No.

General assumption is worm castings smell good.
General assumption is stench comes from an aerobic bacteria. Meaning NOT aerobic.
Aerobic means oxygenated (sort of) .
Static water in a pot saucer isn't getting aerobic exercise.
Thirsty flies will find interesting water wherever it is.
That water is safe to put in your lawn. (IMO)

A fine, light spray of rubbing alchohol will drop them like . . .
flies . . . if you can do that without hurting anything else.

I keep sticky fly tape by indoor plants when the situation seems to merit. Don't bother with anything fancier than those in the link. They don't work better and you are apt to want fairly frequent changes. Not very many people are entertained by the sight of a tape with lots of flies on it.

Most importantly don't let this experience stop you from using castings to grow plants. Some fertilizers will interfere with castings. I, and possibly others, would rather you didn't use any other fertilizers. You might not get Miracle results, but you are way more likely to get healthy plants.

What have you done with years worth of unused castings ?

We all recommend you read lots of posts on the forum:
get up to speed and join the group.

Here is a link that might be useful: fly tape

What did the castings smell like before you put them in pots? They should have smelled earthy. And simple easiest advice: after watering, let the water drain out into your saucers, but then empty them afterwards - there's no reason they should sit in standing water anyway.

And what else did you put in the pots with them? Earth? Anything? Or just pure castings? Were the castings right on the top? Did you put anything like pebbles at the bottom so that they would drain?

At any rate, I think fairly simple steps - let the castings dry out a bit and check their smell. Mix them with some other stuff (ithers might suggest prorportions and with what), including perhaps some drier materials. Some pebbles in bottom of pot to allow drainage.

Thanks for the insight! I have taken the worm castings and put them into the garden outside. It doesn't smell so I wasn't concerned about it until now. I added the worm manure to my potting soils and that's when I noticed problems. At first, I wasn't concerned because the water was brown and that probably meant that there were vitamins and minerals in the water, which would make sense, but since it smelled so bad, I knew something was wrong.
The flies I can take care of with the sticky tape or the vinegar with dishsoap in it. Both are very effective in helping with getting rid of the flies. I just know it is a bad indication of something. Thanks!!

I use castings as part of my potting soil, and there is no smell, fruit flies, dark water etc. It's just blended in with the soil.

20% of the mixture should be worm poop.

What is "bad" smelling?

Some smells that some people consider "good", other people consider "bad". "Earthy" is not a "good" smell to all people.

It is not possible for the smell coming from awestruck's saucers to be from anaerobic by-products when the entire system awestruck described is completely "open" (aerobic). Not all aerobic decomposition smells "earthy". More likely, the smell awestruck is describing is simply rotting "biota" in the 'stagnant' water. Biological "stuff" - biota - is washed out of the compost by the water used to water the pots. That water sits "stagnant" in the saucers beneath the pots. In some amount of time, the non-aquatic biota die and "stink".

Paul

Paul clarified it well. I didn't read the whole post by awestruck. It's the water that smells. I wouldn't have my plants sitting in any kind of water; clear or from compost. You're just rotting the plants' roots and they'll die.

A few years ago I did a workshop at a summer camp for teenagers. I had bags of poop and everything else needed to set up a worm bin.

I asked if anyone wanted to smell the poop and a few volunteered, they were so surprised, and happily announced that there was no smell whatsoever. Then everyone wanted to smell for themselves. :-)

Very good. I think that is a great idea of draining the saucers. I did that with the plants now and think it will help them to be healthier. My husband was in the room with the plants and said it smelled like poop in there. I was noticing the same thing the past couple of days but wasn't sure what the problem was. I keep the plants watered gently at the top now, and don't let any water sit in the saucers. I still have some fruit flies but they are the least of my problems. Thanks for the insights and suggestions.

If you have fruit flies, just put a small amount of cider vinegar in a very small jar/bottle with a drop if dishwashing liquid. The vinegar will attract them and the drop of dishwashing soap won't let them fly away.

If the fruit flies are from the worm bin, freeze your scraps first before feeding. That kills any eggs.