1st worm bin and already in trouble. Help?

17 years ago

Hi everyone! I could really use some wisdom and encouragement.

I have never kept worms before, and just received a gift of red wrigglers from a friend. Most of the worms came from a very smelly bin where most of the worms had died. (Although my friend added some healthy happy worms from a non-smelly bin.) I have no money to spend, but I am very creative and I would really like to save these poor worms.

Here's what's happened so far:

I have an 18-gallon tub with holes drilled in the lid. When the bin arrived, it was so amazingly smelly that I couldn't bring it in the house. It smelled like a really bad porta-john. There was about 2 gallons worth of stuff in there--I didn't look too close, but I saw several very smelly gobs of slimy oozing muck, half a grapefruit partially rotted, a few gobs of drier stuff with large, active wriggling worms, and a some dry leaves on top.

First thing I did was panic. I put the bin outside with a fan blowing on it. I added about two gallons of shredded paper and mixed it in, trying to absorb some of the oozing liquid. I put sheets of newspaper on top for shade and took the lid off.

At sunset, the thing was still too smelly so I went out to my compost bin and dug up about a gallon of almost-finished, sweet earthy smelling compost and poured it over the top of the bin. I held my nose and put the bin in the basement.

Today it smells a little better, but still pretty nasty.

So now what? Do you think my worms can survive? What should I do next?

Again, I'm pretty broke--but I'm a packrat and creative at using the stuff I've got. I'd be grateful for any advice and/or encouragement. Thanks!!

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Comments (6)

Jasdip
17 years ago
I've had the same type of bin given to me one time.
I just hand-picked all the worms out, and threw the smelly, slimy goo left in the bin out. I figured it was too much work, trying to get it back to a healthy state.

Wash out the bin, re-bed with newspaper, cardboard, leaves, etc and put your worms in their new home.

That's what I'd do, anyway.
dawncols
Original Author
17 years ago
Hmm. It's good to know that's an option. If it doesn't start smelling better pretty soon, that's what I'll do.

Thanks!
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11otis
17 years ago
dawncols:

when adding shredded paper/cardboard, don't mix it in because it will heat up. I would put some at one side of the bottom of the bin. Put something underneath the bin to tilt it to help and you can keep adding if you notice they get soggy or remove it (however, you might remove cocoons too). You could remove the big chunks of food but again, there might be cocoons there. Then add a thick layer of shredded newspaper on top of the entire stuff to absorb moisture and keep the stink in.
BTW, are there any holes at the bottom of the bin?

Or, if you are going to follow what jasdip did with hers, when throwing all the rest out, find an empty flower pot and put it in there instead and put it out in the garden. Who knows, you might get new worms or hatching cocoons that you can pick and move inside as a bonus.

I pretty sure what happened to your bin was too much food for the amount of worms there are which in turn caused too much moisture, and not enough oxygen.

Good luck.
Otis
dawncols
Original Author
17 years ago
Oops, too late about the mixing. I put the bin back out on the porch, where it's 56 degrees right now. (It's a covered porch--no sun.) I hope that will help.

All the paper I added yesterday is thoroughly damp now. And I was afraid I put in too much!

Thanks for the tip about tilting the bin. I'll quit stirring things around and do that instead.

You're right, there's a huge amount of food in there. I just checked a few minutes ago and I pulled out enough soggy food scraps to fill half my 1-gallon compost bucket. I hate to lose cocoons, but hopefully they'll get along with the worms in my compost pile.

No, I don't have holes in the bottom of the bin. I'm afraid of having a mess on the basement floor. Maybe I can find another bin to put underneath it? Or what if I put a couple of holes just in one corner and raise it up so it's tilted toward that corner? Then I could put a can or something under the holes.

Thanks again for the info and suggestions.
Dawn
jonas302
17 years ago
Make holes in the bottom and sides where the compost is
you could set it up on some boxes or whatever is handy to drain into another container
put 6-8 inches shredded dry paper and cardboard on top leave it be and let them work though it for a month or two if the porch is above freezing leave it out there to air out
mndtrp
17 years ago
I have a feeling that digging through that box to find worms and cocoons would be an awful task. I would just continue adding paper or cardboard on top, and let the worms work their way through it for the next month or two.

Keep in mind that you'll have to make sure the bottom holes are kept clear of debris. If they fill up with compost, they'll stop draining.