It's not only shredded paper your worms will love, they will enjoy many other forms of paper too. Chuck in your paper towels, paper packaging, cardboard, toilet rolls etc.
Shredded paper and cardboard, egg cartons, ripped up newspaper, receipts and envelopes should all be a regular part of the worms diet. LOTS of non-glossy paper should go in your worm farm - it is worth repeating!
Yep. Worms will eat used facial tissues. Let's not judge - the fine, thin carbon is a delicacy.
Worms love brown paper bags, uncoated newspaper, and even cardboard, as long as it's shredded and moist. They will actually eat the paper in addition to the fruits, veggies and grains that you give them.
Red wigglers do eat cardboard, cartons, and other papers as long as they are properly shredded. If you're a seasoned worm farmer, you know that there aren't many things that red wigglers won't eat. However, just because they will eat these paper products, doesn't mean they should eat only these things.
It's not only shredded paper your worms will love, they will enjoy many other forms of paper too. Chuck in your paper towels, paper packaging, cardboard, toilet rolls etc.
Avoid feeding the worms large quantities of meat, citrus, onions and dairy foods. Some processed food also contains preservatives, which discourage the worms from eating it. These foods won't harm your worms, but they will avoid them and those scraps will break down and rot in the bin.
Most importantly, the worms seem to thrive by brown cardboard and seem to love eating it! Don't forget to shred, or cut up your brown cardboard to make it easier for the worms to digest and more suitable for bedding.
Corrugated cardboard can also serve as food for the worms. Mix it into their kitchen scraps occasionally. However, composting worms cannot live exclusively on cardboard.
Worms love lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, to name a few of these vegetables. Be sure to cut these scraps down into small pieces or even food process them. Remember to thoroughly rinse off all hot spices, sauces, oils, dressings, and cheeses because they can harm your vermicomposting project.
Earthworms are safe and fun to touch, as this Discovery Garden visitor proves.
Good bedding can also be eaten by the worms. In fact, up to 50% of a worms diet may consist of its bedding. One material that works extremely well for both bedding and food is brown cardboard. Red worms love to eat brown cardboard.
Paper can actually be a great bedding and food source for worms and therefore be recycled in worm farms as long as it is not acidic. Paper produced from wood-based pulp becomes brittle and turns brownish yellow quickly if its lignin has not been removed.
Worms love dark, moist environments, so a worm blanket will help them feel comfortable to go to the top of the feeding surface to break down food scraps, quickly and efficiently.
Worms will eat anything that was once living, Leftover vegetable scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings. Tea leaves / bags and coffee grounds.
Instead of soil, composting red worms live in moist newspaper bedding. Like soil, newspaper strips provide air, water, and food for the worms. Using about 50 pages, tear newspaper into 1/2" to 1" strips. Avoid using colored print, which may be toxic to the worms.
Worms like hiding places, and the pieces of egg carton or a torn up toilet roll serve nicely. Wet the egg carton pieces/toilet rolls and the brown paper bag or cardboard.
Eggshells as food for composting worms
Composting worms can absolutely be fed with crushed shells from eggs. You should know that compost worms will eat just about anything that's organic (all except meat, seafood, poultry, dairy, oily, or spicy stuff).
Worms like to eat food wastes like vegetable and fruit peelings, pulp from the juicer, tea bags, crushed egg shells and bread. They also like small amounts of soiled paper and cardboard (such as shredded egg cartons).
You should never add meat, animal products, dairy products, or greasy, oily foods to the worm bin. The oils, meat, and milk become rancid as they decompose.
Worms can eat these foods in moderation: Coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea leaves, tea bags, pasta (without sauce), rice (no oil), breads (minimal).
Worms can't digest meat proteins or lactose, so no dairy products either, like milk or cheese. While worms do like egg shells, the egg cannot go in the bin.
Bananas are a great and inexpensive snack for both us and our worms. Those peels are desirable to compost worms no matter what shape they're in. They'll make short work of what otherwise would have taken up space in your trash.
Over-Feeding Causes Odors
The worms' job is to eat the food before it gets super-rotten and stinky. If you add too much food at a time, they cannot keep up. Too much food can also push the air out of the bin, leading to foul-smelling anaerobic decomposition.
Once every week, pour about five litres of fresh water into the Top Working Tray, which will flood down through the lower trays, ensuring the entire worm farm remains very moist. The sudden 'flood' will not harm the worms.