What kind of worm bin do you have, and what kind of room are you keeping it in?

My worm bin has the healthy "earthy" odor but it definitely doesn't permeate the air in the basement where I keep it - you can only smell it if you open the bin and put your face close to the bedding. And I have a legendarily sensitive schnozz.

I would suspect your bin is too wet if the smell is really wafting. It's a good sign if it's not a bad, sour/rotting smell, but it's still stronger than it should be.

Thanks for the responses;

Charlie - yes, that is what I'm smelling (rain earth odor). There doesn't seem to be any anaerobic activity. It's the "Soil after a rain" smell that me or my wife isn't to fond of having. No smell/odor/scent of any kind would be much better, but oh well. Soon the worms are moving outside to a certain death by order of my wife if they don't quit having an odor. A healthy odor is still an odor in her eyes.

Parsley - My bin is home made - 2' tall by 2' wide by 4' long. It is 60% open to air all across the bottom of the bin, and 100% open at the top (no lid for max air flow). It is 4" deep in castings, shredded paper, and various buried foods. 3 weeks ago I over fed them and paid the price with a strong smell. It has receded since then to a tolerable scent like what has been described above. It is certainly not too wet. I'm in a very dry climate and I have not added water in 3 weeks. Plus, with the excessive air flow on top and bottom, I have a hard time seeing it getting too wet in only 4" thickness of bedding.

My worms are extremely happy. I introduced 4 lbs of ANC's and have had zero escapees. I'm afraid what I'm smelling is the normal, just hoping that it goes away. Thanks folks.

Well, you could try making a lid for it. Sounds like you've got more air flow than you actually need. Though worm bins need air, worms don't need very much active air circulation - they absorb oxygen more passively and slowly than beings with lungs might. Most worm bins do have lids and they don't need to admit a stiff breeze, just have some reasonable openings somewhere. Using wood instead of plastic also diffuses moisture and air more readily.

Are you keeping this bin in the kitchen or something? You might find a less occupied portion of the house - entry, basement, garage, shed, closet? - if someone else in the household is freaking out about the smell. If she doesn't like the smell I can't imagine she likes the (lidless) view either.

The worm bin is in a spare storage room next to the garage, so it’s really not a big deal (in my point of view, not hers, lol). Air flow certainly isn’t an issue now, but when the bin gets 24” deep I want to leave it open to try and avoid any chance of anearobic bacteria. I guess I’m just going to have to hope the smell goes away, lol. Thanks for your input.

I had the same problem with my 360 degree worm farm when I kept it in my basement. My wife wanted it out so I moved it to an unheated storage house in our backyard. I have electricity to the shed so I connected an electric space heater and set the thermostat to 38 degrees to prevent freezing. It has been there 2 years and is doing fine. Activity slows down in the cold winter, but the worms seem fine. I harvest my worm castings in the spring and start all over again.

Charlie - I’m in the process of going this route. Guess I’m going to have to build a shed. Thanks for the story.

One thing you could try is a thick, thick loose layer (6 inches or more) of shredded paper on top, that should block and absorb most odours. Not mixed in - a separate layer on top. Personally I think shredded office paper is better for this. When you add food, put it under this layer. You may have to top it up from time to time, you'll notice that paper towards the bottom gets degraded and becomes part of the worm world, but slowly.

Armoured - thanks for your input. This is the current state that it’s in. I guess I should have clarified a little better in my original post.

Yep sounds like you sense you and your spouse are sensitive to the smell it needs to be outside. I keep mine in a large closet just off the third bedroom [better known as my computer room]. Either Im used to the earthy smell or ignore it, but others that enter might detect a smell, but I do not. If there was an offensive smell of any kind I would detect it , but that does not happen. When I remove the lid there is an earthy smell which is not offensive to me.

It doesn’t bother me, but it does my wife. Just thought I might try and find a solution to the odor rather than battle the wife. As every husband knows, some fights are better left unfought, lol.

As was mentioned above, adding dry shredded cardboard or newspaper on the top surface should help. Don't mix into the castings, just pull it to one side when adding some food.

Your bin is quite large so I'm sure adding a lid will help keep the odour to a minimum. Just make sure you've got some air holes on the sides of the bin above the level of the castings.

Re the smell of your worm bin, I'm guessing your wife doesn't care much for a walk in the woods after a summer rain ! Lol Maybe you need to convince her of all the benefits of worm composting..............maybe a book for Christmas!

cheers,

Harry

Ha! Fat chance on winning that argument with her, lol. The response would be, “I don’t want the woods in my house....”.

Just told my wife about your situation. (she thinks I'm nuts too) She told me she's thinking of creating a "support group for the wives of us worm composters". She might actually be onto something there. The whole idea has had me in stitches while writing this.

Quite ironic really because I think she's the one missing out............how can you not find the whole process fascinating, right? ................ Smell? What smell?

Harry

Because we all know that all worm enthusiasts are men. Ahem.

Today my wife told me that the whole garage smelled bad. "It's as if something died," she said.

Uh-oh. Did I feed them too much? Too much water?

It turned out there was a mouse in the mousetrap. Phew!

Haha, i’m continuously losing this discussion with my wife, but it’s ok, I lose every disagreement with her so i’m used to it.

Yeah right. Something else smells but it's always the worms that got the blame. Not fair!!