Wiggly Wigglers Urbalive Getting Started & Troubleshooting

THE ULTIMATE

WIGGLY GUIDE

--- Getting Started & Troubleshooting ---

WELCOME TO THE

URBALIVE

WORM

COMPOSTER

WORM COMPOSTING AT IT’S VERY BEST

Wiggly Wigglers Urbalive

is a worm-assisted composting
system which converts food waste
from your kitchen and garden into
a rich, dark growing medium and
liquid feed. It is simple to operate (the
worms do all the hard work!) and, if
properly maintained, will repay your
investment many times over.

Besides helping yourself you will, of
course, also be helping the
environment by reducing the volume
of food waste being added to the
nation’s landfill rubbish tips. Food
waste in such tips is simply left to rot
away: releasing methane, one of the
‘greenhouse’ gases, into the
atmosphere as it does so.

Urbalive consists of two trays - with
an option to add extra if you have lots
of waste. The bottom tray, with the
solid base and tap, is the
Collector Tray or Sump. Worm Tea
drains through the upper trays down
into the Collector where it can be
tapped and used as a liquid fertiliser.

The worms are started off in the
bottom working Tray by putting them
into the Bedding Block provided.
They then eat their way up, wriggling
into the Tray above when they detect
the food scraps you have left there.

By the time the top Working Tray is
full, most of the worms will have left
the original Working Tray. This tray

your urbalive
KIT CONTains

1 Lid (PART A)

2 Working Trays (PART B1 & B2)

1 Collector Tray/Sump (PART C)

1 Plastic Tap

4 Legs (and screws)

A Moisture Mat

500g Composting Worms

1 Bedding Block

2kg Worm Treat

2kg Lime Mix

PLUS Gloves,

a handy scoop

and this guide!

will be filled with compost. You can
now remove this bottom Working
Tray, harvest the compost and return
it to the top of the stack as a new
Working Tray.

This cycle is never ending: you will
always have a convenient, natural
and efficient way to dispose of your
food waste, while at the same time
ensuring constant supplies of your
own top quality compost and liquid
plant feed.

ASSEMBLING
YOUR URBALIVE

Fix the four legs to the collector

tray (PART C) using the

screws provided - make sure

they are firmly in place.

Screw the tap into the collector tray

(PART C)

Attach the grate onto the top of the

collector tray (PART C)

Slot PART B2, B1 and the lid

(PART A) into place.

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COMPOSTING
WORMS

Our composting worms are a mixture
of species (mainly reds and dendras)
selected for their composting ability.

Composting worms are native to the
UK and in the wild can be found on the
surface of the ground, generally in leaf
litter. They are not the same as
earthworms, which are deep
burrowing creatures and not suitable
for composting systems. Composting
worms will eat all manner of
household waste from fruit and
vegetable peelings, cardboard, paper,
bread, pasta right through to the
contents of your vacuum cleaner.

The Top Ten Tips for

great Worm Composting

The following tips represent the result of a great deal of experience in worm-assisted composting.
Please read them carefully and try to follow their advice. If you follow them properly you will have
a contented stock of worms which, in due course, will produce for you a steady stream of rich
dark compost.

Don’t try to rush things: it will take several months for the worms to produce their first Tray full of
compost. Initially, when adding waste, do not add large amounts at one time, little bits of food at
frequent intervals is the best recipe. However, worms can eat half their own weight in food every
day so, as the kit becomes established and the worms start breeding, add more waste each day.
Do not pile up fresh waste to a depth greater than 50–100mm (2–4”) at any one time. You can add
waste as long as you can see worms working in the top layer of waste, just under the surface ­within a few centimetres of the moisture mat.

At least 25% of what you add to the wormery needs to be dry material. Cardboard, egg boxes and
shredded paper are great - these will help keep the wormery aerated.

If your worms get behind in their feeding and uneaten waste begins to build up in the bin, stop
feeding for a few days. (Remember, though, worms do not have teeth and therefore the waste
must start to go slightly mouldy before the worms can eat it.) Start feeding again when the worms
are working in the top layer. Large quantities of uncomposted waste will start to putrefy. Putrefied
waste will upset the worms and its smell will upset you, but not the rats and flies it will attract!

Try many different foods. Just like us, worms enjoy variation in their meals. If certain types of
food prove unpopular and don’t get eaten, try to avoid including them in future feedings. Once
every few weeks add in a handful of Wiggly Wigglers Worm Treat (a special mixture of all the
things that worms love best), it will give your composting a boost.

Grass clippings and leaves cannot be composted in your kit. Grass will heat up in the bin and
release ammonia before the worms can act on it, both conditions will harm your worms.

Worms are not happy in conditions that are acidic (pH less than 6). If you have a pH meter check
the contents regularly, pH7 is ideal, pH6 to 8 is acceptable. To prevent acidity avoid adding any
very acidic wastes such as citric fruits or onions. Sprinkle a handful of Wiggly Wigglers Lime
Mix onto the surface of the waste every couple of weeks, this will counteract the natural acidity of
much kitchen waste.

Worms like dark moist conditions so keeping a moisture mat on top of the freshest waste will
ensure that your worm composter doesn’t start to dry out. Don’t allow the contents to become
waterlogged (see Tip 9) as this will lead to a lack of air in the bin. The contents of your Urbalive
should be as moist as a freshly wrung sponge.

It will take a couple of months for the liquid feed to build up but then you should drain the sump
in the Collector Tray frequently, depending on how much liquid you are getting, by opening the
Tap. The liquid that you drain off makes an excellent houseplant and tomato feed. Dilute it with
ten parts water before use.

If too much water gets into your kit and the contents become waterlogged you will need to drain
off the excess liquid from the sump. Then try to dry out the contents by mixing in some shredded
newspaper or cardboard (glossy magazine style paper is bad, toilet roll centres are good). As you
mix in the paper try to ‘fluff up’ the contents to aerate the system. If your kit is producing a lot of
liquid fertiliser, or rain water gets into the kit, it can be a good idea to leave the tap open with a
container underneath. (Rainwater may occasionally get in as the lid is not airtight).

Avoid all oral contact with the bin’s contents and remember to wash your hands afterwards.

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