Chuckie, welcome to the putriest mess of vermicompost. :)

Honestly, my bin looks the same right now. Best advice I can give, leave the lid off for a while. It will dry things out a bit.

Also, you can quit the harvesting. Use Kelly's windowscreen method. It takes a while, but that way, the worms harvest themselves. :)

Big bonus in my busy world.

Moni

One man's muck..is another worm's heaven. Go figure..:)

Thanks Moni. My reason for physical harvesting is to salvage the cocoons and investigate the bin conditions. The purpose of my original question was to ascertain if those yucky, mucky conditions I described are actually the favorite environs of the worms, and if the conditions we try to maintain are for the benefit of we, the wormers.

And Susan, If, in fact, the muck is really what the worms prefer, why do we try to prevent that condition from occurring in an outdoor bin?

Seems like the worms' preferences I find in the bins are contradictory to "The Gospel".

Chuckiebtoo

Well, Chuckie, it's safe to say that those mucky conditions are the favorite environment of the worms in your bin!

Earthworms derive most of their nutrients from the microorganisms decaying the organic matter they ingest rather than from the organic matter itself, thus, they thrive best in highly biologically active environments. Think of your compost pile; the fastest rate of decomposition takes place in or near the center or the pile where the mass of material creates an insulated space of optimized conditions for the microorganisms that effect decomposition. The same will be true of a worm bin; the most biologically active areas are not typically at the surface, but several inches below, near the center of bottom of the bin where the environment is more stable and protected, typically more damp, and better optimized to support the massive microbial populations that support the worms.

Now, toss into this mix the fact that earthworm castings tend to be more biologically active than the feedstock, even well-rotted feedstock, and it begins to make sense that areas of the bin that contain a mix of castings and decomposing OM will be so microbially rich that earthworms will tend to mass there. Add to this the understanding that the mixture of castings and partially decomposed organic matter hold vast amounts of moisture, which worms are always seeking in the greatest quantities they can find, and one begins to see that the surface material in a worm bin will rarely hold the appeal of the deeper system zones!

But the mucky areas are stinky, you say? And stinky like this usually means anaerobic, doesn't it? And worms are supposed to dislike anaerobic enviornments, right? Ah, the complexities of biology! If only the answers were that simple!

First, earthworms have an extraordinary ability to attach oxygen, thus, even in relatively low oxygen conditions they are often able to catpure enough to stay alive.

Second, earthworms are as happy to consume anaerobes as they are aerobes. It is not the micororganisms themselves that can create problems for the worms, but SOME OF the anaerobic byproducts the anaerobes produce; the terpenes, phenols, and alcohols. The thing is, an earthworm is able to tolerate, even thrive, in some levels of these toxins, meaning "the dosage makes the poison". Further, it is not the terpenes, phenols and alcohols that are the most odorous by-products of anaerobic decomposition, thus, just because the bin smells bad to we mere humans does not mean, definitively, that the bin is toxic to the worms. It may well mean that the anaerobic organisms are generating lots more sulfur gasses than they are compounds toxic to earthworms, thus, the environment is very wet and very microbially rich, which the worms adore, very stinky, a condition about which worms don't really care, sufficiently rich in oxygen to keep the worms respiring even if other aerobic organisms find too little oxygen to function, but not enough toxic compounds to cause worm problems.

We make a fuss about keeping bins aerobic because it is nearly impossible to maintain a home verimcomposting or vermiculture bin in an anearobic state that we can be sure will never tip into being toxic, and because the smell of an anearobic bin is offensive to we in or near whose homes the bin will kept. Recommendations that the bin be kept as aerobic as possible can, clearly, sometimes erroneously imply that an anaerobic bin is always, be definition, bad. Chuckie's worms are teaching a valuable lesson!

Kelly S

Thank goodness Kelly fielded that posting, as that was exactly what I was going to say, Chuckiebtoo..;)

Whew, I'm sure glad to hear that, Kelly. At first I just thought they were on vacation. Then I feared they had dropped out of worthwhile main-stream societal activity because of, you know, the whole alien encounter thing. Finally, I blamed it on the welfare system I'd created in the bin trying to humanize them which I thought had worked beyond its wildest expectations.

So my objective henceforth will be to maintain the bins just short of the point when optimum anaerobic conditions take a turn for the worse.

Trying to make worming a science becomes more an artistic endeavor all the time, don't it?!

Chuckiebtoo

In the process of eating the mainly anaerobic bateria, the worms are creating holes and air passages, such that the muck should start smelling okay after a while. The big issue is how to keep all the excess moisture going to the bottom and continuing the anaeorbic conditions.