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Worms in Compost
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Posted by garden_nerd UK Central (My Page) on Mon, May 22, 06 at 4:25
| The time has come to empty out some of my compost barrels -and what hard work it is, especially now it is sodden with rain. The stuff at the bottom of the barrels has probably been there at least two years, and has rotted nicely. I notice, however that one barrel has far more brandling worms in than the other, and seems slightly less well-rotted i.e. you can still see soft, fibrous material it. If it still actively has worms in it, does that mean it should be left a bit longer? It seems perfectly OK otherwise.
And is it bad for the worms to be put onto the garden along with the compost - I gather Brandlings are sensitive to cold? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Worms in Compost
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| Yes, they are sensitive to cold. They certainly won't survive in thew garden indefinitely. But normal garden earthworms work just fine in normal compost piles. You can leave the material as long as you want, it will continue to decompose almost indefinitely. Once it starts to smell like a forest instead of like compost then you can use it for anything you like. I regularly incorporate partially complete compost into garden beds without a problem, or even just lay it on the surface. I don't have enough bin space and sometimes it just has to be moved on before it is a sweet dark powder :) |
RE: Worms in Compost
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Thanks, S&B. Presumably the brandlings can just romp about the garden until the winter kills them?
I now have 6 bins, thanks to LCC, and am probably beginning to exceed the ideal plot to bin ratio. 'Bout time these green waste bins turned up. Call itself an eco-city? No way. I still have to chuck loads of stuff into my black wheelie bin because I can't manage to compost it at home. |
RE: Worms in Compost
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| What are 'brandling' worms? The reddish ones commonly seen in manure? |
RE: Worms in Compost
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| I believe so. You can buy them from mail order, but mine (if I've identified them corectly) just turned up. They collect under the lids of my compost bins when the compost is pretty well broken down, but not finished yet. You can get special no-smell indoor compost bins for the kitchen scraps that are basically brandling farms. I still don't know what happens to them if they are put into the ground along with the compost. |
RE: Worms in Compost
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| If they "just turned up" then I wouldn't worry about them. They'll leave or die or whatever they can manage, and "turn up" again when they are needed. If I fill any container with compost that has alteady gone through the heating phases, it will be absolutely full of worms within a few weeks. |
RE: Worms in Compost
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| I have just bstard trenched a run of weedkiller treated council flats garden border. I took lawn clippings from a neaby cricket club as they are fairly weed free but a lot of it was midewy. There is about a bin bag full every 6 feet. How soon will worms take up residence in fairly dry, ill used clay? |
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