There is an ongoing debate as to whether the compost made in tumblers, or the compost produced by red worms and vermicomposting is more useful and beneficial for your garden. Here are a few things to consider regarding vermicomposting and compost tumblers.
When many people get into organic gardening, they are looking for an easy way to create compost for the garden. Most of them do not actually want to purchase a compost. First of all, they have no idea how the compost was made. Secondly, it is going to cost them a fortune depending upon the size of their garden.
Compost tumblers came about as a way to save the gardener time and money. By simply placing their organic waste into the tumbler, the natural process of decomposition would occur and the tumbler would allow proper aeration and decomposition in a shorter amount of time.
Vermicomposting, on the other hand, is also a useful way to get garden fertilizer. By using red worms to create worm compost, worm castings, and of course worm tea, you will have an arsenal of composting ingredients to use to make your garden the best that it can be.
It comes down to how much money do you want to spend and how much of a die hard fan argue of each type of compost that is created.
Compost tumblers can be quite expensive running into the thousands of dollars depending upon their size and the way they are made. Some of them are automatic, powered by electricity or solar power which regulates the turning of the tumbler at optimal speeds in times.
Vermicomposting requires only that the gardener place an adequate amount of food and water in the bins and allows the worms to do all the work. Yes, there is aeration that needs to be done. Simple systems require a shovel or hand to manually turn the compost material. More advanced systems have aeration devices that comb through the soil without injuring the worms in order to stir the mixture.
Depending upon your needs, how much they shouldn't have, and how much money you want to spend, it might be more cost effective to use vermicomposting. If you have a small garden, you may need only one bin. This bin may cost you $20 and will provide you with enough compost pending you start early enough in the year.
Compost tumblers do not use red worms, and take a longer amount of time to create the compost. Arguably, this compost is not as rich as the vermicompost, but if you have a few hundred extra dollars for a tumbler, this might be easier for you.
Whether you get a compost tumbler, or set up your very own vermicomposting system in your garage or kitchen, it is up to you. Both produce excellent compost for your garden and you will be excited by the results that you see year after year.
