QUESTION: Do worms speed up compost?
ANSWER: Worms do make quick work of food scraps, but there are several reasons you shouldn’t concern yourself with worms unless you’re vermicomposting. When you are using a standard composting setup as opposed to vermicomposting, it’s a common myth that you need to add worms to the compost or that doing so will speed up the process. The truth is that although worms can help out with making compost and do an excellent job of it, unless you are vermicomposting, you should not add worms to your compost or worry about the presence or movements of your backyard worms as they come and go in and out of your compost bin.
People who make compost with the help of worms use special methods to ensure that their compost doesn’t get too hot for the worms, but standard composting most certainly does generate heat beyond what your everyday earthworm can stand. Your compost can reach temperatures in excess of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not only do vermicomposters keep their compost much cooler than a standard compost system, they also use special worms that are more suited to the job of composting than the earthworms that may have wandered into your compost heap or the ones you see when you turn over a shovel full of earth in your backyard.
The worms you may see wriggling around in your compost will stay away from the center of the pile, where things are the hottest, and they will leave when conditions get too scorching hot for them. That means you shouldn’t add worms to your standard compost setup, shouldn’t worry if you notice worms leaving your compost bin, and shouldn’t worry if you notice that there are no worms in your compost at all.
Now that we’ve explained why most composters don’t need to worry about worms, we’ll address the question about worms and speeding up the composting process for those who are interested in learning about vermicomposting. Yes, worms do speed up the composting process substantially——vermicomposters can, with the help of a worm farm, go from kitchen scraps to finished compost in just two weeks. Incredibly, a worm is able to consume its own weight every single day and expel the same amount as castings, which is what vermicomposters and their worm helpers generate as a final product. And because vermicomposting arrangements are usually kept indoors, worms can produce compost all year long instead of taking the winter break that many standard composting systems are forced into when the compost pile freezes through.
Vermicomposters also say that the compost worms produce is super rich and gets them great results in the garden. These glowing reviews are likely because the worms actually upgrade the compost as it passes through their bodies by adding nutrients and enzymes from their digestive systems. They also aerate the compost on their own with the tunnels created by their movements through the compost materials. Basically, red wigglers (Eisenia foetida) or redworms (Lumbricus rubellus) and the task of compost creation couldn’t be more perfect for one another. The little critters are naturally suited for making compost, and they don’t seem to mind the work one bit.