Carton prevent worm to go to the top năm 2024

A worm farm can turn your organic waste into rich fertiliser to feed your garden. It's also a fun and rewarding way to get the kids actively involved in the environment.

Steps

1Why compost?

Almost half of the household waste we throw away is organic and therefore, ideal for composting. Yet so many of us throw it in the bin rather than recycling it. Problem is, organic waste releases methane as it breaks down in landfill, adding greenhouse gases to the environment. Recycling your organic waste with a worm farm is far more beneficial for both your garden and the environment.

2Get a wriggle on

The Reln Garden 2 Tier Can-O-Worms Composter makes it easy to set up your own worm farm at home. It comes with two trays, the bottom or ‘home' tray is where your worms start. The top or ‘working' tray is where your organic scraps go. The two tier system encourages the worms to move from the bottom tray to the top. A worm farm of this size can digest up to 4kg of food scraps a week.

3Put the pieces together

Start by setting up the ‘home' tray and attach the legs, making sure you keep the cardboard packaging to line the bottom tray. Put the bedding block in a bucket of water and once it has expanded remove it, crumble it and spread across the cardboard. Then add your new pets – the worms!

4A feeding frenzy

Add another tray, called the working tray. Fill it with kitchen scraps – everything from fruit and vegetable peelings to coffee grounds, dust, hair clippings, even torn up newspapers. Worms are excellent recyclers, devouring up to 3-4kg of kitchen waste weekly. They work best in the shade and dark. Lastly, add a hessian blanket for insulation.

5Harvest your compost and liquid fertiliser

Being a worm farmer involves a little maintenance. Worms are thirsty workers, so they need hydration. Turn on the tap regularly to drain excess liquid. This is called worm tea, diluted with water it's an excellent liquid fertiliser. When the trays are full, harvest the castings (or worm poop), a product that's jam-packed with nutrients. Add it to your garden and your plants will grow like crazy.

6Nature's recyclers

Worms are nature's recyclers and great helpers in turning your food scraps into rich fertiliser for your garden. You can find everything you need to set up a worm farm at your local Bunnings.

Though fruit flies do not pose any health hazards, these little creatures can be a nuisance in the classroom. To help prevent these potentially prolific pests, do the following:

1. Avoid putting rotting or rotten food in your worm bin. Fly larvae are more likely to be present on rotten food.

2. Cut food scraps into small pieces. Worms will be able to eat smaller pieces more quickly, thereby limiting the possibility of fruit flies thriving on decomposing food.

3. Don't overfeed worms. Ripe food that sits around in the bin attracts (and may contain) flies.

4. Bury food. Burying the food will help keep unwanted pests and pets from intruding on your bin.

5. Keep bedding material moist, but not too wet. Overly wet conditions encourage the proliferation of fruit flies. Wet conditions might also cause an odor problem, as anaerobic bacteria thrive when it is too wet.

6. Feed worms a varied diet. If citric foods dominate the bin, the bin may become too acidic, which may attract fruit flies.

7. Loosely place a piece of plastic or a sheet of newspaper inside the bin on top of the worm bin contents. This plastic or newspaper cover will create another barrier to help prevent flies from getting in (or out) of the bin.

8. Limit citrus fruits.

To help control an existing fruit fly problem, try the following:

1. Remove rotten food from the bin when fruit flies are present. Fruit flies often lay their eggs on decomposing food.

2. Tape or staple flypaper strips on the inside of the bin lid, and/or hang a strip near the bin. Flypaper strips can be purchased cheaply at most hardware stores.

3. Create a fly trap to put in the bin. A bowl of apple cider vinegar with a drop of dish detergent, placed near the bin, will attract and kill flies. Change liquid regularly to keep fly trap potent.

4. Place a whole sheet of newspaper on top of bin contents. Change this sheet regularly as flies tend to congregate on the newspaper.

5. Sprinkle lime in the bin to neutralize excessively acidic conditions.

6. For temporary relief, take bin outside and leave uncovered for up to four hours to air out the bin (out of direct sunlight).

If the problem cannot be controlled, have your class analyze the problem, and speculate about what is causing it. The best solution may be to harvest the worms and start a new bin from scratch, using what you have learned from your past experience to create a better bin.

Odor Problem

If your worm bin has an unpleasant odor, one of the following may be the culprit:

1. Bin is too wet. Solve the problem by not adding any water or foods with a high percentage of water (e.g., melons) and by adding more dry bedding.

2. Bin does not get enough air. Anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which thrive without air) is smelly. To aerate, add fresh bedding and mix bin contents daily.

3. The food in bin is naturally smelly. For instance, we have found that onions and broccoli do not smell very pleasant when they decompose in the worm bin. Simply remove any food source that smells bad from the bin.

4. Bin contains non-compostables. Meat, bones, dairy and oily products should not be fed to the worms because these items become rancid when decomposing.

Worm Death

If you notice the worm population dwindling, or worms crawling all over the bin trying to escape, check for the following:

1. Bin is too wet and worms are drowning.

2. Bin is too dry and worms dry out.

3. Bin does not get enough air and worms suffocate.

4. Worms do not get enough food. Once the worms devour all of their food and newspaper bedding, they will start to eat their own castings which are poisonous to them. TIME TO HARVEST

5. The bin is exposed to extreme temperatures. The worms thrive in temperatures from 55 to 77 degrees F.

NOTE: Dead worms decompose rather quickly. If you do not monitor the above conditions you can have a dead box of worms before you even realize it.

Why are my worms climbing to the top of the bin?

Oftentimes, when temperature conditions are not ideal (optimal is 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit), the worms will make an attempt to escape the situation. This thwarted escape plan (if your lid is on tight) ends up with many worms in your bottom collection tray or on the sides and lid of your bin.

Why do worms go to the lid of the compost bin?

On other occasions, practically during the summer, when even cold composting systems will warm up, due to the addition of green material and rise in ambient temperature, worms may can be found crawling up the walls and over the lid of the bin to escape to a cooler environment.

Can you keep worms in a cardboard box?

Cardboard is the perfect bedding because it allows air and gases to flow freely, it holds water, keeping the worms moist and also absorbs water to prevent too much water from swamping your bedding!

Does cardboard attract earthworms?

Also, earthworms are very attracted to the cardboard and are great for the garden, since their movement through soil increases aeration, nutrient cycling, and water infusion. The earthworm 'castings' manure (worm poop) provides an organic type of fertilizer that offers many beneficial nutrients for plants.