How to make worm humus?

July 28, 2023

If you are already familiar with home composting, you will have heard of "worm castings".

This humus comes from the well-known "Californian earthworms", which produce a very useful excrement for the soil of the urban garden.

This earthworm is the "ideal cooperator" for your natural compost because:

Lives in large groups and in humid environments.
Dislikes the light
Feeds on decomposing plant and animal remains.

So the soil in your garden can be greatly improved by adding "worm castings".

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What will worm humus contribute to your garden soil?

It makes the soil more porous and therefore more permeable to water and air.
It contains substances that help plants to grow.
It has many micro-organisms that improve the availability of soil nutrients for plants.

Well, if you are already convinced, let's get down to work:

How to prepare a good worm humus?

Fresh compost (from the pile after 40-50 days) can be fed to the earthworms.
First, a "nursery" is prepared with wooden planks to build a bed 1 m wide and 3 m long and 30 cm high.
Buy red worms, about 9000 specimens can work in this 3m2 bed.
Place 25 to 30 cm of unfinished compost (40 to 45 days).
Distribute the worms on the surface.
Water periodically to maintain adequate moisture. (Remember that in summer, every day if it is very hot).

Special care for worm humus

As with everything in life, if you put special care and love into it, your humus will be better and, as a consequence, the vegetables in your garden, so here are a few tips:

Keep the bed in the shade.
At the end of one month, stir well with a toothed shovel and add a strand of unfinished compost or fresh residues on top of the bedding. This operation is repeated once a month.
Keep the nursery with good humidity, as was done with the compost pile.
After 6 months the worm humus will be finished!

What should the worm humus look like? (to know that it is ready to use)

It must have these intrinsic characteristics:

Uniform dark colour.
Odourless.
Very loose and fluffy.
With adequate humidity.

How is worm humus harvested?

Stop watering for 3 to 4 days.

Place a new layer of unfinished compost on one side and water only that section for 3 to 4 days.
The worms will quickly move to the cordon where there is food and moisture.
On the third day, remove only the top layer of compost from the cordon (this is where the worms are). The finished humus will remain in the bed
After the material is extracted, it is passed through a sieve or sandbox to separate the worms from the finished humus.
Use the humus in your garden, and return the worms to the farm.

Will I have enough worm humus for my garden?

Of course.

If the bed is 1 metre wide and 3 metres long, 400 kilos of worm humus can be extracted every 6 months. This amount can be used to fertilise 300-400 m2 of the orchard.

If 3,000 worms were placed, after 6 months you will have 12,000 worms. The worms produced can be used: