few weeks, it is advisable to pour it back into the compost bin. After all, reintroducing additional microbes into the bin does no harm and all good! However, after the worm bin has ‘stabilized’ and the worms are doing their job with much efficiency, you can start collecting the Worm Tea which can be put to many uses.

Worm Tea as mentioned, contains a very high concentration of microbial activity. This is usually in excess of what plants require. To get the most out of this precious worm leachate, consider diluting it with tap water. The Compost Tea can be used as a fertilizer by applying it directly to the soil, or it can be used as a pesticide by spraying it on the plants leaves.  This will prevent insects and other unwanted garden pests from infecting your plants with diseases and eating its leaves.

Usually, self-made home compost bins are unable to collect such worm leachate as there isn’t a specialized way to harvest this useful garden liquid fertilizer. However, you can still attempt to do so by drilling holes at the bottom of your home-made worm bin. Put a tray beneath it and the dark brown liquid that you will find there is Worm Tea! For a more fuss-free way of collecting worm leachate though, use a specialized worm composting bin like the Can-O-Worms of the VermiHut. Each of these systems has a liquid storage compartment and a tap attached to it. To collect the Compost Tea, simply turn the tap and you can start using it on your plants instantly

Adopted from our website, www.worm-compost-bins.com

For enquiries contact us + 65 9386 4388

Worms are Hermaphrodites

Not many people know what is the meaning of hermaphrodites. Hermaphrodites means that one possesses both male and female organs. All worms are hermaphrodites. This is means you will only require two worms to breed and make many more babies.

Each mating partner produces a capsule (sometimes called a pod/cocoon)  or egg. Two of the species mentioned in this blog are the red worms (tigers) and blue worms. Tigers always require two worms to reproduce. The blue worms wherever, can reproduce on their own. Some claim that they have never seen two blue worms coupling and it seems like the blues are permanently parthenogenetic.

This means that when a blue worms had reached sexual maturity, it will start to reproduce on its own. How amazing is that!! Unlike other worms, no time is wasted in pre-mating courtship or finding a mate of the same species etc. This is one of the main reasons the blue worms are such great breeders!! give them a try and the next thing you need to worry is to build another worm farm. As mentioned in the precious post, they are ferocious eaters and can be great composters. 

Call us now for enquiries +65 9386 4388

Baby Composting Worm

Took a video on a baby composting worm. Trust me they can actually be way smaller. Hope it is clear. It's a Malaysian blue worm or Perionyx Excavatus. Stay tuned for more articles on how to breed your worms right. Meanwhile, enjoy the short video.


 

For more enquiries, call us at +65 9386 4388 

Malaysian Blue Worms - Perionyx Excavatus

The blue worms or perionyx excavatus orginal home stretches from the Himalaya Mountains into the lowlands of Malaysia. Till today, some are still debating whether there are some in Singapore. Nevertheless, these worms are more commonly know as the Malaysian Blue Worms. They operate efficiently in a fairly wide range of warm temperatures and moisture levels.

Having know that they orignate from Malaysia, they are more suited for the tropical climate. They prefer very moist conditions and often seek for dark areas. In Malaysia, they have been found in jungle treetops during tropical downpours. They are mostly happy to stay in the worm beds, where there is ample of food, and trust me they breed like crazy. I personally have found them to be a very versatile worm and the most valuable type to me. If you are looking to have the fastest breeding rate, try the blue worms for yourself.  Do note that when well fed and given loads of love, they will reciprocate by breeding a tonne for you :)

The blue worms display four distinct type of colours at different stages of sexual maturity. They also display a fifth type of colour when approaching full body size. Once the perionyx excavatus reach a length of about 7.5cm. they begin to phosphoresce a deep blue/purple on exposure to light. This is why they are called the blue worms and not because they are blue in colour. As their size continue to increase, so does their degree of phosphoresce so that at their full size (15 cm contracted and 20 cm stretched out) they flash a regal purple. They are really beautiful.

Besides great composters, they are also often used as fishing bait. This is because when hooked, the blue worms will be flipping about on the hook and thus attract attention. Give it a try today!

Call us at +65 9386 4388

Vermicomposting - Worms consuming apple

A short clip on our red worms eating an apple. Reducing waste via vermicomposting is the way to go!! try it out today!




Call us at + 65 9386 4388 if you are interested in vermicomposting!

Red Worms - Eisenia fetida/doetida

The Tigers orginally originated from Europe. They are often called Brandlings in Europe and Redworms in America. Thier scientific name would be Eisenia fetida. They are rusty in colour with a distinct brownish tinge.

The Red Worms are surface dwellers. This means they naturally tend to go to the surface area of forest litter or thicker green grass. Because of their surface dwelling nature, they often make good bird food and fish food after a heavy rain. Some of you may notice that after a heavy downpour, there may be some worms crawling on the surface of your pavement. Those worms are the red worms. Besides that, they develop a very interesting defence mechanism when under threat. Often they emit a foul smelling and tasting liquid. Hence they do not make good fishing bait because the fishes tend to avoid them and even spit them out. Some may say that any catch using the red worms is simply luck as it is bad for the fish and good for the fisher.

Once common misconception would be that the red worms are often confused with their close relative Eisenia fetida andrei. Their relative, differs in a bloody red colour and has not clear bands or rings.  In Australia, they are now more know as teh Red Tigers. To simply things, let's just call them the Tigers. One feature to distinguish the two would be the tip of the E.fetida andrei tail is often yellow.

Contact us now +65 9386 4388