WORMacotta Worm Composter

Push the WORMacotta into the soil until the last holes are no longer visible. This keeps fruit flies and fungus gnats from getting in. On the 1.7-gallon (6.5 L) model, which is 12.8 in (32.5 cm) tall, the last hole is about 3.1 in (8 cm) from the rim. You can install the WORMacotta in a planter, a pot, a wooden planter box, or directly in your vegetable garden. To get started, place a little cardboard torn into small pieces and some coffee grounds at the bottom, then add your first finely chopped food scraps.

All our advice: What is an in-ground worm composter and how does it work?

No, the composting worms are sold separately from the WORMacotta worm composter. The WORMacotta comes with its tube and lid, a vermicomposting guide, and an online training session. To get started, 8.8 oz (250 g) of worms per pot is enough. Place them in the pot or directly in the soil right next to it, especially for the 1.1 L model: they'll find their own way to the food scraps. Use Eisenia composting worms, not earthworms from your yard, and a potting soil with no chemical or organic fertilizer.

With the WORMacotta, the one must-have is our Eisenia composting worms, sold separately: 8.8 oz (250 g) per pot is plenty. In winter, a piece of our XXL hemp mat, cut to the shape you need, or simple mulch protects the WORMacotta's lid from repeated freeze-thaw cycles. In the kitchen, our Maze 9 L compost pail or our Urbalive 6 L compost pail holds your food scraps between feedings. Finally, our Le Régime des Vers magnet reminds the whole family what worms like to eat.

The worms eat the food scraps in the pot, then come out through the holes to explore the soil, where they leave their worm castings at the base of your plants: that's the whole idea behind the WORMacotta, and it's why you rarely see them in the tube. Since they have no teeth, they go after the peels as soon as they start to break down, so chop them finely to speed up their work. They're most active between 59 and 77 °F (15–25 °C), and a little coffee grounds or an apple peel will draw them in. With the WORMacotta, your soil gets better month after month.

All our tips: What is an in-ground worm composter and how does it work?

The WORMacotta worm composter doesn't need regular harvesting: the nutrients go straight into the surrounding soil. After a few months, when the pot holds more vermicompost than food scraps, lift out the WORMacotta and empty it into a bucket, or directly around the base of a plant or tree. Put the worms back by hand or separate them with a sifter; if a few stay in the compost, that's fine. Then set the pot back in place and start feeding again. If you have more peels than the worms can eat, a bokashi bin can serve as a pre-composter.

All our tips: How and when to harvest vermicompost and compost tea