Worm castings, also referred to as vermicompost or worm manure, and typically erroneously referred to as worm “casings”, are the natural waste produced by earthworms as they digest and break down natural matter.
As worms eat their meals within the type of decaying plant supplies, micro organism, fungi, and different microorganisms, they convert them right into a nutrient-rich poop.
This poop is the target of the entire vermicomposting course of, and accumulating it’s what we’re speaking about right this moment.
These little pellet-shaped packets are full of important vitamins for crops within the type of minerals and useful micro organism, and likewise enzymes that additional promote well being in all types of crops.
Castings are an all-natural, almost odorless, and tremendous eco-friendly fertilizer that can enhance almost each side of your backyard and different plantings; soil construction, progress, root growth and extra.
You’ll love what these potent little pellets can do to your backyard, however you’ve obtained to know how you can accumulate them whereas sparing your worms if you’d like your composting operation to go on.
With out the appropriate strategies, it may take a variety of time, however I can spare you that monotony with 5 confirmed strategies that can velocity up the method. Seize your gloves and let’s get to it.
How Do You Get Worm Castings?
To acquire worm castings, you’ll want earthworms. That’s it. The worms eat, and poop out the castings. Job’s finished.
In seriousness, to gather worm castings in an organized means you will want to arrange a worm “bin” or a extra sophisticated vermicomposting system.
This entails creating an acceptable surroundings for worms by offering them with soil materials and a daily provide of natural waste, corresponding to fruit and vegetable scraps, espresso grounds, and eggshells.
Because the worms eat and break down the natural matter, and the micro organism interested in and created by such matter, they poop out the castings.
Periodic and well timed harvesting ensures a steady provide of nutrient-rich compost to your backyard.
Are Worm Castings Troublesome to Harvest?
Harvesting worm castings is easy, however not simple if you happen to don’t know a couple of methods that I’m about to indicate you.
Think about that you’re attempting to get the castings, little tiny pods that they’re, separated from the worms themselves within the soil. You want these worms to go on dwelling in your vermicompost bins to make extra!
So you’re both left with laboriously selecting the worms out, or sacrificing no less than some and possibly many of the worms once you use the batch of compost, castings and all, in and round your backyard and residential.
So it isn’t that they’re troublesome to reap, per se, however the logistics of maintaining your operation going might be irritating and time-consuming as I discussed up above.
However to not fear: the next strategies I’m about to element are tried, true and just about foolproof.
Quickly you’ll have the ability to hold your worms joyful and alive, munching away, when you get right down to enterprise with their business- that “black gold” poop!
However that’s sufficient of the preamble ramble: let’s get to work wrangling these worms.
5 Foolproof and Straightforward Methods to Harvest Your Worm Castings
The next strategies are my favourite for simply sorting worms from their castings. Every has professionals and cons, and every might be kind of enticing primarily based in your price range and targets.
1. DIY Sifter
Far and away my favourite technique for harvesting worm castings is thru using a DIY, selfmade sifter.
In case you didn’t know, there are massive, powered gadgets on the market which can be used on the business degree too harvest worm castings from massive volumes of vermicompost.
These powered, rotating drums are undoubtedly quick and efficient, however they’re very, very exhausting on the worms themselves.
Not an issue if you happen to’re in a position to purchase worms in limitless portions, however for the remainder of us we in all probability have to be a little bit extra selective.
You may simply make a DIY, manually powered model at dwelling utilizing some pine furring strips or another sturdy wooden organized right into a body a few inches deep after which lining one facet with {hardware} material, mesh or the rest that can simply let the worm castings drop by way of and hold all the opposite stuff, together with the worms, up above.
Then all you’ve obtained to do is place a catchment tray or bucket, load a little bit compost and shake shake shake, similar to the music says.
It received’t take lengthy in any respect earlier than you’ll have worm castings pattering to the container beneath.
As soon as they cease falling, you possibly can substitute the worms and the opposite matter again into one facet of your compost bin or in a separate, short-term holding container.
Simply finished, simple to make use of and straightforward (and low-cost) to make with frequent supplies you in all probability have mendacity round proper now.
2. Bait the Worms Away
For those who don’t care to take a little bit extra time in relocating your worms, otherwise you simply don’t like the trouble and exertion of utilizing the sifter above, you need to use my second favourite approach which is baiting the worms out of the compost so you possibly can relocate them after which get straight to work with the compost, castings and all.
To do that, you simply want to make use of a little bit little bit of bait within the type of worms’ favourite meals.
Identical to all dwelling issues, worms are extremely motivated by meals, and whether or not you’re utilizing purple wrigglers to your vermicompost manufacturing or another species, you possibly can depend upon melons to get them shifting. That’s actually all there may be to it.
Take a hunk of contemporary, succulent melon like watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, sugar kiss or another candy melon, after which merely set it on the floor on one far finish of the compost. What occurs subsequent, is borderline magical.
The worms might be drawn to the hunk of melon as a result of it’s going to begin breeding micro organism and attracting different little tiny creatures that the worms can eat.
Worms are additionally drawn to moisture, and these moist hunks of melon will create a sticky, sugary ooze on the spot the place you positioned it that worms simply can’t resist.
Worms aren’t too quick after all, and it’ll take them days or a little bit greater than every week, maybe two, to achieve the hunk of melon relying on how massive your compost bin is.
However a little bit checking will rapidly present after they have all gathered.
As soon as that’s finished, you possibly can scoop them out and place them in a secondary bin, or else scoop out the compost and use it as wanted.
And use your head with this system too: when you’ve got a really massive or lengthy been, contemplate putting a number of bait stations in strategic areas so worms will at all times head in the direction of the closest one away from the compost you need to scoop out, or vice versa. This could velocity up the method.
Elegant, completely low-cost, tremendous efficient. You’ll adore it.
3. Use a Vertical Migration Composter
Vertical migration composters are a particular sort of vermicomposting bin consisting of tiered, stackable trays which have mesh bottoms, usually massive sufficient to permit your worms to wriggle by way of them.
In essence, these migration composters type a deeper compost bin that enable worms to maneuver up and down by way of the soil and to completely different ranges or trays.
This exploits the bait precept we talked about above, and the thought is that you simply begin the compost bin on the bottom tier, with solely a little bit little bit of fill, leaving those above empty or including them later.
After the prescribed period of time when your worms have been very busy cranking out that black gold, you’ll add extra fill or add one other tray, and permit the fill to utterly refill the area between the 2.
Now, as you add extra meals to the higher degree, the worms will naturally migrate upward to it, leaving the wealthy, casting-filled decrease ranges just about freed from worms.
At this level, you detach the now occupied degree and take away the one which is stuffed with the castings to be collected individually or used instantly as wanted.
That is one other elegant answer for many of us, however one with very actually extra shifting elements.
Additionally, it may be troublesome to determine whether or not or not the decrease ranges are nonetheless occupied: if the worms haven’t exhausted the meals there, some and even most of them may keep behind slightly than migrate upward.
In my expertise these work finest on a smaller scale. In case you are making heat tea on the common or simply strategically utilizing your castings, it is a nice choice.
4. Repel Worms with a Gentle Supply
We are able to entice worms with bait, or repel them with mild, and that is what this technique is all about.
Worms retreat from mild, each as a result of it’s going to dry them out from direct heating, and likewise as a result of they know they’re extremely seen to predators that can eat them, corresponding to birds and rodents.
This technique is about so simple as it will get, and can be utilized two alternative ways.
The primary means is by putting brilliant lights over your vermicomposting bin if it’s a deeper one; feeling the warmth, fairly actually, the worms will burrow down for security and moisture, letting you skim off the higher layer of compost.
As soon as that’s finished, you possibly can add extra fill after which flip the lights off. Notice that for both technique, it’s also possible to use daylight.
The second technique is to take your compost after which pour it out in a bigger tray, leveling it out so it isn’t very deep in any respect. Maintain your wealthy compost solely on about 2/3 of this tray.
On the remaining third, financial institution up a deeper part of recent fill or soil that’s deep sufficient for the worms to flee into and depart the lights on as earlier than. They’ll instinctively head in the direction of it.
After a short while, accumulate the leftover, wealthy compost after which return the worms to your unique bin.
When utilizing this system, it’s vital that you simply use brilliant, daylight spectrum bulbs however ones that don’t put out an excessive amount of warmth as a result of this will actually roast and kill your worms, particularly utilizing the second technique.
For those who don’t thoughts springing for them, daylight spectrum LEDs appear to work the easiest as a result of they put out comparatively little warmth however instinctively encourage the worms to go for the hills, or slightly for the dust.
5. Take away Worms by Hand
The final technique on this listing is my least favourite as a result of it takes so gosh darn lengthy, however it’s nonetheless a viable, helpful one particularly if you happen to don’t need to fiddle with something extra intricate or if you happen to simply have a smaller compost bin.
All you want to do is start digging and sifting for worms earlier than relocating them into a brand new bin or into a short lived holding container.
You’ll be digging and sifting, grabbing these wriggling little worms which can be thrashing, and customarily having an excellent time if you happen to like being bored.
Me? I don’t, and my time is valuable so I don’t depend on this technique very a lot in any respect anymore.
That being stated, when you’ve got nothing higher to do or slightly spend your time truly getting hands-on along with your backyard chores, this technique nonetheless completely works.
Simply watch out to not hurt your worms and ensure your fingers are clear as a result of they’re very delicate to varied chemical compounds that is likely to be on our pores and skin.
