Expert Advice

The most effective way to rid your worm farm of undesirable creepy crawlies is to add a sprinkle of dolomite a couple of times a week.  We have our Worm Farm & Compost Conditioner, which will balance the PH levels in your worm farm; effectively making the environment ideal for your worms and uncomfortable for any other organisms.  You can purchase this through your local Bunnings Warehouse.

I recommend doing the following if you have an insect infestation:
Get a small hand fork, and dig and ‘fluff’ up (aerate) the top feeding tray.
Sprinkle on a couple of teaspoons of Dolomite Lime (“Compost & Worm Farm Conditioner).
Get into the practice of adding a few handfuls of good soil on top of the food scraps every time you feed your worms.
Ensure that you have a ‘worm blanket’ on the surface of the feeding tray at all times.

I hope this helps.

It is not unusual that worms fall or travel down into the collector tray at times.  The Worm Café is designed with a refuge island in the base tray to assist with the worms finding their way back up to the working tray.

We suggest that you keep the tray open at all times to properly drain the unit and avoid any possible drowning.  

Worms are known as 'explorers', therefore if they are not hungry they may simply be having a look around the collector tray.  It is a possibility that the worms will travel down into the collector tray to simply look around their environment.  If they are not readily finding their way back up to the working tray, you could place either a brick or an upside down empty ice cream tub in the middle of the collector tray to enable them to travel back up.

Alternatively, if there is a piece of non preferred food that has found its way into the unit, the worms may be travelling away from this or any other organisms this may have attracted.

During the cooler weather the worms will lose their appetite, therefore it may be that you are feeding them more than they can digest.  This can be fixed by not adding any scraps to your worm farm for 1-2 weeks and monitoring whether the worms make their way up to the working tray in their search for food.

Castings – or worm poo - are great for plants in your garden or in pots.

Before you plant, dig small amounts of castings around the drip line of your fruit trees, or in your veggie garden beds and pots.

Drain the worm juice from your worm farm every week and dilute it 1 part worm juice to 10 parts water, then pour it around the base of your fruit, vege and flower plants – now, watch them come to life over the coming months!