Urgent - worm question.

[lengel]

I used greenmagick's worm bin design - a big Rubbermaid bin with air holes in the bottom and lid, loose packing material in the bottom with hardware cloth over that then landscape cover. The environment is shredded newspaper and cardboard with some soil, compost and veggie scraps.

Everybody was really quiet for a little over a day to the point that I was wondering whether or not I had killed them.

Then tonight - BAM - I opened the lid and they were everywhere. The problem is that they are crawling up the sides of the container! Does this mean that they don't like their environment? Is it too moist? I did put some water in there but just to moisten up the newspaper and soil which was really dry and I know they need a fairly moist environment.

Help me - is it too moist? Any ideas? I really really don't want to kill my first batch of worms through sheer stupidity!

 

[sharehome]

I just set up a worm bin too and keep checking to see if I have kill them or not too. My DH thinks I am crazy.

When I was searching on line I found this for advice

If worms are trying to escape (crawling up the sides of the bin), it means that the bin conditions are not ideal or that the food waste may be toxic to the worms. Solutions:

take the lid off and let the bedding dry out a bit
add crushed egg shells to reduce the acid level in the bin
mix shredded newspaper in with the bedding (the worms may be lacking air space).
moisten dry bedding so it is slightly damp.


Hope this helps

Sharon

 

[lengel]

Thank you. I took the lid off and added some eggshells and more newspaper. I mixed the whole mess up to make sure that everyone reaped the benefits.

My husband thinks I'm kind of nuts as well. Mostly because I keep bringing up the worm status at dinner. I was so excited when I saw activity without having to dig around a bit that I started imitating the worms with my fingers. I would hook one finger move it down and say "Whoop. Whoop." Then follow with another finger. Finally he said, "Please stop doing that. It's creeping me out." This may have something to do with the fact that I keep my worm bin in the living room. But I have to! Who knows what might happen next?

 

[Dace]

From what I have experienced your probelme is more with the food mix than moisture level. If you are giving them too much acid (coffee grounds citrus etc) they will try to escape it. Try to limit those things.
For now something sweet would probably help along with the egg shells....watermelon rind, banana peel etc.
Good luck.

 

[lengel]

How much do you feed your worms? I have two pounds (less a few escapees who died on my living room floor). Maybe I'm feeding them too much? I have lots of shredded newspaper and cardboard in there so they can crawl around. Maybe I have too many for the space? The cardboard and newspaper wilted quite a bit with the moisture.

The only acidic thing I gave them was a chopped up tomato that a bird had had a run at. Everything else has been greens, banana peels, apple cores. They calmed down a bit when the extreme humidity leftover from Hanna slacked off when it started to rain.

I asked my husband what he thought. He says that they love me and they want to be with me - so they're crawling out. I'm thinkin' probably not.