Watering a worm bin!?

by Rizwan
(Perth, WA, Australia)

Hi, I wanted to know if it is beneficial to water the worm bin using 5 ltrs of water every other week(as mentioned in the guide book that came with the bin)?
If yes, wouldn't it reduce the quality of worm castings formed? Can the water seeping out of the worm tray this be considered worm tea and be fed to plants?

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Dec 09, 2020
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starstarstarstarstar 		Re: Watering a worm bin!?
by: Stephan

Hello Rizwan,

Although you can add water regularly to your worm bins it might be to much if done in large quantities on a biweekly basis. This is of course depending on the size of your bin as well as the climate, food offered and the environment your worm farm is situated in.

If you add for example lots of moist food like watermelon peels and leftover cucumbers... you will have already plenty of moisture in your worm bin while if your worm food is mostly dry your worm bin might need the addition of some extra moisture from time to time.

The ideal moisture level of worm bedding is similar to that of a squeezed-out sponge. If you take a handful of your worm bedding in your fist and squeeze it the material should just release a few drops of moisture which would be perfect.

However if in doubt rather have your worm bedding slightly to moist than to dry as worms can die quickly in a dry environment.

If you want to harvest worm tea / wor leachate on a regular basis you can pore some extra moisture over the surface of your worm bin every now and then and let the water absorb some of the nutrients that can be found in the produced worm castings inside your worm bin. But as you suspected correctly you will slightly dilute your worm castings and in that way might reduce some of their benefits for future use.

Another point to consider when regularly adding ample amounts of water to your worm bin is the fact that the excess water can help to compress the contents of your worm bin and in that way reduce the amount of available oxygen in the bedding and make it more difficult for the worms to move around inside their bin.

So if you decide to add lots of water to your worm bin on a regular basis keep on eye on the consistency of your worm bedding and if need to be add some high fiber materials to the bin like for example pieces of corrugated cardboard to create some airflow and air pockets inside your worm bin. Additionally, it is very important that your worm bin will drain very well to allow as much of the excess moisture to leave the worm bin.

Below I add the links to 2 URL's from our website that deal with the production of worm tea and should be able to assist you to find the best solution for your personal worm farm set up


https://www.worm-composting-help.com/worm-tea.html

https://www.worm-composting-help.com/large-scale-worm-tea-production.html


I trust this information will help you and wish you health and God's richest blessings for you and your family.

Kind regards

Stephan Kloppert

Author of "How to start a profitable worm business on a shoestring budget"

Editor of www.worm-composting-help.com

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