Are my worms really weird?

15 years ago

It started the day I set up my 3-tiered kitchen composter which as instructed by the Uncle Jim's Worm Farm customer service guy with one tray, moist but not wet shredded newspaper and a package (~1/2 lb) of coconut coir which I also moistened and some kitchen scraps about ~1/2 lb. as I'd bought 1,000 worms with the kitchen composter.

For 3 days I had mass escapees many of which died dried to the floor, but those still living, I got rather adept at scooping them off the floor with an index card & flipping them back into the composter. I probably lost 10% of my worms or ~100 worms to escaping.

I also noticed a good number of underside of the lid dwelling worms making it complicated to remove the lid without losing more worms though I've become skilled at laying the lid on the floor under-side-up & scraping the underside with an old creditcard-like plastic membership card & flicking the lid dwellers back into the composter.

I've had the composter about 7 weeks, have siphoned off about a cup of worm tea, & have looked down into the collection tray three times each time finding worms that have burrowed down there, living in the primordial soup-like broth of castings & worm tea.

Is this normal?

Each time, I've painstakingly picked the worms out of the castings *&* out of the worm tea, tossing them into the working tray where the food is.

I've been feeding my worms banana peel, basil stems, coffee grounds, eggplant skins, watermelon rind--ALL of which I've been cutting up quite a bit in the hopes of speeding the consumption.

After a bit of a fruit fly infestation, I've taken to freezing my banana peels before adding to the working tray.

Has anyone heard of lid-dwelling or collection Tray-dwelling worms living in their tea & castings? Picking them out of the tea & castings isn't easy...

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Comments (5)

PeterK2
15 years ago
They tend to do what they want to do. BTW that's not worm tea but leachate. Worm tea is water passed though harvested vermicompost (nutrient extract from VC), leachate is the stuff that comes out of the composter and it has a good concentration of rotted foot waste (leachate) as it's water from and flowing past rotted material.

Do you mix any bedding when you add food? I found my worms were a little shy about new food, but mixing bedding with it (even mixing a little harvested VC into it to start it as they do seem attracted) and putting some moist bedding on top of food worked to get them there eariler.

Now I always have a quasi lid of loose bedding (cardboard and brown paper) always on top. Move it asside to add new food, add more once it starts getting eaten.
marauder01
15 years ago
All is normal there, no problems.

In the bottom tray, try filling it (I mean really FILLING it) with torn up cardboard and newspaper, making a habitat for the lost souls. The falling leechate will soften the material, and provide an escape for the bottom tray dwellers. About once every month or two, simply scoop the whiole lot out of the bottom, and place it on top of the top feeding area. Cuts drowning losses right down.

Lid dwellers, are a part of the whole deal. I havent found a way to stop this, nor do I want to. It's not a problem. They move around, and I cannot stop their natural tendencies.

Relax, and take a breath, this is all normal. Even if you lose 50% of you worms every week, they will survive and breed up.

No probs.

Good Luck!

JAy
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Worms4Tracy
15 years ago
I use a stacking composter for one of my worm bins, and I had the same problem of worms dropping down into the liquid collecting tray. I ended up devoting the bottom tray to a thick layer of bedding only (coconut coir + shredded brown paper bags and newspaper), with a paper grocery sack laid on the bottom (dry) to deter escapees. I didn't cut the bag or open it up - it went in on its side, so there were 2-4 layers of paper on the bottom. I never put food in this one, it is simply a barrier between the bottom food tray and the liquid collector. After a month or so I noticed that there were lots of worms living (and laying cocoons) in this tray, but not as many as were in the food trays. They were happy, but didn't go any lower. This method has dropped the escapee rate down from 10+ a day to maybe one per month.

Good luck!
lefeavers
12 years ago
THE SONG HOT, HOT, HOT. The sunrise farmer said my new red Wrig WILL leave if its 95* & up! I've got so few (I guess) they stay.no Lid! Too eet? He said it should not leak. I put oak: crushed leaves at bottom I have 1/4 in. Screen zip tied to square holes cut I. Starter bin. Approx 12 in. Is long side. We are talking free- start up kit in winter. No leaks & good moisture is what Sunrise told me. I haven't interviewed worms, but my grain is POWDER, from cherrios etcNo mass Evacuation Yet!. Good luck!
lefeavers
12 years ago
THE SONG HOT, HOT, HOT. The sunrise farmer said my new red Wrig WILL leave if its 95* & up! I've got so few (I guess) they stay.no Lid! Too eet? He said it should not leak. I put oak: crushed leaves at bottom I have 1/4 in. Screen zip tied to square holes cut I. Starter bin. Approx 12 in. Is long side. We are talking free- start up kit in winter. No leaks & good moisture is what Sunrise told me. I haven't interviewed worms, but my grain is POWDER, from cherrios etcNo mass Evacuation Yet!. Good luck!