Worm bin troubleshooting

[firedreams]

Hi all,

I have been keeping a worm bin for the past year in the hopes of maintaining a steady supply of earthworms (which I collect from the garden during the summer). I have them in an approx. 5 gallon rubbermaid bin which has top ventilation and drainage holes in the bottom (pic attached). I fill the bin with layers of newspaper strips, topsoil, and vegetable scraps. I have been having trouble with moisture - every 2 months or so the soil in the bin turns into a gooey smelly muck, and the entire bin must be cleaned out immediately or the worms all die.

Q: Is it normal to have to clean out a worm bin this often? I realize that one problem is probably that my bin is too small. I live in a condo and cannot accommodate a huge worm bin, but I was thinking of increasing the size to 10 or 15 gallons. Would this help? I need it to house 2-300 earthworms (not night crawlers, just small garden earthworms).

Thanks for your help!

 

[Azhael]

Moisture is indeed a problem. I had minor problems with it that resulted in mass scapees. So far, i´ve been able to correct the problem by simply adding a good quantity of extra cardboard. It absorbs the moisture and everything goes back to normal.
There is another possible problem and that is the actual species of worm you are keeping. I ignore which one it is, but it could be one that is not suitable for indoor composting.

 

[pixboblena]

hi there! mine gets really smelly after a while, this is just the worms doing what they do best - makeing compost! my wormery is only small so when it gets stinky i empty it out onto a bin bag and pick out the worms then put in new soil and all the kitchen/garden waiste i can find on top then pop the worms back in till the next time!

 

[Azhael]

Mmmm...not really. In fact a good compost bin has very little smell and certainly doesn´t smell bad (unless you dislike the smell of fresh soil -i don´t -).
If it stinks it´s because it´s going VERY badly.

 

[Mac Myers]

I agree with Azhael. I keep a few hundred worms in a bin about the size of a shoe box. Peat/soil, shredded paper, cardboard and covered only with paper towels periodically moistened. I keep them in an "airy" drawer. I'm not composting so I add nothing else except the occasional dead leaf from my aquarium plants.
I keep the mixture moist but not wet and I.... well... uh... "till it" with my hand to keep the moisture spread evenly and the soil aerated and "non clumpy". I constantly have eggs and a range of worms from about 2.5cm to almost 10cm.
Knowing what sort of worm you have is important. I raise Eisenia fetida and while they apparently can emit a foul tasting substance when stressed my 4 Axolotls eat them enthusiastically now.
No smell and easy to raise indoors.

 

[CherryBlossom]

interesting... I was considering a worm farm or a worm bin. I am going to look more into it

 

[CherryBlossom]

Question... if creating my own small worm bin (I live in an apartment so it couldnt be overly big...like Mac said, about the size of a shoe box would be perfect) what would be the best container/box to use? I have read online the some use plastic boxes and some use rubber boxes.

Thanks

 

[Azhael]

It´s best, perhaps, to use opaque containers since worms HATE light. The material is not really important.
Make sure to have some ventilation. Not too much, just enough to ensure that the air inside is not completely stagnant (cover the ventilation area with cloth to prevent gnats and other pests from entering the culture).
Drainage is optional. I personally don´t have any but then again i have a big container that i can stock with cardboard whenever humidity gets a bit high.

 

[CherryBlossom]

awesome. Thank you so much. I think I am going to start sorting things out and giving it a bash Thank you!

 

[Mac Myers]

My bin isn't opaque...but they should be. I got the semi clear ones on sale for a buck a piece at a Walmart (Large U.S. chain store that makes you want to kill everyone in it). That's why I keep mine in a dark but ventilated drawer. You can buy LOTS of worms online or start with 3-4 tubs from the pet store. Try to figure out what type they are as that will/can some have effect on how you care for them. :happy:

 

[Tropicok]

I suspect the heat is too high and you are using the wrong type of worm. Research which worms are best and keep them cool to cold. Shred up newspapers and cardboard, use small amounts of kitchen veggie leftovers (cover this with dirt completely to avoid smell and flies), stir occasionally and keep moist (not wet). I did better with a shoe box container in the house than the big tub outside because we had a very wet spring. I use what we call in the US "red wigglers."

 

[firedreams]

From what I am hearing, I think its likely that I have been overfeeding my worms, which - at the very least - is probably accelerating the moisture problem. I had been feeding them at the rate that they consumed the food - which amounted to about 3 cups of chopped vegetable scraps every 1-2 weeks. From the sounds of all of your posts, it appears that this amount of food is quite excessive.

Tropicok - I know that red wigglers are the usual choice for vermiculture, but my newt seems to much prefer the regular small garden earthworms that are native to this area, so these are the worms that I really want to be able to keep. I suspect that you may be right about the temperature being too high though. Unfortunately I'm currently living in a condo with rather limited space, and our central AC does not seem willing to consistently cool the apartment below about 22C during the summer months - when the moisture issue does seem to be particularly pronounced.

At the moment, I guess I will feed my worms a lot less and keep a close eye on the moisture levels so that I can intervene quickly in the case of a sudden increase of moisture.

 

[otolith]

I have a worm bin in my apartment; it is a 15"l x 15"w by 10"h wooden box with a wooden lid made from an old pallet. My roommates and I use it as a compost bin and I use it to feed my caudates; we do the same general routine of vegetable/kitchen scraps and shredded cardboard and paper. We probably add 8oz of vegetable matter per day, it breaks down amazingly fast. Ours does not smell and is more prone to drying out than retaining moisture, the wood does a great job at keeping everything from going aneorobic. It also does not leak which is nice since we periodically have to add water to keep it from drying out. It requires little maintenence except for adding vegetable scraps and produces tons of worms some wood lice.

 

[odalisque]

Hi there.
I recently met a worm farmer who uses several types of hotel setups he built.
The best one was made out of 5 gallon tubs, stacked 4 or 5 tubs high. The bottom tub is to collect the tea, and each bin is connected with a hole and a screen that is large enough holes for worms to travel through. Each bin with soil or compost in it also has metal round pipe vents in the sides, with a smaller mesh screen attached to those that are impassible. He rotates these bins as they decompose. The bottom bin eventually becomes completely digested by the worms, and they move up to the next chamber. He takes out the worm castings bin, empties, and adds it to the top of the stack full of more compost. Seems by far the easiest way to keep worms as it takes up MUCH less space than larger bins, and has a lot more air flow, and is much easier to handle and mess around with!!!
I'm hoping to build a similar set up too.

 

[Niels D]

I've got a small bin (60x40x40cm) with a huge amount of worms (D.veneta) in it. I need to change it once every year. There's no lid, I only tape the edges with two lines of duct tape. This is enough to keep them from escaping. I'm keeping them in biological potting soil and I'm feeding them soaked rabbit pellets, coffee groundings and veggies. On top there's a layer of oak leaves to keep everything moist. I add a little water once in a while when I notice it's getting a bit dry. They eat the leaves as well of course. Temperatures which are good for my newts are good enough for the worms. This way they will breed. It's hard not to drain your culture if you have a lot of animals of course, but every "free" worm is welcome. I'm feeding 30 worms a week, so I have to search for worms now and then. I guess if you've got three axolotls, you'd never need to buy/search for a worm again if you use this method.