Home > Vermiculture
We beneficiate food & other organic wastes using earthworms
Recycling these wastes to produce a balanced organic fertiliser and soil ameliorant. Our quality-controlled mesophilic vermiculture production process results in a uniform & reliable organic end-product – which means consistent results for our customers, guaranteed.
Pre-compost (thermophilic) Process
Thermophilic Composting
Is defined as the practice of breaking down biological waste with thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria.
The key advantage of thermophilic composting is that the high temperatures kill diseases and pathogens.
The bacteria that make compost need oxygen to flourish, so it is important to ensure the pile is aerated.
All the organisms that cause human diseases are adapted to live around human body temperature, so higher temperatures kill them.
Compost that stays at 50°C for 24 hours will be safe to use for plant growth; including fruit & vegetables. A temperature of 46°C will kill pathogens within a week. 62°C will kill pathogens in one hour.
We monitor the temperature of our pre-composting piles to ensure that we hold temperatures above 50°C for a minimum of 7 days.
This thermophilic process also ensures that seeds present in food waste are sterilised and won’t germinate when added to soil.
We add other organic (high carbon) wastes into our pre-composting recipe to ensure we achieve the optional C:N ratio in our mix.
This crucial foundation step in our process ensures that we begin with the correct ratio of carbon-rich & nitrogen-rich materials, to:
- Produce a proper thermophilic compost row/pile
- Ensure an end product with a balanced N:P:K
- Provide our worms with an optimal feedstock at the end of the process
Monitoring & Controls are vital to this process.
In order to ensure our customers receive a reliable and consistent product from our facilities, we regularly monitor our processes and ensure control points are checked off during the pre-composting phase.
Temperature: Maintain 50°C for a minimum of 7 days.
Moisture: Target levels of 40-50% by weight.
Oxygen: The row/pile must remain aerobic.
Vermiculture (mesophilic) Process
Vermiculture
Is defined as the practice of intensively farming worms in order to compost organic materials. Vermicast or worm castings are the end product of the breaking down of organic matter by an earthworm.
Vermiculture is a mesophilic (medium temperature) process that produces a very stable product, exceptionally high in beneficial bacteria and micro-organisms.
The controlled environment of our decommissioned AEL munitions bunkers provide a perfect environment for our worms.
Providing our worms with plenty of darkness, and a consistent temperature range through both summer and winter.
These conditions provide an ideal home for our millions of red wiggler (Eisenia Fetida) compost worms to do their valuable work of transforming food waste into organic fertiliser.
Vermicomposting truly increases the bio-availability of nutrients to plants.
Our product has been completely worked by our worms; either the organic material has passed through the worm (castings) or the worm has passed through the organic material.
Worm castings constitute pure humus, and have a lovely earthy aroma. Unlike other organic fertilisers, out product does not smell, making it perfect for indoor / office plant applications.
We closely monitor the feedstock and the environment the worms live in.
Our worm bunkers provide an ideal environment, with low light conditions as well as stable air temperatures. In addition, the bags of feedstock that the worms process are monitored on a continuous basis for;
Temperature: Maintain around 22°C within the feedstock bags.
Moisture: Target levels of 40% by weight within the feedstock bags.