Build your own wormery

For building the wormery:

• 1 plastic planting tray or plant saucer, approx. 40 x 40 cm
• 9 wooden boards, 440 x 145 x 18 mm: for long sides + lid
• 6 wooden boards, 400 x 145 x 18 mm: for short sides
• 12 wooden battens, 400 x 29 x 13 mm: for upper + middle chamber internal longer sides – used horizontally and vertically – as well as lower chamber longer sides and underside of lid
• 6 wooden battens, 340 x 29 x 13 mm: for all three chambers’ internal short sides
• 2 wooden battens, 440 x 29 x 13 mm: for lid, between the 3 boards
• 52 wood screws / SPAX screws, 4 x 35 mm: for screwing the boards and vertical battens as well as for the lid battens
• 24 wood screws / SPAX screws, 4 x 45 mm: for fixing the horizontal battens
• 16 wood screws / SPAX screws, 3.5 x 20 mm: for attaching the castors
• 4 castors, base plate approx. 40 x 40 mm
• 1 piece of rabbit/chicken wire mesh, roll approx. 50 cm wide
• 1 piece of fly screen mesh, white, approx. 60 x 60 cm
• Staples, 6 mm
   

For filling the wormery:

• Kitchen waste, finely chopped
• Newspaper / thin cardboard
• 1 litre potting soil
• You will also need: 1 colony of compost worms, preferably a mixture of Eisenia species (plan for 500-1000 worms per square metre)

• Garden pruner, e.g. STIHL GTA 26
• Pencil
• Set square / carpenter’s square
• Tape measure
• Battery-powered screwdriver with bits
• Battery-powered sander
• 120-grit sanding sheets for battery-powered sander
• Battery-powered drill with 2.5 mm and 4 mm wood drill bits and 19 mm Forstner wood drill bit
• Pliers
• Scissors
• Wire cutters
• Workbench
• Stapler
• Water mister
• Wooden trestle as support
• Bottle (for collecting the worm tea)

Working with high-performance power tools is fun and allows you to broaden your skills, which is great if you can rely on effective and safe protective clothing.

Always wear personal protective equipment when working with a garden pruner. This includes, for example, safety glasses, gloves and more. Find out more in the operating instructions for your product. Before using your power tool for the first time, fully familiarise yourself with it and ensure that it is in flawless condition before each use.

On request, your STIHL dealer will be happy to prepare your power tool for its first job, and will also advise you on models and sizes of protective clothing that you can try on at your leisure. Please remember that personal protective equipment is no substitute for safe working.

First measure the planting tray so that there is space for it in your DIY wormery. The tray serves as a collection basin for the liquid compost .

Now measure out all the wooden parts for the wormery with a tape measure and mark them up. Please refer to the material list above for the correct lengths.

Lubricate the GTA 26 and briefly let it run so the oil is well-distributed. Now saw the 15 boards and 20 wooden battens to the right sizes based on the material list above. Remember to thoroughly clean your saw afterwards. Now carefully sand all the edges of your wooden parts. A battery-powered sander is ideal for this.

Now screw together all three chambers for the wormery – each consisting of two long and two shorter wooden boards – one after the other using the battery-powered screwdriver.

The four side battens are screwed inside the lowest chamber, flush with the underside of the walls.

Now screw the four castors onto the base of the bottom chamber. This is so that you can easily move your wormery around into a suitable position depending on the season and temperature. Then turn the bottom chamber over and insert the planting tray.

In step 7 (A), the first battens are screwed in place; further battens are attached next to these in step 7 (B).

First, install two of the 40-centimetre battens inside the long walls (44 centimetres) of the middle and upper chambers, in such a way that the width of the batten is against the chamber wall and the batten protrudes beyond the base by 5 to 8 millimetres. This is so that the assembled chambers will stack and stay in place.

Screw two more of the 40-centimetre strips in place so that they sit on top of the previously installed battens, but with a narrow side against the chamber wall.

Between these battens, on the shorter sides (40 centimetres) of the middle and upper chambers, affix two of the 34-centimetre battens in the same way.

Sand the edges of the middle and upper chambers smooth so that they can each easily be fitted into the chamber below. When you use the wormery, moisture created by the compost will cause these strips to swell further. 

On the long sides (44 centimetres) of the middle and upper chambers drill three air holes each, approximately following a horizontal centre line. Use the 19 mm Forstner drill bit to drill these holes.

Cut the screening mesh for the base of the middle chamber and staple it inside. Cut a second rectangular piece of the mesh to cover the side air holes. Staple this in place as well.

Next you need to measure out the wire mesh for the upper chamber, cut it to size with wire cutters and staple it onto the base battens of the upper chamber, attaching it from above. In this chamber too, fix a piece of screening mesh over the ventilation holes, stapling from the inside.

For the lid, lay out the three boards with two battens in between them; then, perpendicular to those boards, position two more battens about two centimetres from the edge and use these to construct the lid by screwing through the battens and connecting the boards. Then assemble the wormery and position it as planned.

Place paper waste in the upper chamber and moisten it with a water mister. Now carefully release your worms into the upper chamber, together with some soil. Close your home-made wormery with the lid. Now you should let the worm composter settle for three to four days.

After the settling period, fill the top of the wormery with shredded kitchen waste, such as raw fruit and vegetables, before closing it and letting it settle again.  

Eisenia andrei is an earthworm species closely related to the compost worm Eisenia fetida.

• Body length: 6-12 centimetres 
• Diameter: 3-6 millimetres
• Appearance: usually single-coloured dark red or reddish brown 
• Special features: closely related to Eisenia fetida

Eisenia fetida is one of the most common earthworms in Europe.

• Body length: 6-12 centimetres
• Diameter: 3-6 millimetres
• Appearance: distinct stripes
• Special features: can ingest half its body weight in compost every day

Eisenia hortensis grows relatively slowly, but is popular for its longevity and strength.

• Body length: 10-17 centimetres
• Diameter: up to 1 centimetre
• Appearance: blue-grey, pink striped and often with yellowish ends
• Special features: prefers coarse, woody material

A hallway or heated cellar is an ideal location for the wormery, as compost worms are comfortable at 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. On the balcony, your wormery should be protected from direct sunlight in summer and brought into your home in winter.

Raw, finely chopped and moist fruit and vegetable waste, leaves, crushed egg shells as well as newspaper and cardboard can be put in the wormery.

You can easily fit 500 to 1,000 compost worms per square metre in a DIY wormery. As the population increases, some worms can also be moved to your compost heap.

Untreated, domestic wood is best for building a DIY wormery. This avoids wood being transport transported over long distances and avoids unnecessarily exposing worms to chemicals. Larch, for example, is an appropriate wood species as it resists moisture better than softer woods.