My box keeps on getting dry

11 years ago

I made a brand new bin, I started with a bag of shredded newspapers, a few eggshells, a bit of their castings, and 250 grams of worms.

I spray water every mornings, and every nights, and still every week when I go and put in the food, the bedding rustle like dried leaves in autumn. I saw a dead dried up worm and was horrified. I see that a lot of them are alive and well in their own castings, deep in the bin, but I try my best to give them a moist environment so they have room to move about.

I think the problem is:

a. I drilled a few more holes than I should have.

b. Its a brand new bin (two months), it will take some time for them to adjust.

So is the solution to just keep on spraying water on them morning and night?

This vermicomposting seems to be more high maintenance than I thought! I'm trying to save the environment here, but I am consuming a lot of water, and getting stressed! jeesh!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

11otis
11 years ago
The bag of shredded newspaper you started with, was it damp or dry? It should be damp.
homeinametronome
Original Author
11 years ago
It was damp. But it dried up almost completely the next day!
Related Discussions
keeping dem danged bugs out of my dry goods
Q
Comments (25)
All of my dry goods go into either these: Lock and Locks or these: Click Clacks I found a set of large lock lock (or some knock off equivalent) at Costco that will hold 5-10+lbs of flour, rice, cereal or sugar when I buy in bulk. I use the round cannisters of various sizes to store sugar, flour, rice, pasta, beans, bread crumbs or anything else that the moths used to get into. I also occasionally put out some of the those sticky moth traps. The traps have been empty for awhile now. The only problems I've really had after using the containers: -flour mites: even in the container I got an infestation of flour mites. As some indicated, this means they were in the flour to begin with. The nice thing was that the mites were contained in the bin so I just had to dump it all and clean the bin and they weren't all over everything else in my dry storage -beetles: when I buy bird seed for my birds it often has beetles and/or eggs. If I don't freeze these first they'll multiply and become evident in a short period of time. However, the containers WILL prevent flour moths and beetles from getting into your dry goods if they aren't already in them.
...See More
Can I Keep A Bonsai Outside In IL/Help With Drying Leaves
Q
Comments (5)
Your tree needs to live outside 365/24/7 and only in e.g. December through March will it need protection of some kind - NOT bringing it indoors however, but if it lives that long, you'll have plenty of time to learn about the protection and what's involved. Right now you're getting bad advice because a tree that "needs water several times a day in hot weather" would be a) a tropical, not a juniper, and b) living in extreme conditions such as in N. Mexico/Arizona at those times. The leaves appear dry because they're dying or dead from overwatering, not because they're too 'dry'. The last thing a juniper in Illinois needs is to be watered several times a day - it's probably already half dead by now from being watered all the time. Junipers are native to hot, dry, windy places and our dark and dreary north is not one of those. That being said, find somewhere that gets lots of light all day, but with protection from rain and wind. If you don't have such a place, plant the thing in the ground - no pot - and vow to learn all about trees and bonsai before you spend any more money - trees need to be taken care of properly from the day you get them home, and if they aren't, won't last long at all.
...See More
My flowers keep drying newbie needs help
Q
Comments (3)
Adding your USDA zone would help posters offer help. Where I am in Southern New England, marigolds are annuals, not perennials. I mulch my perennial beds with recycled corrugated cardboard topped with several inches of plain, brown shredded bark mulch. Worms love cardboard, so they're attracted to the garden beds. Worms = worm poop which = free organic fertilizer which = healthy perennials. Landscape fabric benefits only the factories that produce it. It does nothing to impede or control weeds. Most simply grow through it. Brick is brick and soil is soil. Plants may grow ON brick but they typically grow IN soil. To grow healthy plants, you need healthy soil which isn't always easy in an urban garden. Gardening, for those of us who've done it most of our lives, is a journey rather than a hobby. To succeed, we've all learned valuable lessons about soil, moisture, sun exposure and plant hardiness. For example, your marigolds are annuals that need full sun. Your plants are dying slowly because they don't have what they need to survive and thrive. A watering can or hose may not serve your plants. Give some thought to thinking outside the box. I use recycled plastic containers with a pinhole punched (with an ice pick) opposite the handle an inch from the bottom, filled with water and set up against the base of the newly-planted perennials. Water gently exits the pinhole at the base of the plant. Water remaining in the container prevents it blowing away in the wind. This may sound radical to you as a newbie but plants KNOW how much water they need (isn't THAT a concept!!) so unless you drown/flood them, they won't take in more than they need. Yes, some plants don't do well when things flood (read: everything in moderation). Borrow some books from your local library and read.
...See More
keeping patio cushions dry...
Q
Comments (23)
Wow JT - I love our outdoor rug. We have a large-ish one on a sitting area under our pergola. Our pergola is covered (shade) but it's kind of an open weave mesh type stuff. We just pull the rug off the patio ever so often (not that often LOL) and hose it off. If it looks particularly dirty, we use a little soap and kind of scrub/rub that with a broom and rinse. The rug really makes the sitting room and adds some color (along with my ceramic pots) as the furniture in that sitting area is a weather proof wicker (has the cushions) and some additional wrought iron type chairs (no cushions) and is very neutral. We're in TN so our rug is out most of the year but we take it up usually in the winter.
...See More
jadeite
11 years ago
What are you feeding? I always have a bin that is marginally wet because the foods (vegetable, fruit waste) generate a lot of liquid as they break down. I have to add lots of cardboard to keep the bin from getting really wet. BTW I live in the desert southwest where humidity is very low all the time.

Cheryl
chuckiebtoo
11 years ago
If your bin isn't a plastic tote-type one, get one. Then burn the one you have after performing an exorcism, because if that thing won't retain moisture with 2 waterings/day, it is possessed.

That one dried up carcass isn't indicative of an overall bin problem necessarily. Sometimes worms...like other living things...just croak.

If it is moist throughout, it's OK

Chuckiebtoo
PRO
equinoxequinox
11 years ago
Maybe it is not the worms I like. Maybe I only keep a few worms around as an excuse to read Chuckiebtoo's posts.
Shaul
11 years ago
CB2 & EQ2. What a fantastic pair.

I have 2 large, Rubbermaid-type plastic bins with 1/2" holes drilled all around for air flow. The bins are situated outside, but under shade. My climate is pretty dry with no rainfall between April & November. Last year's Summer temps (in my area) averaged high 90's F every day for more than 2 months and I had a standing fan blowing air on the bins almost 24/7 for much of that time. That, together with Ice packs helped to keep the bins cool. Unfortunately, the added air flow also helped to dry out the bedding on a daily basis. This year I have more options. I've added more shade over and around the bins and I'm thinking of cutting carpet to fit the inside (on top of the bedding). Possible options: wet carpet; wet carpet with gel ice packs on top; wet carpet with chunks of ice on top; soaked and frozen carpet with/or without ice on top. I'm also thinking of some sort of internal frame (like an oven rack on legs), to keep the weight of the ice off the bedding. I could also add wet burlap on top of the bins to help cool by evaporation. Will keep you posted.

Shaul
chuckiebtoo
11 years ago
I live in Northeast Texas & our summer temps are like that albeit with a little sporadic rain.

If your nighttime temps get down in the 70's and the bins are in the shade, you can probably keep them babies happy by spraying the (newspaper) bedding each morning, keeping the bins closed, and checking them late in the day.

If they're dead, you're reading the wrong newspaper.

Chuckiebtoo

BTW....IF you still wanna use ice, put each bin inside another tote of the same size with ice in it.

Truthfully, I don't see much of a prob with those temps. Course, my worm shed in the backyard IS air-conditioned. Mostly kidding...I hardly ever turn the unit on.
Minnesota_Eric
10 years ago
You keep worms alive outside in Texas? I was worried about overheating them by bringing them outside in MN... I guess I have nothing to worry about!

Right now our lows are in the mid 50's at night. Do you suggest I just throw them in the garage?
chuckiebtoo
10 years ago
Eric, them babies will do fine in Minnesota with a little TLC. All they need is just a little dampness (maybe a notch above dampness) which would be....."half-wrung-out-sponge moisture content.

Ever use a spray bottle on them? That's entertaining!

Chuckiebtoo

btw, a cantaloupe rind stripped of its fruit. Kinda weird how they can do that what with no teeth.
iLoveLawn
10 years ago
Is that 6 worm bins going at the same time there Chuck?
chuckiebtoo
10 years ago
Yeah, but I got 10 or 15 more not in the pic.

Smaller is easier....way. Safer. No titanic disasters. Tend not to get too wet as easy. Easier to move around. Take care of.

Plus, I give them away to newbie greenies sometimes if I think they're serious about it.

Chuckiebtoo

Oh, I've got 2 or 3 of those big ole totes, but just as security blankets.

My box keeps on getting dry

Comments (11)

11otis

homeinametronome
Original Author

Related Discussions

jadeite

chuckiebtoo

equinoxequinox

Shaul

chuckiebtoo

Minnesota_Eric

chuckiebtoo

iLoveLawn

chuckiebtoo

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

My box keeps on getting dry

Comments (11)

homeinametronomeOriginal Author

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

homeinametronome
Original Author