The benefits of having a wormery for your aquaponics system are numerous
Any gardener knows that worms are extremely beneficial for their garden. They aerate the soil and their castings provide valuable nutrition for the plants. In an aquaponics system they eat the fish waste and feed on dead plant matter. The biggest difference between a backyard garden and an aquaponics system is space. In a garden the worms can spread out and go further where an area becomes crowded. They can’t do the same in a grow bed, because there is only so much room. Worms multiply very quickly, if there isn’t enough for them to eat, they will begin to feed on the roots of your plants.
In the December issue of the ASC magazine, Danny Demetriou shared his experience with us. He initially had red wriggler worms in his grow beds, but after a while they created more problems than benefits. The growth of his plants became stunted and the worms had begun to eat away at the roots. There were just too many of them in the grow beds and the fish weren’t producing enough waste to keep them happy. Danny decided to build a wormery that would work with his aquaponics system. His plants still got the benefits of the worm castings without being compromised.
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Danny created his wormery using a blue barrel and some piping. It was very economical to build and is working well for him. Danny put the blue over the top of a tank that has Duckweed and Azolla growing in it and then connected this tank to his grow beds. A pipe runs from the fish tank into the wormery. As the wormery get to a certain level it overflows into the tank below. When this tank begins to overflow it sends the water to the plants. It’s a simple design that works very well. The plants get all the nutrition they need from the worm castings without being eaten from the roots. Danny also has a live food supply for his fish, when the wormery gets too full.
Danny didn’t know a lot about aquaponics when he first started, but he learned and came up with a solution to a common problem. He is an active member of the Aquaponics Survival Communities on Facebook, where he willingly shares his knowledge. If you would like to know more about aquaponics and learn from people like Danny, then please join us at: https://www.facebook.com/AquaponicsSurvivalCommunities