Compost worms

[MIAMNER]

My compost (mainly grass clippings, henhouse sweepings & coffee grinds) takes forever. I’m tempted to add worms to speed things up. Has anyone tried this?

Worms will make their own way there if the base of the compost heap is on open ground?

Is that all you put in there though? It’s not a great mix, you need veg peelings, egg boxes or other cardboard, green garden waste and more woody stuff clipped up small.

What are you composting it in?

The worms that live in my compost bin are different to the earth worms in my soil. They are thinner and red and appeared in my compost bin all by themselves!

If you want to speed up your composting, adding a bit of urine will move things along! We have a cat who uses a litter tray with wooden pellets - this is magical stuff. But I'm sure you can think of other sources of uric acid 🤔

By henhouse sweepings I mean wood shavings/Dengie and chicken poo, so I was actually worried there was too much brown. Earlier this year I upgraded to 3 black plastic dalec bins, which sit directly on the ground. I turned them all today but there wasn’t much life in them. I have poured wee in my heap in the past 😬 I sometimes rehome earth worms in them, but I want the magic red worms! Any advice appreciated. The only time it has worked really well was when I collected a load of horse manure and forgot about it for 5 years.

I don’t put veg perlings in there, as the chickens eat that, and also because my previous more open bin attracted the wrong sort of wildlife 🐀

Veg pealings aren't such a draw for rats. You just need to avoid meat and carbs really. But anyway you have better uses for your veg peel 🐔 Rats do like the heat that a great compost heat generates though.

I have the black plastic darlic bin too. We put grass cuttings, weeds, hedge trimmings, leaves, cardboard, brown paper, egg boxes, egg shells, coffee grounds, all veg and fruit waste and the wood cat litter. I also add a bit of soil from the garden/used compost for whatever little beasties live in there. It's not just the worms, but the woodlice, earwigs, soil microorganisms etc that help break stuff down. It composts in a few months in the summer

The worms that find their way naturally into compost heaps and bins are brandling worms, not earth worms. Most compost bins are too hot for earth worms and so if you put them in they'll either leave or die.

What you need for fast composting is air and heat and the best way to get this is to turn the heap really regularly - like once every couple of weeks. The less you turn, the less air in there and the slower the process.

Are your bins in deep shade? They do like a little warmth, not full sun, but a good warmish spot.

One other thing is compaction. If you ram stuff in the bin there's no air and if you add lots of coffee grounds they really compact up and there's no air gap.

I put wee in mine about three times a week. Not sure if it's the dampness or something in the wee, but a dry heap is a slow heap.

If you've got a friend who composts, and has red worms, ask for a shovel of compost.
When we moved, I brought an ice cream tub of conpost with us, and they have totally colonized the new bin - even with a less than ideal mix of additions.

I definitely need to turn more often. I did have a lot of earwigs in one, so that’s good. The new daleks are in the sun, can they get too hot? Behold my compost trifle in all its glory. I’ve been filling this all summer. I wish I had the type of friend I could ask for worms.

Worms will only survive if there's sufficient partially decomposed organic material.
believe me, they'll turn up on their own when conditions are right - I had them in one of my bays within 4 months of making them & they're on slab/concrete.
Compost only really needs turning once, about a month after you've filled the bay/container

Okay, no fancy worms for me - I’m going to turn it more frequently and focus on improving the mix and peeing in it. Thank you.

Ours is mainly veg peelings, in full sun for part of the day, we never turn it just dig compost out of the bottom and it is full of worms, it composts very fast in summer. We don't put grass clippings in it for capacity reasons but I think too much of those can be a problem.

I wish I had the type of friend I could ask for worms.
Now there's a sentence I'll bet you never thought that you would write!

Worms do move in of their own accord. They also move out again when their job is done - would you hang around the dinner table when all the food was gone? You can buy the worms off the internet. Example

What might help is adding a few watering cans of water as you go, that looks quite dry. No rain can get in the darleks so I find that helps.

I agree, it looks very dry to me

What might help is adding a few watering cans of water as you go, that looks quite dry.
'As you go' is quite important. By the time a dalek is full there is a lot of matter in there, so it's very difficult for a sprinkling from the top to get to the centre of the mass. And the worms can't eat/breathe if it's too dry and compacted.

That definitely looks too dry to me. I have 4 dalek bins too. I have had better results since I've been making sure I layer properly. I have lots guinea pig hay/poop.

I make sure i layer with green stuff (grass/weeds/garden clippings etc) and plenty of cardboard. I rip the cardboard down into smaller peices. I have also added 100% cotton/wool/linen clothes etc instead of sending them to the clothes waste bins.

I make sure there is enough water in there, and chuck some compost from the bottom of the heap in as well.

Ive been turning the bins every 3-4 weeks in the summer.