Agrotonome outdoor terracotta worm composter, small model, with its bag of wood shavings for composting

Large outdoor Agrotonome worm composter in perforated terracotta, with lid and bag of wood shavings

Four outdoor worm composters in terracotta, in different sizes, set among a flowering border

Gardener burying a terracotta worm composter in a raised vegetable bed, among cabbages and aromatic plants

Outdoor terracotta worm composter

Name: Outdoor terracotta worm composter
Brand: Agrotonome
Availability: OutOfStock

47,00 €

(6 avis)

This clay pot is buried in the vegetable patch with its lid flush with the surface: soil worms come up to collect your peelings and return to enrich the surrounding earth, without any need to remove or turn anything. Depending on the capacity chosen from the six available sizes, it absorbs 1.5 to 18 kg of food waste per year.

Liter : 1 liter

1 Liter

2 Liters

4 Liters

6 Liters

8 Liters

12 Liters

7/7 customer service by e-mail

Payment in instalments, free of charge

The summary

What it absorbs: from 1.5 to 18 kg of food waste per year, depending on the size you choose.
Where it lives: buried in the vegetable patch, with only its lid visible above ground.
What you receive: the pot and its lid, a bag of sawdust, and the composting guide.
How much effort: place your waste in, close the lid. Nothing to turn, nothing to empty, nothing to carry.
How much space it takes: from 12 to 28 cm wide and 15 to 42 cm tall, entirely below ground.
How it arrives: fired in clay, so carefully packaged, and with a longer delivery time than average.

Clay pot to bury in the kitchen garden, six litre capacity, no stirring or compost outlet

A surface composter requires two actions: filling it, then removing the compost and carrying it to where it is needed. This clay pot eliminates the second step. You bury it in the middle of a growing bed with the lid flush with the surface, and the compost never needs to be removed, as it passes directly into the surrounding soil.

🌍 Composting in the ground

Dig in the right spot

Place the pot in the middle of a bed, within reach of hungry plants, in soil you are already working.

Bury up to the lid

The body disappears; only the lid remains visible and accessible underfoot.

Prime with worms

A handful of compost worms gets the colony started. Soil worms will join on their own from there.

Place and reseal

Add peelings, vegetable tops and coffee grounds, then a handful of sawdust on top.

📏 Which bin size for which waste

The volume doesn't tell you what the pot contains, it tells you what it absorbs over the year, and the ratio stays constant, at roughly 1.5 kg of food waste per litre per year. The 1-litre model handles 1.5 kg, the 12-litre model handles 18 kg. A small unit placed at the foot of a herb bed does its job all season, while the kitchen waste of an entire household calls for a larger model, or a stacking composter that can be emptied and harvested at different levels. There's nothing stopping you from burying several units spread around the garden, rather than one large one in a single spot.

Worms are not included with the pot

A batch of compost worms kick-starts the colony as soon as the pot is planted. Soil worms will join them on their own in time, but it is those first worms that begin breaking down your waste and spreading fertility through the bed. Order them when you plant rather than waiting for the following spring, as a pot that is started at the beginning of the season will already be giving something back by the end of it.

What won't fit in the pot

A buried worm composter works in a low-oxygen environment, which rules out meat, fish, dairy products and fats, these ferment rather than decompose and attract unwanted visitors. Also avoid large quantities of citrus peel, which is too acidic for the worms, as well as waste from treated plants. And never tip in the contents of a bucket that has been accumulating for a fortnight all at once: a large load heats the vessel and drives the worms out.

The balance in the bin comes down to a simple ratio between wet materials and dry materials. Peelings, vegetable tops, and coffee grounds provide nitrogen and moisture, while torn brown cardboard, untreated sawdust, and dead leaves provide carbon and structure. A handful of dry material with each addition is enough to maintain that ratio, and it is that one action that keeps odours at bay. A bin that smells is almost always one that is too wet and too compacted, two handfuls of cardboard will sort it out within a few days.

🌿 The neighbouring vegetable patch benefits too

The worms don't stay in the pot. They move up to find fresh matter, then return to the soil by burrowing and leaving their castings behind. Through this back-and-forth movement, fertility spreads through the surrounding soil, without any spreading on your part. For anyone already running an aquatic system, this is the simplest way to handle the waste that system won't take, peelings and brown cardboard, and to return it to the open-ground vegetable plot alongside it. Our article on vermicompost as fertiliser covers in detail what this material brings to the soil.

❄️ Winter and maintenance

A buried pot can stay in the ground over winter, unlike an irrigation jar, because it contains no standing water that could cause the clay to crack. Worm activity slows considerably below 10 °C and stops almost entirely near freezing, so deposits naturally become less frequent during this period. Resume your usual feeding rhythm in spring when the soil warms up, starting with small quantities. Beyond that, maintenance is simply a matter of checking once a season that the lid closes properly and that soil has not built up around the neck, a pot whose opening disappears will eventually be forgotten.

Technical specifications

The essentials

Composting capacity: 1.5 to 18 kg per yearThe ratio is constant: 1.5 kg of food waste per year per litre of composter capacity.
Material: ClayA porous mineral wall, in direct contact with the soil all year round.
Installation: Buried, lid flush with the surfaceThe compost never leaves the soil: it passes into the earth surrounding the pot.
Height: 15 to 42 cmThis is the depth of the hole to dig, plus the thickness of the lid.
Width: 12 to 28 cmWorth checking if you are fitting it between plants already in position.
Weight: 1.6 to 8 kgThe clay is heavy: the large model takes two hands to carry.

To budget for separately

Compost worms: A handle for primingThe earthworms will eventually make their own way in, but getting started requires an established colony.
Digging tool: Spade or hand augerA hole sized to the pot, so that the clay is in contact with the soil across its full height.

In the box

1 clay worm composter and its lid, in the chosen capacity.
1 bag of coarse sawdust, 400 g.
1 instruction manual including the composting guide.

Annual capacity by volume, material, heights, widths, weights and parcel contents: figures stated by the supplier, checked on 20/09/2026.

Estimate your
delivery time

A clay piece, fragile and heavy: from 1.6 to 8 kg depending on the capacity, packed accordingly. Lead times are longer than for the rest of the catalogue and vary by capacity. Exact shipping costs are displayed in the basket once the delivery address has been entered.

Frequently asked questions

8 questions

6 key questions, 8 in the detailed view

Which volume should you choose?

Do you need to remove it to harvest the compost?

How far from the plants should it be buried?

Is the clay pot at risk of frost damage?

Does it attract rodents?

Can citrus peel go in?

Does it work in winter?

Can it be installed in a raised bed?

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Outdoor terracotta worm composter

The summary