Our first wormery was a sad failure (a grey sticky mass with no worms in sight ) but the 2nd time around is looking much better and the compost is nearly ready to be taken out - yay

One of the main problems we had was not realising that there was worm tea in the sump - turning the tap on didn't even produce a drip so we assumed the sump was empty. We carried on like this for weeks until disaster occurred...

We now have our two Original wormeries elevated about a foot and a half off the ground, on cemented bricks so that when its time to empty out the worm tea, the extra height makes it easier to tip the wormeries forward (I mean really forward - almost until they're horizontal - I'm sure the worms don't mind!) and then woosh out comes all the tea!

So if you think that your worms are not producing any tea - give your wormery a really good tip forward and see what happens - you might be surprised!

Not sure how often the tea should build up - we check every 3-4 days and usually drain off about 1/2 a litre or so each time - I guess this means our wormery is quite damp but with lots of torn up egg boxes, the worms are breeding happily and the compost at the bottom looks very 'compost-y'.

As we're both vegetarians and also do a fair amount of juicing, we produce an awful lot of damp food for the worms, so the regular addition of torn up egg boxes, loo rolls and shredded newspaper really does make a big difference.

Good Tip izzy13, i've made this a sticky so it dosnt get lost

Thanks Paul

As many of the photos of the Original wormeries show them standing on brick 'legs' with a space in between, why not have the sump built into the bottom of the wormery rather than on the side - wouldn't this ensure that all the liquid is drained off much more easily

Any worms that fell out of the tap when it was opened (dead or alive) could just be plucked out of the liquid and popped back into the wormery.

Then there would be no need to tip the wormery at all - it does gets a bit heavy to tip when its almost full and each time I do it, I wonder if its going to end up on the ground, with me squashed underneath it

Interesting idea Izzy... but many people use a stand, including our own. And some people just raise the Wormery when it comes to tapping off the feed.

It's important to note that 70-80% of the sump is above the tap level... so if you were to wait a little longer between tapping off the feed you would not need to pull it forward to get some out. It has to be slightly raised up the side of the bin so it can sit flush to the ground.

Regards,
Liam

Hi Liam

I've been having problems with excess moisture ever since I've had the wormeries, which is why I've always tried to get out as much of the tea as possible and hence the tipping... but perhaps the tea in the sump isn't contributing that much to the moisture problem after all?

Elsewhere on the site I've posted a message about overfeeding/moisture levels - let me know what you think...

Thanks!

Isobel

Once the liquid is in the sump, it shouldn't affect the moisture content higher up... it only would if the level exceeded the total size of the sump and then started backfilling the main chamber... but this is quite a bit higher than the level of the tap.

Hope that helps,
Liam

That's very helpful; thanks Liam

Hi Liam

I think I have commited worm genoside!!! Have been happily adding waste to the original wormery for a few months but noticed that the level wasn't going down as fast. More recently I noticed that is was starting to smell a bit too. I have drained off the worm tea a few times but not a lot and on inspection the level was well into the main chamber. I drained off 2 large buckets full and a few worms came out during the process .. the were well and truely agonner. I had a good dig around the wormery and couldnt find any evidence of life either ... what can I do? I was wondering if it would be possible to just buy new worms and add them to the bin now that it is all drained off?
Let me know what you think .. feeling very bad about it all ....

Chris