Typo

Joe,

Is it perhaps Mycorrhizal Fungi?

I looked up images of Mycorrhizal Fungi, and it is very possible that's it. I will do a closer inspection.

Is it a cause for concern? Should I remove it? Should I leave it?

Joe,

You are asking the wrong guy:) I know plants but worms I am just a newb. The Mycorrhizal Fungi is VERY beneficial to plants. My guess is it is feeding on the same stuff your worms are but that is just a guess.

Coffee grounds will grow this fungus. It is your friend. It breaks down the coffee grounds so that the worms can eat them. It will also help break down the cardboard. You want it in your bin. The only downside with it, as you have seen, is that it tends to bind the OM together into clumps.

Maybe you have been blessed with mycelium running. It indeed would be wide span interconnected. It was the original internet. There are at least 6 ways mushrooms can save the world. If you let them set fruit you can enjoy seeing it and identifying it. The worms would love to eat the mushrooms after they melt back into the bin. Now I'm curious what type of mushroom is growing for you for free.

Any way you can post a photo?

Since I was due to begin the harvest of my lowest bin, I took some pictures. This photo shows a clump found in one of the middle bins - as I "fluff up" the vermicompost, to aerate, this is typical of the clumps I find. It is out of focus, so I will post another couple of pictures.

This photo, more in focus than the last, shows a much smaller clump that I found in the lowest bin, which is the bin I'm harvesting. I could wash it off and re-photograph if anyone thinks that might help identify.

Behind it, out of focus, is a clump of what I believe to be vermicompost and slime mold. I have lots of yellow slim mold in my bins, and this came (I believe) from the bin below this one.

This photo (it's tough to get an in-focus picture in my basement) shows a closeup of the clump of what I believe to be slime mold. When processing the photo in preparation to upload here, I noticed a whole bunch of cocoons.

This brings up another question (sorry to go off topic), and that is - what should I do with this bin of vermicompost? I'm theoretically harvesting it, and would normally let it dry for a few days, then package it up and store it out in my (very cold) garage, for use next spring. But I'd hate to lose all those cocoons!

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? Do I incorporate the contents of this bin, with all the cocoons, into my lowest bin? Or do I put it back on the bottom, and keep feeding the top bin? The top bin has been feed four times (once a week in a corner), and is due to move down the ladder to make room for a new bin.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-jwt

I don't know what those roots are, but they look to big to be fungal hyphae. Don't you all think?

Impressive number of cocoons! Their color will give you a clue to when you could expect baby worms, i.e. creamy color means newly formed and almost brown means ready to hatch. You know freezing in the garage won't kill the cocoons, right? That move would just mean baby worms next spring when the VC thaws. If you have enough trays to not need to use this one right now, keeping it in rotation will give you a population boost sooner.....