I have read most people do not add onion to their bins. I suspect the reason is because of that funky smell. I toss onion in my outdoor bin and let it wreak! The worms love it.

It will go away in a few days. If you don't like the smell, bury the onions a little deeper. My worms loved onions, but a lot of onions all at once will smell for a few days.

Alot of broccoli at one time smells pretty bad too.

A lot of broccoli at one time smells worse.

I put my broccoli stalks in the bottom. Add them first and then put in the rest of the feeding on top. Then a light layer of old VC to cover it all. That just about stops it lol.

There seems to be so many sites telling you not to add citrus or onion to your worm bin as if it's going to kill your worms. It seems that these things are ok, it's just a smell thing?

What happens to worms that are unhappy because of citrus? We use so many lemons... Do they stop eating?

Hooray, it's all about moderation. If you're going to dump five oranges into a small bin, yep you'll probably get problems. But the foods themselves are not an issue.

For example, say you have a bin on the soggy side. Throw in lots of oranges. They rot and juice pours out, that trickles down into some standing water at the bottom which spreads it everywhere and POW, you've got problems and posts saying never to add citrus.

But citrus in reasonable amounts, good aeration and bedding, no problem. In my Inn I see worms on the peels after three days, that's with the food being fozen and a little old VC mixed in with the feeding.

Bowbright. As mentioned it depends on the situation. If you've got citrus placed in one corner, the worms just won't work on it until they are ready to be eaten. If say maybe your bin is very wet, then maybe the juices can spread everywhere and then you could get issues. I add lots of sub optimal stuff in my inn (which is more forgiving than a bin), I just make sure it's in one spot and will stay there.

You already have a good response on the citrus. It is fine in small amounts. There is a chemical in citrus that the worms don't like, but after it goes moldy, the mold takes care of that, and the worms will dive in. They really do like orange peels, it just takes a few days for them to break down enough for the worms to move in.

Onions really depend on the bin. Some worms like them, others don't. The dry papery peels take a long time to break down. It is about the smell, but also some worms don't like the intense flavors of onion, garlic or spicy foods.