How to make homemade pre-composted worm bedding.
This is my homemade pre-composted worm bedding recipe. It’s simple, quick, and cheap to make with just a few ingredients. In the Wormcity Wormery set-up, we used the very basics of bedding for our worms. This can be continued with very successfully. Many people do too, most especially in hotter climates. However, I’m in temperate zone 8, so I have a long winter. This means my worms will only be ticking over for many months of the year. To get the best out of them in the warmer months, I need to speed up that process. I do this using pre-composted bedding.
What are the benefits of pre-composted bedding?
There are many benefits to pre-composted bedding. The first is that the bedding is already on hand as soon as you need it. Whilst pure shredded cardboard in an inoculating tray is a great idea for a tower, this doesn’t suit bins. As mentioned above: it speeds up processing time. This is because we’ve already inoculated this bedding with biota ready for the worms to feel at home in it. Unlike fresh cardboard, it’s already breaking down, and unlike fresh compost it is cool enough for the worms to move straight into. As I say in the accompanying video: it’s like your worms slipping on a comfy pair of already broken in shoes.
What you will need to make your pre-composted worm bedding.
There are just three main ingredients:
Coco-coir
Worm castings
shredded cardboard
Of course, this is just a base to start from, and you can add all sorts of amendments. One must take care that the amendments are considered ‘browns’. We need to keep this cool, unless you’re planning on allowing this bedding to purposefully heat up. If you add ingredients you know will cause heat, you must allow enough time for correct thermophilic composting to take place, and the return to the mesophilic stage for the worms. I add pre-soaked organic Chicken manure pellets in to mine. They have added micro nutrients that are chelated. You should make sure that all chelates are organic, as some inorganic ones actually lock out calcium in the garden. This is a cause of issues like Blossom End Rot.
Method for creating your pre-composted worm bedding.
First of all we need to re-hydrate the coco-coir. It should be wet enough that when a handful is squeezed some droplets of water run from between the fingers. In the accompanying video you can see that I have added water in to my worm castings too. I fed the biota, and you can use something such as un-sulphured molasses to do this. I also add in rather wet pre-soaked chicken manure pellets. This is because I am going to add in a lot of micro shredded cardboard from my shredder. This will soak up a lot of moisture over the days it sits. You will need to judge how much water to add in based on on this.
What to use in place of worm castings.
If you don’t have your own worm castings yet, don’t worry. You can use soil from your garden in a very fine bag. Something like an old pair of tights, or t-shirt is ideal. Add a few pounds to your ‘bag’, tie this up, and add to some un-chlorinated water. Swish around for a few hours, and use this as your inoculation. This method also works for worm castings if you don’t want to add what you’ve got to the mix for a particular reason. This may be due to taking them from a bin that contains a mixed species of worms. If you’re wanting to set up specific breeder bin bedding, this is a great way to inoculate the bedding without risking missed cocoons.
Cover your bin, store somewhere dry, and out of the way. Allow the bedding to sit for at least 4-6 weeks. Your bedding is ready to use when it is darker, moist, but crumbles. Don’t worry if it shows signs of moulds. So long as it is not hot when you want to use it, this is a good thing.
I hope you give this a go, and happy vermicomposting!
You can find the containers I use here- www,plasticboxshop.co.uk
You can find the chicken manure pellets I use here- www.rooster.uk.com
This is an affiliate link for the Bonsaii 16 sheet micro cut shredder, which replaces the 14 sheet I have, and produces all the minced cardboard you see in my videos. It does not cost you more by clicking this like, but I do earn a small commission. https://amzn.to/4gvJ7IU
The accompanying video is here-