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Vermicomposting

Ewwww - What do I do?

15 years ago

Today I was feeding my worms, and when I moved aside the bedding, I saw...gulp...a little herd of baby EARWIGS! Ewww, I hate those things!!! I know they eat worms, and I don't want them in my compost, they desimated my delphiniums a couple years back. Is there any way to get rid of them?

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Comments (9)

11otis
15 years ago
Pick them out individually and squash them under your shoes?That would give me satisfaction to get back at them.
Otis
takadi
15 years ago
Since worms can practically survive anywhere with anything, I like to drive out the unwelcomed guests by starving them to death. I don't feed the bin for about two weeks to a month and wait for everything to turn into castings. Then they will have nothing good to feed on. The squashing under the shoe technique also is a good supplementation.
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udargin
15 years ago
or once the earwigs die, crush up the exoskeletons, I hear it is a good addition to castings.
11otis
15 years ago
Does anybody remember which is carnivorous? I thought it was the earwigs. Or is it the millipedes or centipedes(?spelling) or any other -pedes?

Otis
pyropunk
15 years ago
Here is some good info with pictures on all the critters you can expect to find in your bin. The only one I don't agree with 100% is their warning about perionyx excavatus. In certain countries, regions (or even circumstances) it may be perfectly good to use PE to vermicompost.

Otis, it's the centipede that may attack worms. I have yet to see this. In my garden they live in perfect harmony next to each other.

Here is a link that might be useful: Critters
wormnelly
15 years ago
"Our redworms are redworms (Eisenia fetida), not some other species such as Perionyx excavatus which some unscrupulous growers call redworms. The Eisenia fetida redworm is the workhorse of the composting world and stays where they are fed and comfortable. Unlike other species like P. excavatus which tend to migrate out of the bin for no apparent reason. The Eisenia fetida redworm is the "RED WIGGLER" of the bait world and stays active on the hook for long periods of time."

The above is the statement from the CRITTERS link! Shame on them! In Hawaii, we have PE and we call them "Indian Blues, Malaysian Blues, or blue worms" not Red Wrigglers.

And I'm going to guess that most Hawaii worm people use bins and for bins, the PE is the bin-worm.

Here is a link that might be useful: composting worm in Hawaii is Perionyx excavatus
cassieinmass
15 years ago
EWWWW of my own, I was checking out the pests that attack bins and saw the Planarian..GROSS...Bugs and worms dont bother me, but if I saw one of them, I dont think I would be able to deal with it....
itcus
11 years ago
hello, lee here, I just joined this forum...what works with earwigs is an earwig trap.......3/4" black poly pipe 4" long plug one end and lay it in the bed...they will congregate in there and you just dump it into them trash....hope this helps.....cheers
mr_yan
10 years ago
Earwigs give me trouble sometimes in the spring as they'll defoliate a basil or pepper seedling overnight. Last two years I'd be out in my garden after dark with a headlamp crushing them with my fingers.

Centipedes are hunter/killers.
Millipedes eat plant matter.
Next time you can't remember just look at the speed of either one. You don't need to be too fast to chase down a plant.

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