Worm farming

Worms are the world’s best recyclers. Having a worm farm is an easy and cheap way to turn your fruit and vegetable scraps into nutrient rich fertiliser for your garden.

Worm farms do not take up much space and they do not smell which makes them perfect for unit dwellers, singles or small families.

Worm farms are available from gardening and hardware stores or you can make your own farm by reusing polystyrene boxes.

Setting up your worm farm

  • Place your worm farm in a cool, shaded spot such as on a balcony, in a garage or in a shady spot in the backyard
  • Worms enjoy a dark moist environment so keep a layer of damp newspaper, hessian or carpet on top of the food waste. Eventually they will eat this layer and it will need to be replaced.
  • Compost worms are a different type of worm from earthworms and have names such as Red Wrigglers, Indian Blues and Tiger Worms. Start with approximately 1000worms (if purchasing a box), or at least a few decent handfuls if you’re getting them from a friend.

Feeding your worms

Worms can eat about half of their weight in food every day. The smaller the scraps are when you add them, the faster the worms will get through them. A standard sized worm farm will cater for food scraps from two or three people.

Worms like to eat:

  • fruit and vegetables (except for citrus fruit, onions, chilli and garlic)
  • vacuum cleaner dust
  • hair
  • tea bags and coffee grinds
  • leaves
  • shredded and soaked newspaper and cardboard.

If you are going away on holiday, fill an entire tray with harder vegetables such as pumpkin and carrots and the worm farm will be fine to leave for several weeks.

Worm tea and castings

The liquid that accumulates in the bottom tray is known as ‘worm tea’. Worm tea should be diluted (approximately 1:10 ratio) and can then be used as a liquid fertiliser for the plants in your garden.

As the worms consume the food in the main tray they produce castings that resemble dark soil. As the castings build up you will need to add another feed tray to your farm. Fill the new tray with worm food and add a new layer of damp newspaper or hessian on top. The worms will move up to the new tray when there is no food left in the first tray. This may take several months. Once the worms have migrated to the new tray, you will be able to harvest your castings, which are full of rich nutrients for your garden.

Did you know?

  • The population in a well-maintained worm farm can double every two to three months.
  • Compost worms breed every seven to ten days and produce between four to twenty egg capsules a week. Not all of these capsules produce babies. On average, an adult worm has about 12 babies a week.
  • Worms have five hearts and no eyes, but they can sense light and vibrations through their skin.

Brisbane City Council

Rethink Your Rubbish Fact Sheet: Worm Farming