If you bought the 500 worm deal from Uncle Jim and you are feeding them 3 large cups of coffee grounds every three days, there is your first problem. You are overfeeding. If the bin has blocked holes and the bottom is sloppy, there is your second problem. You are overwatering.

Don't add any more worms. Fix the problem first. You could try mixing in some dry shredded newspaper, and add some dry torn up corrugated cardboard. That will help absorb some of the water.

Is it possible to get the remaining worms out and start the bin again with fresh bedding?

Regards,
Marshall

My wording was ambiguous, they got 1 8oz water glass full of grounds every 3rd day, 3 times in total. the grounds were wet, but not sloppy wet. I did/do have a moisture problem, but that seems to have been resolved. I have the bin propped up on one side, made sure the drainage holes were clear(I have a small 4" screwdriver I stick in there and wiggle around) and left it with the airstone at the bottom part of the bin for about 5 hours. No liquid coming out. I do have a plain brown shipping box that I'll rip apart and add into the bin dry. Too bad I don't have a shredder....
I think I'll keep the airstone in there for another 12 hours.

Regarding saving the worms in there, I don't think there are that many left. With the price of worms at 20 bucks a pound on the expensive side, it's not worth my time to dig through and try to find them, I would simply dump everything and start anew.

The new worms are already ordered, I could just dump them, but it seems a waste not to add them into the bin. Why do you suggest not adding any more worms? As I see it, either they will live and all will be well or they won't and I'm no worse off than I am now, save for the 20 bucks in worms.

Any thought on the tiny white bugs everywhere?

Welcome to composting with worms.

Use the "search" feature near the top of the page to help you find information in this forum or others.

Do I understand that your only goal is to use old coffee grounds?

That can be happily accomplished by putting them in small holes around the plantings in your yard. The earthworms will flock around and thank you.

Please use the "search" function to find how to make a viable worm bin. Everyone's is different.

You are _buying_ worm food?
Is this a commercial operation?

No need for pumps and air rocks.

Keep it simple. Worms are simple creatures.

Let us know how things are going.

Here is a link that might be useful: mites

No, My goal is to make worm castings. I'm one of those lowly apartment dwellers, so I don't have a lawn to bury the grounds in. Castings are for potted plants.

I'm not buying wormfood, it came with the kit. It looks like oats and barley. I wouldn't buy something like that, but it seems a waste not to throw it in the bin(following their instructions)

The airstone was merely an idea I had about how to dry things out. the more air I put through the thing, the faster it will dry out. I've noticed since I put shredded packing paper in there(dull grey-white paper) and the airstone, the worms are coming up from the bottom. then again, it could be all the mixing I had to do to get the paper in there. At first I thought the worms were stuck to the paper, but they seem to just like clinging onto it.

This is not a commercial operation, just a bored guy who bought some worms one day because he thought it would be cool to feed coffee to worms.

Don't you just love how a great idea becomes a real driving hobby? :)

The only drawback to an airstone is the vibration of the pump. Jay Blair did some excellent work with this kind of aeration and found that he could damp the vibrations by running the air through a 2 liter bottle of water first. Go figure! :)

Yes, worms love paper, cardboard, etc. When I lay cardboard out on the yard to discourage weeds, it sits there until it is totally eaten by the worms; if I pick it up, it's got a worm in practically every corrugation. Pretty cool!

Here are some links you might find helpful (copy and paste to your browser or to Google):

http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html

http://www.wormdigest.org/content/view/35/2/

This blog has some good experiences to read about, too: http://www.wormcompostingtips.com/category

Happy D Worm Ranch has an excellent set of articles about what bugs you can find in your bin, what's good, what's not, and how to make it work better....Read the link below and then cruise their site. Very nice!

Here's their mite-specific page: http://www.happydranch.com/87.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Happy D Worm Ranch link

Well, I seem to have gotten my bin under control. No more visible red mites, and the white ones seem to have mostly died off. I found a bunch of them hanging out on the buried air stone though. I added a bunch more shredded newspaper then added the pound of worms I ordered. They all seem happy, moving around all parts of the bin. My bin is so full though, that adding food would be difficult right now. I may have to go buy another little container and have 2 worm bins.

A couple questions:

1) How can I tell when the food is gone from the bin? I'm pretty sure I had overfed them, so when do I start feeding again?

2) I picked up a cuttlebone, which is mostly calcium carbonate(same as ag. lime) to control the PH if it gets to acidic again. What about potassium carbonate? Is that too caustic for the worms?

Mikeey - Did the cuttlebone make any difference with the mites?

I understand putting melon rind on the top of your material will attract the mites who like it very much. You can then throw the rind out with the mites on it. I'm about to try it myself. Also, leaving the lid off can help dry things out.