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Growing Questions
What do I feed my worms?
Worms are easy to grow. They're basically vegetarians and like to
eat the vegetable wastes from your kitchen, yard and garden. Worms
don't eat inorganic materials, like plastic, glass or metals. Worms
prefer relatively fresh, hard foods like apples, carrots and other
fresh vegetables until they have begun to decompose slightly. If you
feed your worms these kinds of foods, don't be concerned if it takes
the food some time to disappear. It's all part of worm composting
process. It does help to break or cut up hard foods in a food
processor, bit it isn't required.
Worms don't have teeth, but do have mouths. They take food in
through their mouths and then digest it in their gizzards. A worm's
gizzard needs a small amount of grit (from soil) to grind food.
That's why it's important to add a handful of garden soil to the
bedding material in your bin. Numerous variables affect how much
your worms will eat. For example, they are more active at room
temperature than at 40°F. A general rule is that they will consume
approximately ½ their body weight in food waste per day, so if you
purchased 1 lb. of worms, you can expect them to consume about ½ lb.
of vegetable waste per day.
Overfeeding your worms can cause odor problems. If you over-feed
your worms, just stop feeding them and allow the worms to catch up.
As the worm population increases, you should gradually add more food
to the bin.
Foods Worms Like:
| Apples |
Honeydew |
| Artichoke |
Kiwi |
| Banana |
Lettuce |
| Bean |
Molasses |
| Beet |
Onions |
| Bran |
Pancakes |
| Bread |
Papaya Pasta |
| Broccoli |
Pears |
| Cabbage |
Peas |
| Cantaloupe |
Peaches |
| Cake |
Pie |
| Carrots |
Pizza (remove the cheese) |
| Celery |
Potatoes |
| Cereal |
Raisins |
| Coffee Grounds* Coffee Filters |
Rice |
| Corn Meal |
Spinach |
| Cream of Wheat |
Tomatoes* |
| Cucumber |
Turnips |
| Eggs |
Waffles |
| Egg Shells (pulverized) |
Watermelon |
| Grapes |
Zucchini |
| Grits |
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*Feed in Small Quantities Only
Do NOT feed your worms any of the
following:
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Meat, Poultry & Dairy Products: these can produce odors and attract
undesirable insects. |
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Heavily salted foods: the salts from peanuts, potato chips, etc. can
build-up in your worm bin, causing the worms to leave or die. |
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Manure from dogs and cats: pet feces may contain de-worming drugs or
antibiotics that kill worms. Pet feces may also contain harmful
bacteria, like staphylococcus and streptococcus, that can kill your
worms and contaminate your worm compost. |
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Animal feeds: these frequently contain antibiotics or chemical
additives or ingredients that cause worms problems. Also, such feeds
are generally too high in protein for worms to easily metabolize. |
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