Welcome back to Wormsworth 🪱
Hi, I'm Mark, founder of Wormly. After several months of helping many first time worm composters get up to speed, I've seen some recurring challenges. Fortunately, these are all completely normal, and easy to rectify.
In this second edition of Wormsworth, I'll go through each of these five common mistakes, one by one. And, although I found it quite cringeworthy getting in front of the camera, I've also produced the video below, covering the same topic.
1. Overfeeding
This is the most common one, and completely understandable. You've got your new wormery, you're excited, and you want to get things moving as fast as possible.
But the biology needs a little time to catch up. Add too much food too soon, and you'll start noticing fruit flies or a bit of an unpleasant smell. That's just uneaten food sitting uncomposted on top.
The fix: Start off slowly. Feed small amounts and ramp up gradually as the worms get through what's already there. A great tip is to feed in the corners of the wormery, it makes it much easier to track whether the food is actually being composted before you add more.
2. Unrealistic winter expectations
Composting worms thrive between 15°C and 25°C. In winter, they work two to three times more slowly than in summer, so if your compost output drops off, that's completely normal.
The fix: Either scale back how much you're feeding in the colder months, or bring the wormery inside. I do this myself and the difference is remarkable. And don't worry about smell, a well-managed wormery is completely odour-free indoors.
3. Forgetting about the worm tea
This one surprises a lot of first-time worm composters, many people don't even know it exists. As you add food waste (which is naturally high in moisture), liquid drips through the trays and collects in the bottom of the wormery. This is worm tea, and it's brilliant free fertiliser.
The fix: Check the bottom tray every couple of weeks. If there's liquid there, dilute it 10 to 1 with water and use it on your garden or houseplants. Don't let it go to waste.
4. Not adding enough bedding
Food waste alone isn't enough to keep your worms happy. Bedding is a crucial part of the mix: it helps regulate moisture, balances pH, and can counteract the effects of overfeeding.
Good options include coconut coir (just add water and it expands into lovely soft bedding) or shredded paper and cardboard (tear it into small pieces before adding it)
The fix: Aim for roughly 2 parts bedding to 1 part food waste by volume, and keep adding it regularly alongside your food waste.
5. Not knowing when or how to harvest
After two to three months (longer in winter) your compost will be ready to harvest. Here's what to look for: the tray is three-quarters full or more, the contents are dark, crumbly and smell like soil, and there are no visible food scraps remaining.
The fix: Place your second tray on top of the first, add fresh food and bedding, and wait three to five days. The worms will naturally migrate upward toward the new food, leaving behind a tray of finished compost. Use it as a mulch, or mix it with regular compost as a potting mix - your plants will love it!
The bottom line
Worms are resilient, forgiving creatures. If you've made any of these mistakes, don't panic - you can almost always get the show back on track with a bit of TLC.
Have you run into any of these issues? Or have you faced something I haven't mentioned here? I'd love to hear from you - drop me a message or leave a comment below.
Happy composting 🪱
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