So, I decided to start a Worm Bin a month or so ago. I started with 60 red wiggler worms. And I managed to kill the majority of those off by accidently putting some chemicals in with the compost. It was a very blonde moment of mine. And I thought I had killed all the worms and let it sit for about a week while I gathered materials to start again. And then when I got back into it, I noticed not all the worms died. So I added my new materials and 60 more red wigglers. And they were doing splendid. And I just let it sit for about 2 weeks, turning it everyday. And I just recently added some more materials in half of the bin before it had been completely composted. I let it sit for a couple days and I just went to check it again today, and I had once again managed to kill the majority of the worms. And I didn't even put chemicals in it this time! A couple people told me the bin had gotten to warm and thats how they died, most likely. Which makes sense, since it was 80 degrees outside yesterday. So I guess my question is... could that be it, or am I maybe doing something wrong to kill them. And if they did get too warm, how do I keep them cool? And then another question... is there anything I can do to speed up the process? Because its taking forever, and I can't just let rotting food add up in my refrigerator and I would like to be able to use my compost sometime soon.
I am a very successful vermi-composter, and my first instinct with this was you are overdoing it. Worm compost does not need to be turned like conventional compost. Just let it be. What is your set up like? Do you have them in Rubbermaid type containers, or a purchased bin? Mine is set up as follows, and I find it works well: *2 Rubbermaid type containers (I believe about 20 gallons, but I could be wrong). You want one of them to be smaller so that one will fit inside of the other, propped up on something like a cinder block or something. Mine is propped up with an old sink divider plastic tub. *Drill lots of holes in the interior container; especially around the bottom. The worms will drown in the moisture the composting food causes, and also that water which drips into the lower container is wonderful plant food as well. You don't want holes so large the worms escape, but I doubt they'd try either way. The lid of the interior container is the only lid necessary(the other can be thrown out, or repurposed somehow else). The lid does not need holes. *Shred up lots of newspaper, soak it in water then drain it to a sponge consistency. This is the worms bedding. It also supplies food if you are gone and they run out of compostables. Fill the container with the newspaper, and then feed the worms on one side until it's full then start on the other. This supposedly makes harvesting easier, but I generally just zen out and hand harvest it anyway by separating the worms from the compost. I have heard that conventional bananas are heavily sprayed and can kill worms. I have not noticed this, but it's also possible I haven't had conventional bananas in the two years I've been composting because my partner has been working in an organic food store roughly the same amount of time. ALSO, I keep my bin inside during winter, and on my porch in the shade during the summer. Worms can not stay outside during winter, nor can they stand the heat of the sun. It's pretty much torture if they are exposed to heat. The bin should not produce much odor, and none if kept closed, and it's not hard to hide it in a closet or under the sink.
Also, worm composting is never going to produce compost in the same amounts a conventional outside compost set up will. However, it produces compost more readily usable and also produces more continiously. Vermicomposting is going to only be as sucessful as the set up; they will breed and create enough worms to sustain the size container they are in. I have hundreds and hundreds in mine. You should start with about a gallon of worms/soil. If your set up is ideal, the worms are going to create more worms and go through compost quicker. I continiously feed mine; compost should not be clogging up your refridgerater if your bin is of sufficient size. There was a while however that I had two bins going on at once because we had more food temporarily. I harvest about twice a month and get about 2.5 gallons of compost. So it's not a ton of compost, but I believe it's more nutrient dense than conventional compost so it seems to go further. Also, vermicompost will have lots and lots of volunteer plants in it because it never reaches the temperatures of outside compost. So, you end up with free tomatos, squash, cucumbers, and also some occasionally scary hybrids
I have the same set up as you do. I'm not sure of the exact size of the bins, but they're about half the size of the typical rubbermaid bin that you'd think of. If that makes sense. And I don't feel as though I'm overdoing it... just because I've only added things to it twice since I set it up and I probably did overdo turning it, but I didn't turn up with dead worms until I left it alone for a couple days. The last time I added anything to it, I had put in about 5 organic banana peels, a lemon slice, some leftover oatmeal that was made with either organic soymilk or water (I don't remember which), 2 Avocado peels, 2 leaves from a flower bouquet that I had no use for, and I think that is it. I did cover it up with some extra soil from my herb starting kit too. I keep a large size food storage container in my fridge with the organic scraps and my fiance had been complaining about it. So I guess its not that I had a ton, but I was running out of room in the container. But I did have the bin sitting out in the sun before, where I thought It would be out of the way. I just moved it though into a shadier place this morning, in hopes that it might keep the temperatures inside the bin cooler.
over feeding them perhaps. they only eat about a cup of food per pound of worms a week and if you just keep heaping scraps in there faster than they can eat it screws the whole bio mass up. but then i dont really know first hand,we have two large bins and have never had any problems..
I hadn't really been feeding them too often though. But I did call my grandfather today and talked to him about it. And he said he thinks the particular species of red wigglers that I got are manure worms and I might be under feeding them. Oh... and I looked in there today and I have maggots in there. Wonderful. My grandfather said not to worry about it because its not going to cause any harm but the idea of of maggots in there really grosses me out (but for some reason the idea of having a bin of rotting food is not... Um.... lol). I feel like I'm messing it all up.
Ugh.... I was just doing some research and now I don't know what those white things are. I'm going to have to check them and get a better look at them tomorrow. Because I've come to 3 conclusions. They are either maggots, pot worms, or brand new red wiggler cocoons. I don't remember them being segmented, so I'm not sure if they were maggots... From one picture I saw, the pot worms were super tiny in comparison to the red wigglers, and these were a little skinner than the pictures I saw of the baby cocoons and I could've swore I saw them wiggling around, but I don't know. I guess whatever it is, it can't be entirely a bad thing though, right?
Worm cocoon's (or whatever) don't look like maggots at all; they are immobile, perfectly round, semi gray/brown and sort of opaque.
Yeah, I looked at them again today and they're definately maggots. Which doesn't surprise me, since I've got some fruit flies hanging around. Oh well... I'll just let nature take its course. But I do have these other things in it, I'm not sure what they are. They're deep red and long but still short. They don't move at all. and I can see segments on it. & I did find one mite in there today... but from what I've read... that's quite alright.
Hi, Do you have them in Rubbermaid type containers, or a purchased bin? Mine is set up as follows, and I find it works well: *2 Rubbermaid type containers (I believe about 20 gallons, but I could be wrong). You want one of them to be smaller so that one will fit inside of the other, propped up on something like a cinder block or something. Mine is propped up with an old sink divider plastic tub. *Drill lots of holes in the interior container; especially around the bottom. The worms will drown in the moisture the composting food causes, and also that water which drips into the lower container is wonderful plant food as well. I edited out the link. Sorry, can't have links in posts. Peace, poor_old_dad
Yeah... that's how mine is set up. I had let it go for awhile because I just seemed to not be doing it right. And just recently I bought some more worms and added some yard clippings and paper and what not. And now its starting to get a better consistency and the number of other bugs is starting to go down. Although I did find one maggot. I do think that I need to, at some point, empty it out and drill some more holes in the bottom.
Hell all I do is have pallets wired together straw on the bottom, toss waste in it and cover with straw. To add more waste I pull back cover straw, add more waste and cover it again with straw. No bugs, no smell, no effort and great compost!
