escapees / ammonia
emilyj0012
13 years ago
Columbus Area's Luxury Design Build Firm | 17x Best of Houzz Winner!
More Discussions
I'm relatively new to vermicomposting. My bin is a rubbermaid with red wigglers, about 35 days old, Uncle Jim's. I feed vegetarian food scraps and use newspaper bedding. I've got some white mites, but they're manageable and don't inhibit the worms from coming up for food. The compost feels about the same as room temperature-- maybe 75? PH says 7.
I noticed a smell last week and realized that there was stagnant water in the bin (despite my screened drainage holes). After diligent draining, the bin is still a bit wet; there is no stagnant water at the bottom. It doesn't smell unless I open it, and upon digging/turning, I sometimes get an ammonia smell.
The worms have been escaping over the past week, and when I open the bin, they're crawling on the walls. There's some dead worms that have an overly moist elastic quality. I haven't seen any cocoons (or wouldn't recognize them?) and haven't seen any baby (?) wigglers.
Do I just need more aeration, or is something else going on?
equinoxequinox
plumiebear
Related Professionals
Reading Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Middle Island Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Brooklyn Center Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Canton Landscape Contractors · Lakewood Landscape Contractors · New Berlin Landscape Contractors · Elmont General Contractors · Jeffersonville General Contractors · Pico Rivera General Contractors · Port Saint Lucie General Contractors · Saginaw General Contractors · Saint Andrews General Contractors · Seal Beach General Contractors · Springboro General Contractors · West Lafayette General Contractorsemilyj0012Original Author
equinoxequinox
plumiebear
pjames
eldcleaning
susanfromhawaii
equinoxequinox