You need about a 2 foot section of 4 inch PVC pipe. Then cut a 2 inch chunk from one of the ends.
You also need a 4 inch PVC coupler and a 5 inch piece of screen or mesh of some sort.
Learn How This Simple Little Pipe Can Help Feed Your Raised Bed from the Inside Out
A simple in-bed worm composting tube gives your raised bed a place to take in kitchen scraps, build worm activity, and slowly feed the soil over time without making gardening more complicated.
Start here
If you are starting a raised bed from scratch, a good bagged raised bed mix is an easy honest way to get going. But after that, it helps to have a simple system that keeps feeding the soil over time.
That is where this little worm tube comes in. It is not glamorous, but it gives kitchen scraps and worm activity a place to work right inside the bed, where your plants can benefit from it.
This may not be the prettiest thing in the garden, but the worms do not seem to mind.
What you need
Build the worm tube
Step 1a
Start the tube build and figure out the section that will sit down in the bed.
Step 1b
Drill plenty of holes in the tube so worms, moisture, and soil life can move in and out.
Step 1c
Keep the holes low enough to work in the buried section, but leave enough solid pipe above the bed to make feeding easy.
Step 2
Clean it up and make sure the tube is ready to sit securely in the bed.
Step 3
Set up the tube so feeding scraps later will be simple instead of awkward.
Step 4
By this point, you should have a simple tube ready to bury and put to work.
Place the worm tube in the bed
Build 1
Pick the spot where you want the tube to live and bury it securely in the bed.
Build 2
Place it where nearby plants can benefit from the slow soil-building happening around it.
Build 3
Once it is in, the setup should feel simple and easy to feed without tearing the bed apart.
Build 4
Now the raised bed has a simple little feeding station built right into it.
How to feed and maintain it
Add small amounts of kitchen scraps, soft plant material, and a little bedding like shredded paper, dry leaves, or straw. Keep it moist, but not swampy.
Do not overload it all at once. This works better as a steady little system than a giant dump spot.
Covering it helps keep smells, flies, and extra mess down. Turns out, worms are a lot less picky about kitchen scraps than people are.
Quick do's and don'ts
Do
- do start with a good raised bed mix if the bed is brand new
- do add scraps in smaller amounts
- do add bedding like shredded paper, dry leaves, or straw
- do keep the system moist, but not soaking wet
- do keep it covered
Don't
- do not overload it with scraps all at once
- do not treat it like a trash can
- do not let it dry out completely
- do not expect instant miracle soil overnight
- do not forget the worms and soil life need air, moisture, and steady feeding
A couple fun worm facts
Earthworms help break down organic matter into rich castings, and their tunnels can help air and water move through the soil. Healthy worm activity is often a good sign your soil is alive.