papaya seeds

Your pictures are so clear!

On the lower pictre what is in the lower left corner?
Is it a few regular sized worms that the light hit just right so they look white?

You mentioned anerobic since you could see lack of breakdown of material. Was there a smell?

Did you happen to get any good pictures of the pot worms? Especially next to baby worms so there is a nice picture
to refer people to.

Hmmm.... Haven't eaten any papaya; the papaya seeds I am familiar with are black and round with a wrinkly texture. I would say these are smaller than papaya seeds.

No horrible smell but maybe a bit off in the very wet bottom. But plenty of worms down there. I say anaerobic due to the material at the bottom that I expected would have been decomposed by now including the newspaper the eggs are on. I assume that the more wet the less oxygen and therefore less aerobic? No drain hole or catch tray, just a cookie rack covered with landscape fabric in the bottom of bin. So, maybe a drain hole is in order.

Yes, lower left are pink worms that just look white in the glare of the flash (much the way I do) :o)

I'll check for better pot worm photos. I have some serious mites all of a sudden after feeding unfrozen fruit.

Definitely not the papaya seeds I'm used to seeing either. Why not plant one and see what sprouts?

Instead of a drain hole, I suggest removing material in the corners and packing them with dry bedding. Egg cartons & cardboard will quickly soak up moisture without clumping as much as shredded paper. If it's really wet, try coir. You could also line the walls with cardboard sheets. That will wick some moisture from the bottom of the bin.

I'm beginning to think that it is better to have shallower bins with more surface area. The typical 14-18 gal. tote is over a foot deep. I think it might be better to harvest once 5-6" of vermicompost has accumulated. Do a quick screening for VC and dump worms and larger chunks back into a bin filled with new bedding.