Worm composting at home — turn kitchen scraps into rich castings
Practical vermicomposting guides — red wigglers, worm bins, feeding, and castings.
Can worms eat avocado? Yes — the flesh is fine, in small amounts. Avocado flesh is soft, mild, and rich, and worms eat it happily. The catch is the fat: avocado is much fattier than most worm food, so a big feeding goes rancid instead of rotting cleanly. Feed a few spoonfuls at a time, […]
Can worms eat citrus? No — keep citrus out of the worm bin. Oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit are all too acidic for worms. The acid burns them, slows them down, and can push the whole bin sour. A tiny piece of orange buried deep will not kill the bin, but the worms will avoid […]
Can worms eat onions? No — keep onions out of the worm bin. Worms avoid onions, and with good reason: onions are acidic, they smell strong, and they slow the whole bin down. A small piece of cooked onion buried deep will not kill the worms, but it will sit there uneaten for weeks, and […]
Can worms eat bread? Yes — plain bread is safe for worms, in small amounts. Bread is soft, starchy, and easy to eat, so worms take to it quickly. The limit is the amount: one slice a week for a 1 lb bin of about 1,000 worms is plenty. More than that, and the bread […]
Can worms eat banana peels? Yes — banana peels are one of the worms’ favourite foods. They are soft, sweet, full of potassium, and they break down fast. A 1 lb bin of about 1,000 red wigglers will eat a buried banana peel in about a week. The only problem is fruit flies: peels left […]
Can worms eat eggshells? Yes — eggshells are one of the best things you can add to a worm bin, as long as you crush them to a fine powder first. Eggshells give worms grit to grind their food, add calcium that keeps the bin from turning too acidic, and break down slowly over 2 […]
Worm castings for indoor plants work best in small amounts: 1 to 2 tablespoons per pot as a top dressing, or 1 part castings mixed into 4 parts potting soil when you repot. That is enough for most houseplants. Castings are rich, so more is not better — a heavy hand can hold too much […]
How much worm castings per plant? For most garden plants, a handful — about 1/4 to 1/2 cup — mixed into the soil around each plant. For a bed, spread a thin 1/4-inch layer. For a houseplant in a 6-inch pot, 1 to 2 tablespoons on top. Castings are gentle and will not burn plants. […]
How to make worm tea? Soak 1 cup of finished worm castings in 1 gallon of water for 24 hours, stir a few times, strain out the solids, and use it the same day. Dilute it 1 part tea to 1 part water, and pour it on the soil around your plants — never on […]
Can worms eat coffee grounds? Yes — red wigglers eat used coffee grounds happily, and the grounds even help the bin. But coffee is a seasoning, not a meal. For a settled bin with 1 lb of worms, about 1,000 worms, the safe amount is about 1 tablespoon of grounds per feeding, mixed into the […]