place it in the garage/basement/porch.

Pockets seem to get stinky for me, so I just remove some bedding, mix everything toghether for a few inches then re-cover with removed bedding.

I think the environmental good done by a bin is outweighted by the money and electricity spent on an air filter.

I know some people like the convenience of an indoor bin, but unless youre magical, its never going to be completely scentless.

Horticultural charcoal might help, but i have NO idea what effect that will have on the bin.

In my experience, the smell comes from the food stock, not the worms themselves. The guy who teaches the composting and virmicomposting classes in our town has had a bin (Worm Factory- 3 level bin) in his office for 8 years. I've been up close to it and it smells fine. All he feeds it is the coffee grounds from the office and the peals from one orange a day from his lunch. Neither of these produce much in the way of oder as they rot. He says many of his co-workers still don't know he keeps worms in the office. Think about what you are adding to the bin and what it will smell like before the worms get to it. Put the stinky stuff in another bin outside or in the basement. Good luck

Dick

I agree wiith Dick. Your food is the source of the smell. Have you considered top feeding instead of pocket? Since the worms are surface feeders, I think top feeding gives more surface area for the worms to "belly up to the bar". (IMHO)

Someone suggested Zeolite on another site, but I've never tried it before. I think you can get it at a petstore or on the net just google Zeolite.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zeolite info

I think it actually may be the bedding itself...I added a whole mess of shredded cardboard to the bin and the smell started. It could be the smell of wet, molding cardboard that I am smelling, or it could be the food. I'm not certain it is the food, because I am pretty conservative on how much I feed the worms, and don't really feed anything too smelly - just leftover salad, fruit rinds, and spoiled fruits/veggies from the fridge. I will try the scientific method and change different variables to see what causes the smell. Another of the eternal questions which philosophers have pondered since the beginning of time; which came first, the smell from the bedding or the smell from the foodstock?

Now that its cooled down here in Dallas, I may move the bin back to the garage. The worms really prefered the air conditioning when it was in the 90-100 range, so much so that they were crawling out of the bin and dying by the hundreds crawling across the desert of my garage floor in a desperate attempt to make a better life for themselves and their progeny in the promised land of sub-85 degree temperatures and steady humidity.

Thanks for your input, y'all.

In my humble opinion, you will eliminate most of the odor problem if you use sphagnum peat moss as your principal bedding material. And your finished vermicompost will be of superior quality.

I noticed a much stronger odor when I changed my bedding from coir (coconut fiber) to paper. When I used coir, there was almost no odor, but I also was just feeding coffee grounds, egg shells, and banana peels--it was my first batch.

I loved the coir bedding, I may switch back if I can find the bricks cheap enough.

Keep us posted!

Update on the smellyness (smelliness?):

The smell from the bin really reduced once I shifted over to using a shredded leaves/shredded paper towel combo. I think it was the cardboard. However, when digging through the bin the other day, I went all the way to the bottom, just to see what was happening down there. A STRONG stinky smell began to permeate my garage, and I noticed water flowing INTO the inner bin from the outer bin. (I have an OSCR JR setup).

"That's curious" I think. I pick up the inner bin and am overwhelmed with the stink of (I suppose) anaerobic bacteria working away in the base of my bin. I quickly replace the inner bin to block the stench, and flee from the garage, fearing for my olfactory senses.

I later drilled a (small) hole in the base of the outer bin, and a stream of leachate SHOT out of the bin. The stream continued at a healthy clip for about 5 minutes, and eventually slowed to a dribble.

I have now stuck an aquarium hose through the hole, pumping air into the base. Although only a small amount of leachate continues to seep through the hole, the smell is horrendous.

I have learned several things from this. First, leachate smells REALLY, REALLY bad. Second, the OSCR Jr design needs to be modified with the Wal-Mart bins I am using. Third, I need to check the outer bin more often.

Jason,

I've found that when it smells really, really bad it's not just anerobic lechate -- it's often lots of dead worms in the leachate. Definately check the outer bin more often.

Good luck,
Mariann

Are you supposed to leave leachate in the collection bin?

I don't think you're supposed to leave the leachate in the collection bin...but I thought there was adequate ventilation in the OSCR Jr. setup to allow for the fluid to evaporate. I think my tubs are just too tight fitting to allow for much in the way of air to enter/escape--hence, the use of the aquarium air pump to actively force nice fresh air into the base of the system. I figure with one small hole, excess fluid can dribble out into the collection tray under the bin, a plastic tube pumps much more air into the system than would be possible even with tons of air holes in the base, and with one semi-blocked hole, it is still pretty difficult for the wormies to escape. 3 birds, one hole. That's economy.

I dump any leachate often, as necessary. It does not evaporate well. I know there is not supposed to be much leachate, but in these plastic bins and when I add tomatoes, melon and other very watery produce, I can guarantee having more drainage. I usually just add it to my outdoor bins.

I have the OSCR Jr (since end of Dec 2004).

I kept checking the catch basin, and draining.
Now I have a hole in the side, tilt the whole setup (with a block of wood) and it drains into a used yogurt cup.
Have to drain it once every 2-3 days.
I smell it for odor. No order is a good sign.

Also use the leachant for the house plants.

Plus I think the hole adds extra ventilation on the bottom.
On vacation I use a yogurt cup with a drip line hose to the drain (the whole setup is in the shower).

I must be doing something right, I'm on the second bin on top and trying to get the worm to eat 20oz every 5-7 days (I only started with 300 worms).

For smell, the musty smell can be strong.
Just add lots of newspaper. I would layer some wet and some dry (wet paper won't wick as much of the smell).

I can only smell my bind when on top of it with the lid off.

The cat litter box below gives me more problems.

One word of advice, don't use wheat germ. Stinks and heats up.

Another follow up: The air pump worked. Over the space of about a week, my bins 1. leaked a ton a leachate and the catch bin/tray needed to be emptied 2-3 times 2. continued leaking, but at a much slower pace 3. stopped leaking entirely and the leachate in the catch tray dried up, leaving curled up leaves of some unknown substance adhered to the bottom 4. continued to dry out the bin where today I had to "water" the bins since they were TOO dry. I turned off the air pump as well. So at least I know what to do when the bin gets too dry...but how to maintain a good balance? I am still working on this.

But no more smelliness.

I have had my worm bin for about a year now with NO problems. I have a Can Of Worms system. However.. I just dumped a lot of Kale into my bin and now of course it is really really stinking..

Will this smell eventually die down as the worms get to it? should I remove some of the produce?

Or bury it more???

caelidh - you need to be careful how much you feed at once, and especially things like kale which take a bit longer to decompose than other leafy things - chop it up as much as possible so it will get microbially active faster ... the worms won't go after it until it's started to decompose

you can reduce feedstock smells by covering with bedding or fresh shredded newspaper [wet] - and yes, paper/cardboard can produce smells because the decomposers that do best on them are molds.... but the worms love the glue on corrugated if it stays wet :)

Bill