A heap of compost can prove to be a very harsh environment especially for earthworms that are ordinary in nature. There are plenty of microbes that feed on all the waste vegetation and increase the overall temperature of your composting materials. Earthworms cannot live in hot temperatures in comparison to redworms that have a very high tolerance in temperature. They can live in temperatures that are between 30 degrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Red wigglers have a different diet in comparison to the regular earthworms. They eat all food wastes especially rotting vegetation and earthworms get all their nutrients from compost materials or the soil. They also tend to thrive in moist compost and not in dry soils.
Today many are going in for the environmentally friendly vermicomposting that also helps in reducing all your food scraps. By the end of the entire process, you would receive nutrients rich composed that will help feed your plants making them healthier and greener. 1000 worms can eat about one pound of food every day. Therefore, it is especially important that you know how to care for these worms and feed them.
Worms enjoy eating and tend to spend all their time in doing just that. Similar to you and me these worms also have their culinary dislikes and likes. So, what were these worms thrive on is something that is important and you must know if you are planning to take this route.
There are plenty of things that you could add to your composting materials that include vegetables and fruit scraps, banana peels, melon rinds, corncobs that are leftover, and pumpkin. It is always advised to not add garlic, onions, and citrus. Garlic and onion will break down eventually by these worms however, the odor is something that you should be prepared to manage. On the other hand, foods that are high in citrus can kill the worms if they are added in huge quantities. So, if you want to add citrusy stuff make sure you add them in small amounts maybe you could avoid the pulp and throw in the peels.
Adding tomatoes to your compost is excellent because these worms will thrive on it however, try and break down all the seeds if not you would notice a couple of tomato sprouts within the bin. If this happens it’s nothing to worry about all you need to do is yank them out. This is a similar sort of thing that could happen with potatoes when added to the compost you would notice them sprouting even before the potatoes are consumed by the worms. We always advise to keep away from dairy and meat because they emit terrible smells, and they take a long time to break down attracting flies and pests.
If you have pets avoid adding their wastes to the bin because it tends to increase the temperature of all the compost materials which will not be a suitable environment for the worms.
Overall earthworms are extremely useful guests that you can have in the compost. You may also find numerous other worms from the garden inside your compost and also if you have a heap of open compost. But the basic rule for earthworms to live in your soil and compost is avoiding extreme climates. I’m confident that we have plenty of earthworms in our compost soil, they just prefer to bury themselves deep down.
That’s all for now, happy gardening!