What is the difference between traditional composting & worm composting?
Much like the traditional composting pile, worm composting piles must remain aerobic throughout to break down the organic matter. When composting with worms, the worms take over both roles of turning over and evenly aerating the waste, thereby lessening the need to do it manually. Unlike traditional composting, worm composting does not rely on heat to rapidly decompose the waste; the earthworms and microorganisms assume that role. Earthworms cannot survive in the high temperatures that traditional composts generate. The largest advantage of worm composting is that it can be done both indoors and outdoors, affording apartment dwellers and others the opportunity to participate in a valuable recycling effort. On a side note, research conducted in the early 80s by the National Science Foundation showed worm castings that were collected over a 5 year period helped plants to grow four times faster than similar plants grown in regular topsoil.
