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| Hello,
So we have lots of baby worms (wormlets is how we fondly refer to them) but they don't seem to be increasing the population of worms. here is why i think the bins are healthy:
here is why i'm worried:
any ideas on what is happening to my wormlets? ---
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Your worms are having happy childhoods. New bins just take a while, especially if you begin with a small number of worms. It may take six months before you see noticeably larger numbers, and a year for the bin to reach full population. |
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| Use thick cardboard torn into strips, not shredded paper for a heathier bin with happier worms. Everything will be ok and the wormlets will grow up and make more wormlets. Good luck, Pete |
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| 2 years ago, I accidentally 'drowned' my worms (the holes in the bottom of the bin were all clogged and liquid collected). I started over with a handful of compost filled with 'wormlets'... Now, I have a bin FILLED with wormlets, but they don't seem to be growing into full sized worms. What am I doing wrong? Maybe something is killing them before they can grow too big? I don't think I'm doing anything different than I used to. Help! |
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| i suggest putting egg shells. people say this stimulate reproduction and is very beneficial to the worms making the bin less acidic. some crush them some leave them alone and just throw it in i doubt it cuts the worms either way and yes it can be composted as well. i started using eggshells recently in fear same thing might happen to me but i really never seen any problems my worms are less then a week old though but i do expect babies in a few months/weeks |
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| Sometimes they hang out in different areas. While investigating I quite often hit areas packed full of little ones with no adults around. sarcasmo, sure they are definately baby red worms and not white worms? Always have to ask as some folk mistake them. If not, then I'd just give it time. Like with getting new babies, seems nothing is changing and then POW, you've got them. |
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| Thanks Celbrise and Peter. I don't know if they're white worms. This bin has always been in an apartment, so I don't know how they would have gotten in there. I suppose it's possible that they found there way in there from a clump of garden soil I tossed in once. So I guess I have to go out and buy some red wigglers to repopulate. Can the red and white cohabitate, or should I just dump the bin and start over? |
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| Yes, white worms are quite common in vermicomposting, they cohabitate. Sometimes they can get population explosions and usually it's when conditions as suboptimal for the regular worms (usually acidic). Can be very common in soggy bread. There's pics in that link, big differences are they are much smaller (smaller that all but the youngest baby worms) and totally white. Other than that I can't tell from over here ;). If you really do think they are white worms and that's all you have, you might have to get some new RWs to start again. If the worms you see are bigger, pinkish etc. then sounds like they are wormlets and you're probably ok (except for them staying small). |
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