Wormeries & ventilation

[joannah stutchbury]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum.

I live in Kenya and am starting a wormery. I have had some boxes made (wooden - to use the left over wood), now my main concern for them is ventilation. Should I make holes in the top of the boxs or will the worms escape or should I just turn the worms once every 3 weeks or so.

Another interest of mine is growing aloe gardens - its becoming an obsession!!
Thanks. Jo

[Alison]

I have a Can O Worms wormery which is a prefabricated plastic contraption. It's not air tight but there isn't much in the way of gaps, as you say, it's likely that the worms would go AWOL. I think that somebody posted some homemade wormery instructions on this site somewhere, I've had a quick look and can't find them but you might have more luck!
Oh and welcome by the way, hope you manage to get it all sorted although am guessing that you'll have different problems to overcome than I'm facing here in the icy UK at the moment.

[selfraising]

Hi Jo
Welcome to the forum. I have a wormery but it's not homemade, unfortunately. From what I have read, you should provide some ventilation holes. I would say at the top of the box, as you suggested, would be fine. The worms might try to escape to start with but if you leave the lid off for about 10 minutes they will retreat back into the compost as they don't like the light. After that, providing the environment is okay for them, you probably won't see them much. Hope this helps!