I think you have answered your own questions. I do not know how many worms you have or how much food you have put into your bin, but yes, remove most of the food and add more bedding. Only feed as much as the worms can consume within a few days. If you go to feed your worms and there is still recognizable food remaining, then, don't feed.

Yup. What Mooshy said. Only, I wouldn't remove any of the food unless you are pretty certain that something in particular is creating a particular problem. If it is just a strong decomposition stink, them add a lot more bedding and let the worms catch up. If there is a strong ammonia odor, or something particularly noxious, you may need to remove food.

Ok. Thanks. There's nothing particularly noxious--the smell is strong and unpleasant, but typical of rot. I will add more bedding. And I apologize for my ignorance, but how do I do this? Should I layer it on top or try to mix it in?

When I had a too-wet bin, I shoved handfuls of dry shreds in amongst the bin. Don't mix it in thoroughly. Spread a bunch on top as well.

You're probably over-feeding, so don't add any feed at all for quite a while. Even when they don't have any more food to eat, the bedding is food for them.

Depending on what you fed, strong veggies will have a smell as they break down.....broccoli, cabbage, a lot of potatoes, that kind of thing.

A tiny room does not have a lot of air circulation. I would dump the bin on a tarp outside. Put a 3 to 5 inch layer of dry bedding such as coffee trays or egg cartons on the bottom. Replace the contents of the bed one handful at a time. Sprinkle more cardboard in among it. Add double the amount of bedding each time you add food.

Lots of good advice here (including your own thoughts, Schrifty). You will learn over time how much food scraps you can add, but it will be more and more as your worms reproduce.

Assume you are using a Rubbermaid bin, right? What I'm wondering about is ventilation. If it is a Rubbermaid bin sitting in another Rubbermaid bin, there won't be much ventilation through those bottom holes, and of course none through the sides. I'm thinking maybe you should put some holes in the sides and sit the bin on some kind of big tray (cat litter box type thing). Just an idea, not trying to make work for you! When I did my bin I used a glue gun to poke holes in the sides.

Good luck, sounds like you are on the right track.

Add food only when it appears that what you previously fed them is completely gone. (It won't be, only broken down so you cannot see it)

Mucho holes in the bin are greatly overrated. Must have some, but lots and lots of them are way overthinking oxygen deprivation pipe-dreams. They are, after all, capable of living large with just a few holes (maybe four or six) in the upper side parts of a plastic bin. They also sometimes will go into funks and deep depression that'll make them choose to dive deep down into the doom and gloom that is way more oxygen-deprived than a hole-less plastic worm bin.

Good luck amigo

CD

Cardboard--shredded--solves most of my bin problems. When stink or wetness happen--add more cardboard and back off food until system stabilizes.

Thank you all so much--the practical advice here was great! I've added handfuls of shredded cardboard and topped it with more; also, I'm holding off on adding more food scraps, and I'm keeping the bin outdoors while the stench subsides a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to bring it back in in a few days.

Keep the bin in the shade or it will REALLY stink.

Cabbage fam. scraps will always stink up a bin for a day or two doesn't matter what. When my bin got too wet, I leaned more to using corr. cardboard and shredded cardboard than shredded newspaper. As we all know, wet shredded newspaper will clump. We also know, not getting enough O2 will cause anaerobic (stinky) condition. Unless you have a large bin and lots of extra room, you could use crumpled (whole) newspaper sheets that will still hold air pockets. What I also do to provide air to the lower levels of the bin, I rolled up corr. cb along the ripples (with lengths depending how deep I plan to bury them), bury them like a chimney. Replaced them when they got soft and easy to rip into small pieces. Worms also like to hide here. When using shredded newspaper, it will be just on top of everything, added DRY. In a day or 2, it will get sort of moist and that's when I sort of work it into the bedding bit by bit. Actually, just by "nosing" around inside the bin, it will get mixed w/o clumping.
I line the walls of all my bins with layers of corr. carboard and keep replacing them once soft. This helps a lot with contolling moisture in the bin and allowed me to ADD fresh rain water. My thinking, the worms would like fresh water every now and then, just like fresh spring rains.

I think there are three key answers: more bedding, more bedding, more bedding. And more bedding with 'body', like shredded cardboard. Basically, you can never have too much bedding.

To be more specific: shredded and rolled cardboard on bottom to absorb excess water. More bedding throughout to give air, bedding, and absorb excess. Mix this. More bedding on top to buffer between them and absorb water, allow air to get through, and to physically keep pests away.

Shredded cardboard usually best (although for a top layer any shredded material is fine), and feed only when things seem to be back on track.

Don't worry about underfeeding, and don't worry about too much bedding.