The worms are back!
A few weeks after the major worm bin die off, it
appears that things are back to
normal.
When managing a worm bin, I
would recommend erring on the side of dryness and adding fresh bedding
often.
A few weeks after the major worm bin die off, it
appears that things are back to normal. The bottom layer of the worm bin
contains finished compost with no worms, while level two and three are once
again thriving. The worms have been eating are food scraps as fast as we can
produce them.
The biggest change in my
worm bin procedure since the worms died has been to only completely dry bedding.
Every time that I add fresh food, I shred up the newspaper as thin as I can get
it and add it dry. I also mix the partially composted food and bedding with the
fresh food and bedding. Amazingly, after a few weeks of doing this, the
material in each layer is still plenty wet and the worms appear to be once again
"happy."
So as for my theories about
the worm die off, I believe that the main reasons so many worms tried to escape
from level two and ultimately died was because their bedding was way to wet and
compact and there was not enough fresh food and bedding. When things get too
wet and oxygen is cut off, the decomposition becomes anaerobic (this also causes
the bad smell), which creates a toxic environment for the "good" microorganisms
and the worms.
When managing a worm
bin, I would recommend erring on the side of dryness and adding fresh bedding
often.
Posted: Wed - May 26, 2004 at 09:15 PM