Got Some Worms

[ZRab]

Well I decided to try some vermicomposting. I got 1000 Red Wigglers from Uncle Jim's the other day. The bed consisted of about 2" of peat moss mixed with shredded newspaper. 2 hours after dumping them in and they were crawling everywhere. I came outside to check on them and they were on the sides, over the top, on the concrete. I wasn't liking that sight. So after gathering them all up, which took some time, I reread the directions. Seems I overlooked the part about keeping a light on them for a day to keep them in.
After a day I added a large coffee can of manure to half of the surface, and covered with wet newspaper. The bin is about 8" tall, 26'' x 18". There are still little crispy ones I'm finding on the concrete that crawl out. So hopefully they settle in soon and get to munchin' on the poo. It's pretty exciting, I like peeling back the newspaper to check if they're in the manure. Anyone have similar experience when first introducing some worms?

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I got mine from Uncle Jims a few days ago-- umm, I already KNEW about the light trick!!! I have mine in a larger tote-- compost rabbit waste, shredded paper, covered with a sheet of cardboard. When I fInish transferring the compost pile to it's wire bin, I will add these guys to it. Right now, it is so cold and wet out there-- with scattered drizzle! MAkes for heavy work!!

 

[ZRab]

Well, I'm about a month in now with the worms. Recently while getting manure from the pile it is loaded with knat size flies. So naturally after adding to the bins, they too have these knats. Which I don't care for much. I don't know if these are baby flies or knats. Anyway it seems like since they have been in the bins the worms don't hang out on the top anymore. I have wet newspaper over the top of the worm bed, and then about 5" of air space and then a lid with a few holes. Any advice on how to correct flies, or if they are bothering the worms too much to keep them from feeding off the top? Thanks.

 

[ladysown]

gnats means it's too wet. They are attracted to damp places (vinegar will kill 'em - just lay out shallow dishes)

 

[Dood]

The flies you are describling sound like fungus flies and they are closely related to gnats.

These flies are laying their eggs in the manure and their offspring are helping to decompose it as well. The maggots may act as an irritant to the worms, like their parents are to us, but shouldn't harm them. Once they reach maturity they will form a pupae and hatch out as flies, so alot of the ones you are seeing are likely newly hatched.

I cannot think of any pesticide to get rid of the flies without also harming the worms. The flies cannot burrow very deep so if you dry out the top couple inches of manure you should prevent any more eggs from being laid and just need to wait for the existing eggs to hatch and maggots to mature and fly away.

P.S. - any insect that has wings is an adult. Wings cannot grow larger nor be shed off and replaced with bigger ones.

 

[ZRab]

Hey, thanks for the replies. I will remove the newspaper and the lid to let it dry a bit. I see it an ongoing problem though as they are in the manure before I add to the bins.

 

[Dood]

I had a lot of these flys when I used pine shavings under the rabbits. I switched to using peat moss as an absorbant since it looks better in the garden and people who purchase the manure prefer it and my fly problem in the rabbit barn decreased dramatically!

I theorize that the peat moss acts as a natural fungicide and pesticide.

 

[Fire-Man]

I have 14 worm beds and I do not have a fly/knat/bug problem. Sometimes I do get soldier fly larva in some of the beds. I draw them to the top and scoop them out. The main thing my worms eat is rabbit poop. The poop stays dry till I get ready to use it. I then soak it in water for a day then feed it to the worms.

When I first started with worms I would get what I call mites in the beds, I would use a hand propane torch to eliminate alot of them. I was feeding the worms alot of scraps, vegetables, etc. Now I feed the rabbits what ever vegetables/plants they want then the worms get the rabbits poop.

 

[ZRab]

I had removed the newspaper but put the lid back on. Knat problem has gone. It just seems like I'm getting a lot of escapers still. I find them on the surrounding concrete shriveled up, and when I peek under the lid there is always some on the sides of the bin crawling. There is dirt/castings outside and underneath, so I know there crawling out. I don't know if this is common or maybe they don't like it in there. I understand a new setup but its been a month and a half now. I wish they would stay in and do there job. Any suggestions?

 

[Fire-Man]

I had removed the newspaper but put the lid back on. Knat problem has gone. It just seems like I'm getting a lot of escapers still. I find them on the surrounding concrete shriveled up, and when I peek under the lid there is always some on the sides of the bin crawling. There is dirt/castings outside and underneath, so I know there crawling out. I don't know if this is common or maybe they don't like it in there. I understand a new setup but its been a month and a half now. I wish they would stay in and do there job. Any suggestions?

Its hard to say why they are crawling out----so many reasons. To wet, to dry, to hot etc, etc. If I notice mine on the sides I turn the bedding material and that seems to help. I do not check on my beds every day so I designed most of my beds to make it hard for them to get out and that helps alot. I also think its best to lay something over the bedding instead of a top/lid on a tote say because a lid can keep the inside of the wall moist and the worms like/can craw the wet walls better than dry.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w5/f ... ins003.jpg

(All joints are siliconed so there is no crack for them to crawl through)

 

[Cottie]

I'd say it's too wet. Do you have drainage on the bottom? My old system had 6 or 8 holes cut in the bottom, covered with fine screening. It was propped on cinder blocks with drip pans underneath.

The tiny flies are normal, depending on your climate.

How much manure are you adding? 1,000 worms is a lot, but not enough to do any serious amount of work. You need to work up a bit. The worst thing you can do to a bin is overload it with food. It takes a month for a healthy worm population to double their numbers, so you should have 2,000 now. I started with that many and they could hardly handle just our kitchen scraps.

 

[ZRab]

I have holes drilled in the bottom, also four holes drilled in lid, and several on the sides. There is lots of condensation on the lid and sides when I open it. I'm just afraid to leave the lid off, thinking even more will escape. I may have overfed. I dumped a large coffee can of manure on top and its been 3 weeks and still a lot remains. Now I did split the 1000 into 2 bins when I started.

 

[Cottie]

You have too much moisture. Mix in as much bedding as needed to bring it down - they'll compost that, too. The mixtureis probably too thick for the water to escape.