Coping with the Problems in the Worm Farm.
Setting up a worm farm is an interesting and a very easy project to do. With the right materials and a detailed instruction guide, you can begin harvesting compost in a couple of days. A worm farm is ideal for people who pretty much would like to recycle food scraps but have no time or space to set up and maintain a big compost bin. This is why worm farming is perfect for people who live in apartments or relatively small houses who loves plants.
Despite the simple task involve in setting up your farm, there might be several problems or stumbling blocks that people have to face. In general, however, problems involving your farm are not as huge as some might thing. Simple solutions are often more than enough to cope with situations like presence of flies or an unusually bad smell from the worms.
Let’s begin with the worm themselves. Worms will produce compost but sometimes a bad smell comes out from the farm. The farms should only smell when there’s too much uneaten food residue in the area. To remove the smell, stop feeding the worms for a while. Place some more garden lime on the top level of the stray. Stir the layer as well to allow air into the mixture which also helps the worms move around better. In time the smell will be gone which signals you to start feeding your worm friends again.
And speaking of food, you should feed your worms just enough. Mature worms can eat about half their own body weight which is about 250 grams worth of mashed or blended food. Avoid feeding your worms onions, citrus, garlic, garden waste, dairy products, manures and meat. Meat and acidic food will also bring out a nasty smell from your farm which is another reason why you should not feed it to the worms. Do not worry about the population of your worms. Your worms will regulate themselves.
One of the other things that you might encounter are ants or flies invading your worm farm. Ants will usually enter the farm when the area has become really dry and quite acidic. One way to get rid of them is to add water into your container to increase the moisture level. It would be a good thing also to elevate the container.
You can place garden lime where the ants are at or place the container on legs on a basin of water. That should do the trick. For flies, small ones are usually not that too much of a problem. For large flies, however, one way to reduce their number would be to reduce the amount and frequency of feeding your worms. When cockroaches start to invade, place a lid over the container.
Another possible problem would be maggots. But maggots only appear when you introduce meat into the farm. So the solution obviously would be not to feed them meat. However, when for some reason maggots still do appear, it would be best to remove them by allowing them to cling into bread soaked in milk.
Other added tips for your worm farm include making the farm damp. However, do not make it too wet since the worms can drown from the water. If you find your worms not reproducing, it would be best to place the farm under a shade. A cooler place will help keep the soil moist which is ideal for worm reproduction.
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