Vermi-compost (Worm composting) For Plants: Step-wise Guide

Awful Kitchen scraps! Worried about crop growth in your home garden! Don’t stress yourself and get relieved from unpleasant and unbearable smelling green waste as well as kitchen trash, and enjoy crop flourishment and development through Vermicompost.

Vermicomposting

– process by which vermi (worms) are used to convert organic materials (usually green wastes) into a humus like material known as vermin-compost (Environmental Management, 2017).

Benefits of Vermicomposting

1. Nutrient-rich organic fertilizer to the soil and soil conditioner (Zularisam et al., 2010).
2. Increase soil ability to hold available nutrients.
3. Improve soil aeration and drainage capacity.
4. Improves soil structure i.e. suited for plant growth.
5. Increase useful bacteria in significant amount.
6. Mitigation of plant disease and suppression of plant pathogens (Trillas et al., 2006).
7. Eco-friendly techniques.

How to make Vermicomposting

You could Prepare your Vermicompost by just following 7 simple steps presented below:

1. Prepare your bin or bucket

– Prepare vermicompost in whatever you have whether bin or bucket. 

– Take 2 bucket i.e. one sitting inside other with little gap at bottom to collect seeping liquid (vermiwash).

– Make hole at the bottom (to drain out excess liquid) and at sides (for air circulation) using nails.

2. Shred Paper for Bedding

– Make bedding layer with old newspapers or toilet paper tubes, and egg cartoons. 

– Keep the bedding layer moist but not soaking wet.

3. Add other Raw Materials (Food and soil)

– Add kitchen waste to the bucket or bin or trash.

– Add green waste or dry leaves collected from garden too and wait for 2 weeks.

– Collect some soil and mix it with composted leaves and add this as final layer.

– Sprinkle with some water at few days interval.

4. Add worms

– Earthworms, redworms and Eisenia fetid – best worms for vermicomposting.

– Add these worms on top of composted waste and cover it with thick card-board on top & stone to prevent the wind effect.

– Place bucket in shade

5. Regular- interval maintenance

– Invest periodically and maintain the bin so that the worm become healthy and give best results. 

– Put your finger in soil and if it is hot shift it to cool places immediately.

6. Harvest 

– Within few months there will be plenty of nutrient-rich worm castings to harvest.

– For harvesting; bring another container with plastic bag inside it and then fill it or pour it directly into another tray.

– Again use same container for another preparation.

7. Add Vermicompost to the Plants

– Add small amount of vermicompost to your plant to enjoy their growth in-front of your eye.

References:

1. https://www.instructables.com/Vermicomposting-the-Easy-Way-for-the-Urban-Farmer/

2. http://www.balconycontainergardening.com/gardening/155-making-a-compost-bin

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