hundreds of wierd things lurking in bin

14 years ago

Hello fellow worm bin people!

So I started my bin about a month and a half ago and things seem to be going fine, smells good -looks nasty! One thing I have noticed though, there seems to be small white spheres all over in there. They are about the size of ballpoint pen balls( very small). I thought they were eggs of some type, but have not noticed any bugs hatching out, and I think I would cause there are hundreds of these things in there. Does anybody know what these things might be? Thanx!

Comments (8)

steamyb
14 years ago
Worms Eat My Garbage (WEMG) Page 62 Mites
mndtrp
14 years ago
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/verm/msg042232432421.html?12
Related Discussions
Gettin Ready
Q
Comments (27)
So sorry to hear of the illinesses! I hpe everyone is doing well now. I also have some things still blooming and we have had a frost or two already. I hope this year will be easier because I have learned a lot. I also saved some containers that already have drainage holes etc. I hope those are a time saver. I also plan to WS in place and add a container as a top. Maybe some of those things that don't like to be transplanted. My organization sucks so I plan to add some kind of marker in the container so when planting out I can mark what the plant is easily. As for the # of containers, I do not dare to estimate. I am just going to start planting a few each day and see what happens. I also thought instead of placing my containers all in one place I plan to add them around the garden beds where they will eventually be planted out. This will save me time dragging them around when it comes to planting my HOS's Karen
...See More
Big Thing I've Learned This Growing Season...What's Your's?
Q
Comments (48)
As I newbie I have no success stories but I can share what I have learned thus far.. 1. Newspaper is the best quick fix for a bed overgrown with weeds that is so far from the house that the notion of planting anything there is so far off the too do list that typing it onto my to do list hasn't reached the end of my fingers - not to mention the fact that is was an area I thought, for two years, was my neighbor's neglected mess! Much to my mortification it was really my mess - newspaper, mulch, forcythia and stella dora - beautiful, weedless, in a morning. And it still looks good nearly a year later! 2. I love sprouts! Period! They are growing!! I hope they live but right now I have my instant gratification. I seed green in those jugs! 3. A nice glass of wine, viewing my potential plants, is a lovely thing on a warm spring day. I know I look silly sitting with my feet up admiring a bunch of milk jugs but hey... I am over 30... well over 40.. who do I need to impress but myself! 4. I am so ready for planting! I bought 6 flats of flowers last weekend - I thought I wouldn't be buying any more 5. My design skills improve when I "pretend" to read a book while drinking a glass of wine and observing my gardens! With every glass of wine I have better and better plans! :) What I wish I'd learned.. 1. Why do I keep buying, buying, buying plants and seeds?! Why do they call my anem?? "Christy, Christy, Christy, we need you... you need us.... buy, buy , buy forget your husband... he loves you and doesn't really care if you keep buying!" Well... I am not so sure about that - at least my house isn't full of zip lock mini green houses... 2. When will my husband quit rearranging / adding to my gardens? I love gardens but last fall I split and replanted a bunch of border plants to edge a garden perfectly... they are now in the middle of the new and improved garden - which melded my perfect red and white garden with my emerging purple and yellow garden - what to do with that? (I net a pond in the production so I will quit whining!) 3. When will I figure out how to keep track of what I have planted, what it looks like, how tall it is, is it perennial....???? I plant, go and forget... I hate that I do this but cannot quit! buy, plant, buy, plant, buy, plant it is an addiction! Christy
...See More
UPDATE: WoW Thanks! I wanted that! #9
Q
Comments (149)
Morning all! Fran, I put in a bit more postage than what it was for me to mail my package to you. I don't think that I'll get back what I sent because we have a lot of veggie growers here, BUT if by chanace you dont have enough postage I'd be happy to send more if you need it to get my package back to me. I'm so glad that I bought the veggie seeds, I could almost hear how excited people were when I offered them up for grabs! Thank you to anyone who sent flowers in for me, I assure you that every single seed will find a good home. Lisa
...See More
worm observations, and bin questions...LONG post
Q
Comments (25)
Hi I just started 1 week ago and I've read alot on worm keeping mostly by internet search. I bought 24 red trout worms for $2.50. I have them in a plastic container, with shredded paper of all kinds, plus some old mulch from the garden. I keep it in my basement uncovered. I brought them up to count them and they were all alive and lively. I also have a rubber maid container with about 80 nightcrawlers which are also doing fine. I have a garden which I put alot of food stuff in for organic gardening and the worms just love all the stuff I put in as long as its not meat and grease. I don't have a problem with wild life in it except for the birds and I live back to back to the woods. I use rabbit and horse manure as well as grass clippings, straw, and leftover food from our kitchen. All this organic stuff helps keep the soil moist longer and produced lots of worms for the finding even in the day time. Plus the plants seem to grow faster and healtier. I just started keeping worms inside for the kids as a project. I hope the red trout worms are the same as red worms, just babies. I read somewhere you can keep them in a all paper bed. they do seem to prefer the paper so far. I also read that worms carry both female and male reproductive organs. I'm currently feeding rice bran left over from my horses. I only sprinkle a little a week since they will also eat the paper. I read that red worms will only reproduce if they have the space and food to do so, thus not overwelming someone who don't want alot of bins.
...See More
susanfromhawaii
14 years ago
That's a great thread, I just wanted to add for the newbies. There will be lots of different types of bugs in your bin. They help with the decomposition. The only ones I try to get rid of are the flying ones. I'm in fruit fly heaven, so I freeze everything before putting it in the bin. As the thread linked above says, if the bin it too wet, you might get LOTS of mites, but just leaving it uncovered for a few days solves that quickly if you also have drainage holes. You want it as wet as a wrung out sponge. No dripping.
acenjason
Original Author
14 years ago
So I looked closer and the white things are not mites. They have no legs and never move. So I don't know whats going on in there.
wormnelly
14 years ago
acenjason:
I have the same in my bin but they are BROWN. I think they are some sort of mites because they sometimes go to the top of the bin (seeking oxygen? I read the link from mndtrp) - I don't see legs either! Maybe I'll look with the magnifying glass!

This weekend, none were on the sides or top but I noticed a lot in the cast when I went to feed wormies.

Since I started the bin (August 2007) I haven't added water, except maybe a MILD mist-spray when I put in the shredded newsprint and the bottom 1/3 of the bin is sticky/wet & depending on the foodstuff, will leak out (I have holes on the bottom). I guess I'll leave the bin open today - but the link said the mites would travel up?? When my cover has a lot of them, I shoot them off with the hose (away from the bin!).

I'm looking for pictures - I know I saw a post with pictures.
Jasdip
14 years ago
These are the mites I get most often in my bin. They gather on the cardboard, in the compost and gather on my watermelon rinds. I rinse the rinds off, then put them back in the bin.
acenjason
Original Author
14 years ago
The things in my bin don't seem to ever move. I don't have a magnifying glass so I can't look to close, but they don't seem to have legs so I don't know. it's been over a month since I first saw them and they don't seem to be bothering the worms, in fact they seem to be only near the top layer and my worms are hanging out deeper where there food is. Thanx for all the feed back though. Still don't know what they are, so can anyone tell me if you can see mite legs with the naked eye? Thanx again worm lovers!!!!!
folly_grows
14 years ago
Since you don't have a magnifying glass, try one of these experiments:

1. Place a small piece of melon or white bread on the top layer. Close the lid. If the next day it is covered in the "white spheres", you have mites.

2. Place a piece of something non-absorbant (e.g., inverted jar lid, piece of plastic) with a spoonful of the "white spheres" on the top layer. Close the lid. If the next day the mystery objects have moved, they have legs and are mites.

If neither of these tests gets a result, you have aliens in your bin.

hundreds of wierd things lurking in bin

Comments (8)

steamyb

mndtrp

Related Discussions

susanfromhawaii

acenjason
Original Author

wormnelly

Jasdip

acenjason
Original Author

folly_grows

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

hundreds of wierd things lurking in bin

Comments (8)

steamyb

mndtrp

Related Discussions

susanfromhawaii

acenjasonOriginal Author

wormnelly

Jasdip

acenjasonOriginal Author

folly_grows

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

acenjason
Original Author

acenjason
Original Author