Have you wished to set up a house worm farm but been put off by the high cost of buying one of the vermicomposting kits? Don’t worry-You can quickly make your own DIY three bin kit for just a few bucks, and your adorable worms will be as happy as little dogs in the backyard, with no leopard trying to hunt them down. Moreover, you don’t really need to be an expert jack-of-all-trades to accomplish this!
- Supermarkets, Hardware stores, and numerous camping outlets sell rugged, general-purpose opaque plastic storage containers for a very affordable price. These are normally tapered to be nested to aid stacking on the retailer’s shelves and come with a lid. You will need around three of these neatly tapered containers (but just one lid). I would suggest going for 45 liters (12 gallons) containers for a simple home worm farm. Normally, they will be about 400mm (15 inches) deep.
- In the primary storage container, drill a 15mm hole ( 3/8 inch ), halfway placed, in the bin’s side, just above the base. Insert a 12mm (½ inch) plastic barrel or irrigation tap into your drilled hole and bind fast with lock nuts – ensure you get a good seal – test by filling the container with water. This container is the lowest in your stack and will hold the highly nutritional “worm tea” leachate, which will start dropping down from the composting bins above. Worm tea is a precious liquid organic fertilizer that can be diluted and used straight on your home organic vegetables.
The two upper bins will hold the worms. They are to be equal and are prepared as follows: –
- Drill a pattern of 6mm ( ¼ inch ) holes across each container’s whole base for drainage and permit drainage and the swift upward migration of the hardworking compost worms; these holes should be regularly spaced at approx 50mm (two inches) centers in both direction.
- For proper aeration, drill two rows of 6mm (¼ inch) holes at 50mm (two-inch) centers in a constant band around each of the bins. This band of holes would be about 100mm (four inches) below the bin’s top rim.
- It is unnecessary to drill holes in the lid, which is tied tightly over the upper bin. You should get sufficient air through the sides.
- You first set up the sump (lower) bin on blocks or bricks, presenting enough space to tap off the fluid from below it. Choose a sheltered spot for the worm farm.
- The next and third bins are “nested” in each other and cut into the lower (sump) bin. To support a long-lasting working space for the worms and compost collection, you need a few packers or spacers of about seven to nine inches height within the two upper bins and some smaller packers of about three to five inches in the sump (lower) bin. You can use sealed food jars or wood blocks for packers. The packers also stop the tapered worm bins from constantly jamming together.
- To check “nasty bugs” from squeezing in between the bins, you should caulk (close) the tiny hole between them with strips of mosquito netting or shade cloth.
Your Vermicompost is ready.
