Comments on: The Worm Bin Ecosystem

By: Angeli

Angeli — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:29:33 +0000

I live in Florida and while I had my worm farm on my lanai I was fine with pests and intruders. My husband decided to move the farm outdoors and now we are infested with roaches and I have found large black casings of some type of insect – looks like short, fat, black meal worm. I haven’t seen the creature yet but when I did some “housecleaning” saw about 10 casings. What can I do? My worm population has decreased dramatically.

By: 718 Composter

718 Composter — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:37:35 +0000

Those damn brown mites get all over me when I turn over the compost and give me hives. I am crazy allergic to them, so I try to keep the population down as much as possible. They seem to really hate the light, so I’ve done better with a clear plastic bin than the opaque one I used to have. It also helps discourage the worms from going up the walls.

By: Harlan Bloom

Harlan Bloom — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:04:41 +0000

I havn’t had much luck in raising the “common” earthworm,They are escape artists but the reds take off like mad. Is there any critter that will eat the mites and not the worms? My worms are in mulched leaves for the most part, with some poting soil added in. Aslo would a light dusting of white lime sweeten the soil enough to keep the mites at bay? I am in Florida, so conditions are right for the mites

By: Shibaguyz

Shibaguyz — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:19:04 +0000

We just put our worm bin together a week ago and this is great information to help us get started on the right foot… with no surprises!

By: Martha/All the Dirt on Gardening

Martha/All the Dirt on Gardening — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:20:51 +0000

What an informative and helpful article. Thanks so much.
M

By: Eric Bronson

Eric Bronson — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:04:23 +0000

thanks for more tips!

By: Barbee'

Barbee' — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:36:13 +0000

This is a wonderful article! Thank you very, very, very much! It is just what I needed. That is a lot to remember: who’s the good guys, and who’s bad, etc. Good thing I can come back here and refresh my memory when I need to (it needs that frequently). In one of your posts you mentioned Black Soldier Flies. That was new to me so I Googled it. I think that’s what I did, or maybe you gave the source, anyway I read until 2:30 a.m. so I sorta’ lost track. I’m so glad you mentioned them. That solved a puzzling mystery about a bunch of unusual looking dead flies that were trapped under the trug I put over my composter. I never had noticed that kind of fly before. Now, I have another question that you might be willing to expound on: Are the baby flies ok to have in the bin with the worms? From what you wrote I get the impression that they are. I think you wrote something like: I hope a Black Soldier Fly will come along and lay her eggs in it. (That may not be exactly correct.) You may already have these sources about the flies, but I will add them just in case someone would find them helpful. Apparently, the grubs are good fish food, bait for fishing, bird food, chicken food, and more.
http://blacksoldierflyproject.blogspot.com/

http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=87501#Post87501
And thank you for letting me know you had answered my questions.