Smelly food and 3 worms doing a runner - doesn't sound all that bad?

Does it have drainage and air vent holes?

Chop the food if you want it to get gobbled faster. :)

Right - a few runners sounds completely normal. I ALWAYS had a few stragglers near the top of my RM for essentially the whole first year. After that, I guess the bin was established enough that it's now rare to find a roamer.

Also, don't be frugal with bedding. If it's an enclosed RM like mine, I suggest using at least 3-6 inches of bedding on top. Cuts down smells and other critters.

Yes, it has drainage and air holes. I put of them in after I killed most of the first batch. :/ Then I started getting the protein poisoning with the second batch so I changed the bedding and what I put in there. I don't think it's still getting the air circulation it needs and thinking about putting in a mesh bottom eventually.

It just seems like things are going so much better in the other bin. I never have worms trying to escape and there hasn't been that yucky smell I've gotten several times with the rubbermaid one. It's not like I overfed. There was one banana peel and 2 water melon chunks and it's a pretty big container. There is more than that in my smaller, wooden bin

I should add that I've had at least 100 worms escape from this bin. I didn't see any try to escape for a week and they just started again today. There aren't a ton in this bin to be escaping. Last time the escapes started, it went downhill quickly. :/

For me, I discovered the main problem with my rubbermaid bin was the lid -- it didn't allow for good airflow and it was always too moist in the bin. Worms were getting out, bugs were getting in. I solved this by making a fine-guage net bin topper. It lets a lot of airflow in, and the worms can't get out (before they could slip under the bin lid). Even better news: they've uniformly stopped *trying* to get out -- they're never climbing up the sides of the bin anymore. Also, the bin now always smells right, like damp earth. Nothing stinky.

The bin topper was super easy to make. I picked up a no-see-um net online (also available at camping stores) -- it's basically a mosquito net with super tiny holes. I measured a length of heavy duty elastic so it would fit extra snug around the bin, and cut a rectangle of netting that was the size of the bin opening, plus 8 inches on all sides. This overhang makes it possible to stitch a one-inch wide channel hem around the edge to thread the elastic through, while also giving you enough spare to pull the finished net topper OVER the bin handles area. (My first try I forgot about the bin handles, and the topper had to sit above the handle area -- this created a few small gaps and made it not totally bug proof.)

Maybe give this a try and see if it helps?

smalltowngal:
I cut out almost the entire flat part of the RM lid. Cut a piece of weed cloth larger than the lid and hot glued on the inside of the lid (the part where it presses around the edge of the bin), press it firmly onto the bin as soon as your done glueing. Then cut away whatever weedcloth stuck out underneath the lid. Voila!
Just like littychic's, it gives good airflow so there is no condensation on the lid or sides of the bin. Well, maybe some on the sides, but I lined the sides with cardboard so they can hang out between the cardboard and the side of the bin. They sometimes crawl of on the sides but not on the lid. If I need to keep more moisture in, I just put the cut out piece of the lid angled over top, so there is still air movement, just not as much. You can sort of control it with the angle.

Prep for hot glueing: Once the hole is cut, put the weedcloth on the bin, close the lid onto it and try to stretch the cloth as straight as you can by pulling on the sides that stuck out underneath it.
From the outside (top) tape over the cloth and the lid so the cloth stay put. Use the wide packing tape that will stick. Now, glue away. Good luck.

If worms keep running away en mass, it is an indication the bin condition is not right for them >> they don't like it there and looking for greener pastures, lol. Sorry.
IMHO, it is widely known and acknowledged among the vermi folks that plastic bins are wetter compared to others. It effects smaller bins worse than larger ones. To compensate for that use shredded newspaper/corrugated cardboard liberally.
Don't give up on it. You probably have too much food in it and not enough bedding. How about condensation? What size of bin is it?
I drilled about 120 holes (5/8")at the bottom, also on the lids that I use between the lower bins. The label said 24x16x8.75 but it's actually 19x12.5x8 so that makes it about 8gal.
With enough bedding and good aeration, even if you don't have lots of worms in there it should still work. You will mostly be just composting instead of VERMI-composting. But the worms will get to it eventually.
I don't particularly like the smell of old banana either; so one more reason to pile lots of shredded stuff on top of that.

You might want to devide the bin with cardboard, like a partition. Keep the worms on one side and the extra food and lots of bedding on the other side. Just like you mentioned, it's a big container.
That's what I did whenever I start a new bin, RM or WF.
Sorry for the long post.

otis be so right. It is not the bin right or wrong but the worm binner operator adjusting to the difficult special operations of a difficutlt to handle special needs plastic bin. Added presures tilt things. Vermibedding makes everything better.

I put in more bedding and I'm going to wait for DH to get home to change out the top. He's talking about building me a big flow through system sometime.

I looked around in my other bin and it's doing great. I think it's going to be double in 2 months and if they keep on multiplying like they are, I'll have to add a second tray soon. It just seems like my wooden bin is so much easier to keep happy than the rubbermaid one.

I leave the lid off my two rubbermaid bins and cover with wet newspaper (unshredded). The worms eat right up to the wet paper. If I'm not going to be able to check on them every 3 days, I prop the lid on loosely leaving a 4 inch space. It keeps my wet newspaper from drying out.

Also, I read that the worms tolerate temps only up to 80 degrees. Mine are in the basement. But I got the worms from a woman who had them on her porch (Baltimore area). They are much more active in the cool, dark basement.

Haven't had any run away from home yet.

smalltown, I remember your die off a while back, and am glad to hear your wooden bin is doing well. I just wonder if your RM bin is just somehow a little bit toxic. Maybe the plastic mix that made it was off a bit and is leaking some oogie boogies or something. I don't know, but I would have to agree that if one extra banana peel messes it up, go with what works for you instead of banging your head against something that is continuing to be frustrating.
Worm keeping is just not supposed to be that hard, I don't think.

I feel that way about my flow-thru bin. Other folks love their FTs , but for me, I fretted and worried and it never got right. So now I have bins, and they work for me now. Maybe later I will do it some other way, but for now, this is good.

Well, it's been a month since the die off and I added more bedding like another person suggested and it looks like it's thriving. I wonder if it took a while for all the microorganisms to get up to a level most suitable for worms. I am seeing quite a few younger worms now and they're all very wiggly and no long lethargic. I'm still waiting for DH to build me the large bin but in his defense, he has been busy on our chicken coop.

Just a quickie,

I am running 10 x 10 gallon totes.
Most have no air holes at all.
All have solid lids.
They run quite wet (ie prop up at one end and soak up the run off once a month).
I use lots of corrugated cardboard torn up added dry (seems to be the best compromise between food and soaking up liquid)
I blend up kitchen scraps (3 kgs per week across 10 bins)+ dry bread crusts (about 6 loaves worth, 12 crusts)
They breed like crazy (100 worms to 2+kgs in 9 months, per bin!)

Escapes are only noticed when the AVAILABLE food runs low. ie. If I add non blended food, it's not readily edible for a couple of days. If I add blended food scraps collected over the week, it's immediately good food.

You mentioned that you had no escapes for a week, then had some after that. Try blending up food scraps (say a cup (I don't know how big your's is)), and see what happens.

I'll bet they're in search of easier food instead of whole banana peels etc.

This seems to be the case with my setup at least. Escapes stop after feeding time (that is if you allow the situation to develop into the great escape)

Imagine what would of happened if Col. Klink had fed the men better. They'd never leave! LOL. I guess that's why Labeau was popular.

:-)

Hi

I'm new to the forums and am writing from Jordan. Friendly folks on another list have all advised me to turn to vermiculture and I know this advice is exactly right...the soil here is so dead even composting doesn't happen! So I'm excited to get started but feeling very out of the loop. Has anyone tried "the worm inn" from http://www.thewormdude.com/products-page/worm-bins/? It seems to be a littl cloth contraption that can hang on a wll somewhere and is very appealing but I wonder what folks' experiences of it are. Also if anybody has any ideas about how I can get a supply of red wigglers shipped or carried to me in Amman, please let me know!

happy gardening

Welcome to the world of Vermicomposting.

I see no reason why the worm inn would not be an excellent vermicomposting system and a flow through too. I hope somebody on the board is using it but I have not heard of anybody yet. It should be an excellent beginner system.

On the other hand, I also see no reason why $$$ needs to be spent to be sucessfull at raising worms. Any container should work for vermicomposting.

The worm inn looks to be a system that while vermicomposting quickly also drys quickly. While providing lots of areation for the worms. If your area is dry it may not be for you if you skip a week of moisture management. A bin might be better to start if it is hot or dry there.

Is there any bit of soil that is alive? Near a dripping well. Corner of an animal pen. In a green house. They may have some worms that may work. Maybe 80%. Good enough to practice with to decide if you like vermicomposting. They can build their numbers as you learn the skill.

If you do pay $$$ and get worms maybe divide them into two groups in case one group does not do well.

I agree with EE that a plastic bin would be better for holding moisture. You might look around your area for worms or failing that, some coccoons. I'd send you some if I wasn't afraid of the customs regulations sending live animals across international borders. It would be just my luck that my letter would be inspected and we'd both wind up in trouble.

You also may want to see what worms would work best in your area. Maybe PE's? (P.Excavatus)

I live in San Francisco Bay area, so maybe my experience is applicable to Amman, Jordan.

Tried the plastic bin at first and didn't like it. Some problems were:

- difficult to make with all the hole drilling, cutting, etc
- developed an infestation of fruit flies due to gaps in lid
- recurring problems with gelatinous ectoplasm seeping out the bottom
- after moving outdoors (due to fruit flies in the garage) the plastic became brittle

I moved the mess into a large (5 gallon maybe?) unglazed flower pot. The worms thrived, no more ectoplasm, still had fruit flies though. I now have three of these large flower pots, which I keep in a paved area that gets direct sun part of the day (I worried about our strong sunlight cooking the worms but it seems the thick ceramic moderates the heat). Solved the fruit fly problem by covering them with anti-weed cloth (I guess any cloth would work) held on by stretching bungee cords around the rim. Each pot is different but all three work well with the bungee cords due to shape of the rims (no problem with the cords popping off the top or rolling down the sides and losing the covers). I sprinkle water on the covers each morning to keep them moist, at first the cloth shedded water but now it drips through readily, excess drains out the bottom hole.

Ooh, I like the idea of unglaze pottery for worms. I am a potter by trade. I will have to play with this idea. :D

After I did the first one, I gave up on vermicomposting for a while (mainly due to fruit fly problems) and grew basil over top of the worms. When I decided to try worms again, those little guys were still at the bottom (maybe eigth months later) and there was a thick layer of castings. They were really easy to harvest, I just removed everything that still had worms and what remained was a large quantity of castings caked onto the bottom.

So I'm thinking of a rotation where I feed for a period of months, then use for plant growing, then harvest and start feeding again.