Shopping basket
Reaping the Benefits of Combination Composting
The fundamental knowledge of our predecessors about composting, seems to have been somewhat forgotten in recent times with the increase in popularity of composting and composting with worms. This has resulted in both traditional composters and wormeries for sale that too often yield poor results.
Hence, many people give up disappointed, believing that composting in general is a waste of time. This is not so, and we believe that the problems are due to a lack of correct information and the many unsuitable products available today.
Aerobic Composting
The traditional method of composting is known as aerobic composting. Aerobic composting is where the waste to be composted is piled into a heap or a wooden container. As this is done, both moisture and air are mixed in enabling naturally occurring flora and fauna to get to work breaking down the waste. During this decomposition process heat is produced, and in order to keep this action going, more air and moisture has to be added and this achieved by moving or turning over the heap. This requires effort.
The problem we often have today with plastic based composting bins, is that they do not encourage the waste to be turned over, too frequently resulting in the composting process grinding to a halt.
Worm Composting
In the last decade or so we have seen a growth in worm composting, or vermicomposting, as it is properly known. The waste to be composted is slowly added to a colony of specialist worms that eat their way through the waste producing worm compost or casts. This product is considered to be the best of all composts.
Although, this process requires less physical effort than aerobic composting (the heap does not need to be moved), it is limited in that only relatively small amounts of waste can added and processed, which takes more time.
Combination Composting
Simply trying to combine the two methods of composting in order to remove the need for turning a heap, or in the hope it will improve composting, by adding worms to an aerobic composting bin rarely succeeds, due to the conditions in the compost bin being too harsh for the worms. Again, many people who try this become disappointed not really understanding what they are doing.
At Worms Direct we have combined both our composting expertise and our customer experiences gained over the last 10 years, to offer a composting solution that provides the best of both composting worlds: the speed of aerobic composting when done properly with the end result of the far superior worm compost and all stages in between!
To find out more take a look at our new Professional Combination Composter.
adaptiveimage