What can’t worms eat?
3 min read
Asked by: Patricia Gonzalez
What To Not Feed Worms
- Meats, bones, fat and anything oily or greasy.
- Dairy products including butter, sour cream, milk, whole eggs (egg shells are ok) and cheese.
- Canned sauces, peanut butter and other processed food.
- Citrus foods like lemons, limes and oranges.
- Onions and garlic.
- Spicy foods such as hot peppers.
What worms can and Cannot eat?
They will eat most normal kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps. Avoid feeding the worms large quantities of meat, citrus, onions and dairy foods.
What to feed your worms.
| Likes | Dislikes |
|---|---|
| Most fruit and vegetable scraps | Citrus, acidic fruit skin |
| Pulp from the juicer | Spicy foods, onion, garlic, leeks, capsicums |
What fruits can worms not eat?
The big rule to bear in mind when feeding worms fruit is to avoid fruit with citric acid. Fruits you definitely want to avoid include oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and pineapple. Feeding these types of fruits can cause them to try to crawl away and it may kill them. So that’s what they don’t like.
What can’t worm farms eat?
Feeding worms
Most kitchen scraps are fine for the worm farm, including fruit and vegies, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc. Limit the amount of citrus and onion you add, and chop everything into small pieces. A small amount of leaves, weeds and grass cuttings.
What do earthworms not like?
Worms hate: meat or fish, cheese, butter, greasy food, animal waste, spicy and salty foods, citrus.” The food-to-worm ratio is not precise, nor is the amount of castings they will produce. The rule of thumb is that a pound of worms will eat one to two pounds of food in a week.
Can worms eat rice?
Bread, rice, pasta, processed foods – you can add the odd crust or bits of cooked rice off the dinner plate, but don’t add lots of starchy foods. Worms don’t like them and they may go off or attract pests.
Can worms eat lettuce?
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.
Can worms eat egg shells?
eggshells – worms simply can’t eat them. They will still be there when you remove the worm castings, and you’ll have eggshells in the garden. Eggshells are good for the garden, so if you crush them up, and put them in the worm farm, they’ll end up adding calcium to your soil.
Can worms eat bread?
Yes, in moderation, bread, and in fact, all grain based foods, are worthy of your worms’ processing power. Stale bread remains just as full of nutrients and building blocks for worm growth as the fresh stuff. However, these starchy foods can end up a gooey mess.
Do worms eat peanut shells?
The do’s & don’ts of a worm diet
Do not feed them meat or bones, dairy products or greasy leftovers; they also do not like acidic or stinky fruits or vegetables (e.g. citrus or onion). Worms LOVE watermelon rinds, avocado or peanut shells, banana peels, coffee grounds and tea bags (be aware of nylon tea bags).
Can worms eat cheese?
Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt should never go into a worm bin. Even non-fat varieties are bad for composting worms.
Can worms eat potato peels?
Vegetable Waste
Carrot peelings, potato skins, broccoli and cauliflower stalks, lettuce, kale, even onion peels (in limited quantities) are perfect for the worm bin. Vegetable waste like this isn’t prone to overheating your bin either, so this is another low-maintenance food.
