What Can You Put in a Worm Farm?

Bedding

• Different kinds of bedding may be used in a worm farm. One of the most popular types of worm bedding is shredded newspaper since it is both affordable and easily obtainable. The newspaper should not include any colored or glossy paper. Moisten the bedding before adding it to the worm farm. The paper strips should be wet but not soggy, so that just a drop or two of water squeezes from a handful.

Water

• Water is important to a worm farm. Worms must remain moist in order to survive. If they dry out, they die very quickly. The best way to keep worms from dying of dehydration is to add water to the worm farm regularly. At the same time, it is important that the excess water be able to drain from the bottom of the worm farm so the worms don't drown. Add water in limited amounts, enough to keep bedding and food moist but without things being so wet that the worms try to escape.

Food

• Add food to the worm farm on a regular basis, though the worms can survive a long time without it. Worms process fruit and vegetable scraps, including such things as banana peels, old lettuce leaves, tomato bits and potato skins. They also eat crushed eggshells, coffee grounds and filters, used tea bags and other leftover foods. Do not give the worms greasy foods, oils, meat scraps or dairy products.

Worms

• Not all worms are suited to life in a worm farm. The best kind of worms to use are red wigglers, because they are happy living in the top few inches of the soil and they can adapt to a range of temperatures. Some other worms, especially red worms and manure worms, also do fine in a worm farm. Large, deep-burrowing worms such as night crawlers can be kept for a while in a worm farm, but they need more space and do not do as well as the other types.