Pick Your Own Red Wigglers

[shipahoy41]

EASY BROTHER,lol.

It was copy and paste. Such great info there I just had to share it with my friends.

[Sky Pilot]

That was some great information. I really appreciate you posting that. I believe that kind of things will help me be successful in my venture of trying to raise worms to support my habit, fishing. Looking forward to getting my ENC. Hopefully they will come this week.

[shipahoy41]

TROUBLE SHOOTING

Caring for your REDWORM CAFE is a simple process involving little time and after you understand the basic principal you'll wonder why you didn't start VERMI-COMPOSTING sooner. If you do run in to any adverse condition in the bin these tips will help, so stick with it and may all your REDWORMS be happy ones!

1. Odor in the bin:
Cause:
A. Over feeding.
B. Bedding to wet
C. Anaerobic condition (no air) exist.
D. Rotting meat or dairy in the bin.
E. Not enough bedding over waste.

Solutions:
A. Stop feeding for a week.
B. Add more dry bedding.
C. Fluff bedding.
D. Discontinue or cut back meat and dairy in the bin.
E. Bury waste deeper in bedding.

2. Too many Fruit Flies:
Cause:
A. Bin to wet
B. Bed to acidic.
C. Scraps are not buried deep enough in bedding.
D. Scrap pail is open to fruit flies.

Solutions:
A. Add dry bedding B. Sprinkle some oyster flour or egg shells on surface. C. Bury waste deeper. D. Place a screened lid over scrap pail.

3. Redworms crawl extensively in bin:

Cause:
A. Too many castings in bin.
B. Bed pH. is out of balance.

Solutions:
A. Harvest castings and begin cycle again.
B. Bring pH. into balance.

4. Too many mites:

Solution:
A. Take the bin outside and remove mites.
B. Keep numbers under control (if necessary) when you feed the bin. If mites become a problem (which is rare) dump the bin, remove the worms and bury the bedding.

[azslabber]

You are going to have the most clean worm bin in the world,lol.Heck,you'll be able to put a worm on the hook and then grab a split shot and crush it down with your teeth without tasting them,Ha.

[cricket george]

I have quite a population of large fiddle back spiders in my worm bed. I keep the lid up to allow excess heat to escape during the summer. I also have quite a population of soldier wasp larvae which are ravenous. I do feed some of the larvae to my goldfish and bluegill in my 300 gal minnow holding tank. Any suggestions to rid the box of larvae and spiders?

[shipahoy41]

If possible I would screen in your box or make a new screened lid for it to let air in and keep pests like wasps out. Periodically remove the screen and spray with Raid to deter spiders. Spray the bottom and the sides but do not spray into where the worms are.

[cricket george]

The RAID mist will settle on the top of the bedding when I spray unless I set some newspaper on top. I assume that the RAID will kill the worms if they consume any contamninated food. Thoughts?

[azslabber]

I don't like the whole Raid deal at all.If it will kill a wasp,them worms are DEAD for sure.

[shipahoy41]

Not if you spray the screen away from your bin and let it set for a day. I have done it before and the worms lived. Just my thought. I am sure others have better ideas. My bin now is in my garage and I do not worry about it (Wasps or flies) I spray the concrete floor under the bin and that works well for spiders and small bugs. Again, I DO NOT recommend spraying into any bin.

[cricket george]

I might try a glue trap in the freezer to get the spiders.