Maybe it WASN'T the tomatoes that killed the wormies...

14 years ago

Anyone up for yet another game of "Why are my worms dead?"

I got my worms in January. They've lived in the kitchen in a roughneck Rubbermaid container, with holes for aeration in the top, but no drainage holes in the bottom. Bedding is a mix of newspaper, cardboard, and paper egg cartons. They've gotten a mix of kitchen scraps - lots of avocado peels, banana peels, a little bit of lettuce, apple cores, random stuff from dinners (french fries, the occasional roll, pasta, stuff like that.)

After the fruit fly infestation, I moved the bin outside, left the lid off during the day. I recently put in about a dozen grape tomatoes, and a few whole apples that went bad before we got to them. I left the bin alone for a couple of weeks, because my best guess regarding the fruit flies was that I had overfed.

I went digging around the other day, and found a clump of dead worms around the tomatoes. There were live worms elsewhere in the bin, so I scooped out the dead ones and the tomatoes. I went digging yesterday, and found more dead ones, mostly in the corners. Again, there are still live ones happily going in and out of apples and avocadoes right now, but not nearly as many as I started out with (and I would have assumed that they would have reproduced more by now.)

It was pretty sticky and mucky on the bottom...did it go anaerobic? It was mucky, but I've seen youtube videos showing harvesting and it looked about the same consistency. I took a flat shovel and fluffed the whole thing - the castings on the bottom, the six inches of bedding on the top, and the half-eaten food in the middle, all mixed together.

I also moved the bin back inside, thinking maybe it was the weather (it's been in the 80's, but they are covered up and in the shade.) I checked again today, and I do still have worms going in and out of apples, but I didn't do too much digging, because I'm sure they're already annoyed from the earthquake that happened to their home yesterday.

I don't have escapees...never have.

So, best guess as to what happened? Should I leave it alone for awhile, or should I empty the bin, separate the worms, and start with new food/bedding? I don't want to kill the last of the worms I have left, and I don't want to go buy anymore.

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Comments (4)

stevesd
14 years ago
Quit everything you are doing and take a deep breath..about 2 weeks worth of deep breaths. Leave those babies alone for a while. You will feel better, they will feel better, and the bin will be healthier. Its not that unusual to lose some worms when you first start out, but you won't help by feeding them too much. the shovel thing..well get some kind of fork for turning, or use your hands(with gloves if you insist) but shovels have a tendency to cut worms in two, which is not condusive to their good health. add some dry paper if it seems too wet, again not too much. easy does it.When you get ready to feed again, give them a cup of food and see how they do, when the food is nearly gone, feed them again. Before you know it, you will have a healthy bin. Just take it easy for a while. Your worms won't starve to death. steve
marauder01
14 years ago
Hey court,

Listen to steve.

Here is an example regarding "won't starve".

I put 20 adult composting worms into a 2 gallon bucket of damp gravel / soil (NO FOOD), covered the bucket (virtually air tight) and left them alone for 3 months. I did check moisture every 2 weeks. It was a little damp, so I added about 1 sq. foot of cardboard ripped up into pieces, and left for a total of 4 months.

Guess what I had at the end on 4 months?

Of the 20 adults, 12 were still alive (and seemed healthy). Cocoons were too many to count (literally hundreds). Young hatchlings were also plentiful.

No food was added to the bucket at any time (I guess you can count 1 sq. ft of cardboard as food).

Moral of the story: You can't under feed worms, believe me I have tried.

As Steve said, take it easy to start.

Cheers

PS - I replicated an experiment done at "the burrow" with the bucket and all. Google "the burrow worms" and have a read. Interesting stuff. :-)
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11otis
14 years ago
""french fries, the occasional roll, pasta, stuff like that.""
Too much oily stuff or protein?
How did the dead worms look like? Bloated and/or like a string of pearls? Do you know about protein poisoning?
Or did you notice if the bin heated up from the rolls and pasta?
courtcourt
Original Author
14 years ago
The dead worms looked very translucent white, just like the live worms in shape, only white/pale. They had devoured old pasta before, a couple of months ago, when inside. But all of that stuff had been in there long before the die-off.

Guess I'll be feeding my outdoor compost bin instead of my wormies for awhile. :) Thanks everyone!