Wormery - Brighton & Hove

elantan

thanks lady pink i might just go and leave a couple of copies of how to compost without rat infestation out for them to read lol...we might have the same issue though as we back onto a spare bit of overgrown wasteland we have mice all the time (one of the reasons we got a cat) i see bats flying about alot and badgers occasionally foxes all the time (but then doesnt everyone) so i have no doubt there will be rats in there as well ...might need to have a re-think

Lady_Pink

One thing I did read about later and thought might have attracted them was egg shells - apparently you need to make sure they're washed and clean (ie no egg left) before you put them in the composter. I also have to admit that we were (but are getting better) a bit wasteful of fresh food - fruit mainly, so sometimes apples or grapes etc that were past their best went in the composter - it must have seemed like harrods food hall to the rats! I guess if your composting is less attractive - peelings etc - you might have more joy. We did try to reinforce the base of the bin with rocks etc but they just tunnelled in. I'm sure more hardened composters on here will have better tips for you than I could give - it's worth asking. (Ironically, we own a dog who is meant to have been bred for ratting - I swear, he looked the other way and whistled when I pointed the rat out to him - guess which muggins had to see them off! If you have a cat you may fare better - my parents own a killer cat who has killed a rat before - perhaps the smell will put them off?)

samf1971

Is there much difference in size / cost?

Does it make any difference at all?

Can the same things go in both?

We have a small garden (rented privately) and only a small amount of space obviously to put either a compost bin or wormery

We have the usual stuff to throw out, grass cuttings, vegetable peelings (lots of these as we use lots of veggies)

So I'm wondering is there any difference between the two, if I'm right in thinking the wormery will provide liquid feed and the compost bin is solid?

Farway

The compost bin will only provide solid but wormery is liquid

However for easy use & less worry I would choose compost bin, worms will turn up in there any way, but you do not need to worry too much about too hot, too wet, too dry, too cold etc as it will all eventually rot down regardless

AFAIK one advantage of wormery is cooked vegetable waste is OK, but not for compost bin [possible vermin problem]

samf1971

Thanks for the info, have looked at the council's website and they do two compost bins, one £8 and one £10 so think will have a go with them. Can't say I do much gardening but I just wanted to keep the peelings and stuff out of the bin.

Smurf07

Thanks very much for your comments. I have set up the wormery - a 50 litre one purchased on ebay which was delivered 10 days ago. The worms aren't eating masses of the kichen waste yet but I've read that it takes 3 weeks for them to settle and start eating more food. One thing though - there are lots of tiny black flies hovering. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to get rid of them?

chinneybigchops

Hi
I been trying really hard at the moment to recycle. Looking at either of these to compost rest of my waste. What do you think is best?
I really dont fancy normal compost bin, seems to much work and don't like the idea of mice and rats that they might attract.
Is a wormery too much hard work?
I'm swaying on the compost tumbler at the moment but wondered what you all thought.
I'd love a rolypig but do not want to pay over a hundred pounds.
Thanks alot

HariboJunkie

I have a wormery that is no work at all once it's set up and it produces really fab compost but it doesn't take much more than kitchen scraps so I have a normal big compost bin too which is no work either tbh. Haven't a clue about the tumbler thingy.

chinneybigchops

Thanks alot for your reply. I wanted to put my grass cuttings in to so it sounds like the tumbler may be better.
Anyone else have any thoughts?

allen36_0

I was interested in the tumbler composter and was in touch with one company (Compa-flow or something) - but the drawback was the tumbler is around 300 quid. No doubt it produces compost qiuicker than the conventional method but that's a large up-front investment