Worm Bin Problems and Starting Over

Worm castings (which is a nice name for worm poop) is the goal of vermicomposting or composting using worms. You add food scraps and carbon materials (leaves, coco coir, shredded paper, etc), and the microbes and worms in your bin transform these “waste” products into castings that are full of nutrients and teeming with the biology your garden needs. I believe vermicomposting is the easiest way to compost food scraps, especially for city dwellers, who often lack the space to turn large compost piles and keep them at the right temperatures for the right amount of time. I’ve been keeping worm bins for the past seven years, and this past summer, I screwed up. Learn from my mistakes as I reflect on what went wrong with my worm bin, why, and what I am making sure to do as I start over.

Worm Bin strategically placed inside our walk-in cooler, since we don't farm flowers in the summer.

Why keep a worm bin?

If there is one thing I urge all gardeners (or farmers) to do, it’s to keep a worm bin. Growing healthy and thriving plants organically requires getting the soil’s chemistry and the biology right. You can grow the ideal biology you need for your soil and plants right there in a worm’s gut.

In fact, compost that goes through worm’s intestines has more beneficial bacteria, protozoa, fungi, etc. than a compost pile! And that’s because the worm’s gut imparts some of its own microbiology to the finished product. Worm castings (poop) really is the most incredible stuff.

Screwing up

Back in June, I noticed the worm bin didn’t look good. It was starting to smell and the worms weren’t consuming their food very fast– in fact, we kept heaping on larger and larger amounts of food waste from friends and neighbors, but it seemed to be rotting rather than being devoured by them.

A worm bin shouldn’t stink at all– if it does, it's a telltale sign that things are going anaerobic (not enough oxygen) and that the home you’ve built for your worms is quickly becoming inhospitable. When our temperatures started to soar to 90+ degrees and we started having torrential downpours, I knew I was in trouble– I hadn’t moved them to a cooler location that would protect them from the intense heat or all the rain. So it didn’t come as a surprise when one day I discovered they were making a mass exodus from the bin. I’d left the poor creatures with no choice but to leave.

Diagnosing

So what exactly did I do wrong? And what should I have done? Here’s the conclusion I’ve come to:

• Protection from the Heat! I should have moved the worm bin back in April, when temperatures were already over 80+ degrees. I could have moved them into the walk-in cooler or at least to a shaded place.

• Shelter from New Orleans’ Rain: I should have made sure they were in a location where they couldn't get waterlogged. My bin got way too much water from the rain and all the organic matter became compacted. As a remedy, I could have tried to open up air passageways by inserting PVC pipes into the bin for airflow. I also could have added more carbon to try to soak up all that excess water. Or I could have dumped the contents of the whole bin onto a tarp, salvaged the worms and then started over with new food scraps and carbon materials. That would have ensured them a new, drier home.

TIP: If you grab some of the material in a worm bin it should be moist enough to drip just a drop of water, but no more than that! If it’s soaking wet, that’s not good!

These new worms are from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.

• Matching Worm Eating Patterns: I should have slowed down the food scraps. Worms slow down eating during temperature extremes, so you need to lessen up on what you give them. If they’re not consuming what you give them every three days, don’t keep throwing in more food.

• Carbon to Nitrogen Balance: I should have added enough carbon. Food waste can contain a lot of nitrogen, and you need to balance it out with shredded newspaper, coco coir, or some other high carbon material. If a bin stinks, it’s indicating too much nitrogen and it’s going anaerobic.

• Oxygen: Worms are strictly aerobic organisms– they need oxygen to survive. If your bin looks like a soaked, congealed mess, you’re mostly breeding anaerobic bacteria and fungi– and these are primarily the disease causing ones. DO NOT use this stinking organic matter on your plants– none of the good microorganisms (or your worms) can survive in low oxygen conditions.

My worm bin gone wrong. Learn from my mistakes!

So how do you remedy this?

With the worms gone from the bin, I was left with a disgusting, congealed mess of putrefied organic matter. We used shovels to empty it out into trash bags. I know, not exactly environmentally friendly, but there was NO WAY I was going to put this anywhere near my plants. It would be chock-full of anaerobic organisms, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid.

Once I cleaned out the bin, I washed it thoroughly with dish soap and water. You don’t want any anaerobic organisms stuck in the corners to start breeding again or to contaminate the new space. I took my time and cleaned things thoroughly.

Then, I ordered new worms. I ordered the composting worm mix from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, as well as a coco coir brick (to use as their initial bedding). When it all arrived, I made sure to soak the brick in rainwater collected from our cistern. Our city water contains chloramine, and I didn’t want anything that would inhibit the growth of good microorganisms.

Freshly cleaned worm bin, ready for a fresh start.

Next I emptied the worms into their new home and moved the bin to the walk-in cooler. Phew, finally I knew I could set a temperature that would be favorable to them. I set the air conditioner to the mid-70’s.

Next week, a friend is going to give me some of his red wiggler worms. He’s had his bin for years; so I know the worms are well acclimated to our climate. Worms are born with microbes already in their guts. Their gut microbiology is unique, determined by the microorganisms in your area. Essentially, I want to add some of these “local” worms to the bin to inoculate the bin and to breed with those that I ordered.

Follow along as we’ll post updates on this and more urban farming lessons on Instagram: @babyt_rexfarms. Questions about worm composting? Shoot me a message!