Main thing is, if there are worms in the bin now, it's not that bad.

It's not clear from above whether this is the same bin that you've been using all the time - and if so, I'm guessing you've never emptied it or harvested?

Anyway, that's more relevant when looking at what you specifically want to do. My comments here are general.

-Yes, the compacted smelly stuff is not ideal, and at least partly because no 'browns'. It smells because it doesn't have air. "Poo smell" or "sewage smell" or "swamp smell" is mostly because of lack of air - anaerobic bacteria.

-The excess liquid is also part of this - no air is getting through to dry things out. (The liquid can be poured out into garden or absorbed by stuff like cardboard).

General advice:
-Since worms are in your existing bin, don't change everything all at once - leave at least some portion undisturbed for a bit (where they can run and hide to).

-The smelly stuff _will_ dry out if exposed to air, and 'browns' (esp shredded or ripped cardboard) will help absorb some moisture and keep some airflow through. Some cardboard at the bottom should also help keep water from pooling there.

-Overall, what you _roughly_ want to do is move the smelly compacted wet stuff from the bottom, loosen it all up, mix in some browns like shredded cardboard, and then leave it for a bit for the worms to process. Maybe starting a new bin, maybe not. Occasionally 'turning' the lot to ensure there is air, maybe add water, etc.

If the smelly stuff bothers you when exposed to air, cover it with a layer of shredded paper. It may also attract more bugs while smelly. As the worms and air help decompose it, it will smell much less.

It sounds like your worms are doing well if you've had them for six years, so I would not do something drastic. I occasionally take some browns (junk mail, old newspaper, weeds, etc.) and put them on the bottom of a bin, and just flip the whole old bin contents on top. This will help to aerate the stuff that was on the bottom, wet the bottom materials, and give the stuff now on the top more oxygen to help decomposition.
Renais

Renais1's idea is a nice simple way to do more or less what I was talking about. Thanks!

Great replies armoured and Renais1!

I like how you both said do nothing drastically. It shows a good understanding of how worms would react to different situations. I like the add cardboard to absorb the moisture and the steps to take and why. I like the flipping and explanation why.

mommysunshine you got two great replies. Do not worry about not adding bedding for six years. Apparently something kept the worms alive. Your post detailed the situation very well and gave posters something to work with. It was fun to read.

Thanks, equinoxequinox.

Having thought about this a bit more, I really like the idea of 'flipping' (or turning or whatever), breaking the stuff up, but not adding cardboard directly to the goopy stuff - rather putting shredded cardboard or whatever under it and maybe a layer of shredded paper on top.

My reasoning is that the goopy stuff is probably fairly well along and the worms seem to like it. I'm guessing it would get processed by worms quickly to 'final product' with just being broken up and some air into it (cardboard under to ensure some air can circulate from below, and paper above to reduce smell and bugs).

Adding cardboard or other browns to the mix here - that is, direct to the goopy stuff - might just lead to cardboard in the mix that takes much longer to break down than the existing stuff.

Just kind of thinking it through though. Would make a pretty good experiment to try a bit of both.

And of course, depends what the original poster wants to do / is trying to achieve. If it's a system primarily for discarding of scraps, 'flipping' and then starting a new bin would probably be the easiest.

We scrutinize, and micro-manage, and over-think, and magnify, and justify, and over-analyze all the things we do to make our worms comfy.

What we find hard to do is realize that the worms are incredibly adaptable and forgiving and able to survive and thrive in many varied conditions.

So, when disaster strikes and the herd panics and flees, or dies off, or becomes complacent and satisfied with less-than-ideal surroundings, we need to know that we've really, REALLY, screwed up.

What I'm saying is lots of different techniques and tweaks, and theories will just work because the wormies are so damned determined to please us as long as we keep serving them like royalty.

Our job...aim...should be to make everything in their environment so ideal that they rise to the levels they are capable of. Incentive can be instilled into a worm squirm.

I will tell you that worms in an overly-wet, or hot, or dry, or acidic, or otherwise less-than-pampered worm-worthy resort-like environment can give the impression that things are really great, but things can be made much better and the results will show up in the..."pudding".

I read here over and over that " my worms are down there in the too-wet muck and are doing just fine", and I will say they could do a LOT better in better conditions.

This ain't theory.....I've seen it just get better when everything is maximized to the wormies' benefit. They can exhibit mucho appreciation.

Mucho gracias,

CarlosDanger

Carlos: I like you style of posting.

I sometimes get a self-harvesting or avalance in my flow through into leachete and this usually happened at a time when I was busy with something else for a week or so (or in other words just being lazy). When I finally get to this, whatever liquid I could remove, I used a turkey baster.
Then I used a burlap bag on top of the bin and spread the muck on it. Or if there weren't too much shredded paper in the bin already, I added that before the burlap.
So far, never had any negative result from the bad leachete I had. I guess by the time it reached the worms (slowly) the bad stuff has evaporated or been converted to good stuff. Within several days depending on weather, the muck is now workable VC.

This post was edited by otis11 on Fri, Aug 22, 14 at 19:56

Sure, it's always possible to do _better_ by the worms.

But then, people keep worms and compost for various reasons - some to maximize throughput, some to create ideal vermicompost, and some just to have a way to dispose of organic matter with as little complication as possible. Also, people have different constraints: time, space, etc.

Which is just my way of saying: whatever works for each of us. "Better" depends on what you're trying to do.

If you would like to attempt a brute force method of improving the odor of your bin, you could sprinkle a small amount of powdered (or perhaps slow release) garden lime on top of half of the bin.

Alternately, you could mix a small amount of the lime in water and use that to rinse the bedding. Again, don't do the whole surface area at once if you have a small bin.

The mechanism of action comes from the lime's high pH and pH buffering capacity. The bad smell is coming from the liquid in the bin having turned to acid (low pH) and mobilizing sulfurous compounds to the air instead of carbon compounds. Humans interpret these sulfurous compounds as dangerous, and that's why they smell bad. The gardening words for this condition is that your bin is sour (acids universally taste sour), and you may wish to sweeten it with agricultural lime.

Don't overuse the lime or you will lock up the nutrients and prevent them from being useful to your plants. I wouldn't immediately try more than a tablespoon of dolomite lime powder per quart of water. I personally would (and have successfully) put this limewater in a bin that is moist and smelly, as long as the bin has a mechanism for freely draining the excess liquid.

If you notice the drained liquid separating like snowflakes that settle to the bottom, leaving clear liquid, don't add any more lime until it stops doing that and starts stinking again.

If that was confusing, I've linked an introductory liming video for farmers. They talk about the lime from a different, but similar aspect:

Here is a link that might be useful: Farm Basics - Lime (From Ag PhD #566 2/8/09)