Barbee has asked:
Have you ever had a problem with mites getting in the bins? I once tried collecting worms from the garden and using them in a bin, but before long there were mites all in the bin. I took everything out and dumped it on my compost pile (the one I wrote about).
I think many people are surprised (and unhappy) when they realize that the worms are not the only inhabitants of a worm bin. I suppose if a person took the time to rinse off each worm and then used only newspaper or cardboard bedding and never introduced any materials from outside that there might be a chance the worms would be the only visible living creatures in your worm bin. But even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if some neighbors showed up over time.
Most of these other inhabitants are actually a good thing, even if you didn’t plan on them being there. First, here are the exceptions to this idea:
1) Fruit flies – they don’t actually hurt or bother the worms but they sure do annoy the humans! Many people either freeze or microwave their fruits before adding them to the worm bin. This serves two purposes. It speeds decomposition so the worms can get to work more quickly and, more importantly, it kills any fruit fly eggs hidden on the fruit. (Isn’t that gross? To think that they are there when we’re eating them, ugh!) Another important aspect of fruit fly prevention is to keep the surface of the worm bin covered in several inches of dry shredded newspaper. The fruit flies won’t be able to penetrate that to get to the tempting fruit. The fruit may not even be tempting them when covered like that.
2) Fungus gnats – again, fungus gnats don’t hurt the worms but they are an annoyance to us. The worm bin is full of fungus, even if it isn’t visible, just as it’s full of bacteria. These are also things you never planned on having, but they are important parts of the worm bin. The fungus gnat’s larvae grow in the upper part of the vermicompost, feasting on (surprise!) the fungus.
There are ways of dealing with both fungus gnats and fruit flies, but I’ll write about that another time. I’ve had both at different times.
3) Centipedes – centipedes are not social creatures, so they are usually present in very low numbers when they are present at all. You may never encounter them in your worm bin. If you do, it’s probably from introducing chopped leaves from your yard or other yard waste. I have done this and later encountered centipedes. I kill them (with a spoon or whatever I have in my hand, so they don’t bite me). I have never seen one just casually looking into the bin. I’ve found them when I’m harvesting the bin and disturbing things. Centipedes will eat worms, but they are not likely to cause significant harm to a population of worms, especially since they are present only in small numbers. So if you see a centipede it’s a good idea to kill it, but don’t panic that your herd is in imminent danger.
As a side note, millipedes are found in the same leaf litter that centipedes can be found in. Millipedes are vegetative detrivores not carnivores and pose no threat to your worms. I’ve never had one in my worm bins but if I did, I’d let it stay and I’d be happy to see it. Detrivores are an important part of the worm bin.
4) Roaches – in an outdoor bin, roaches may be a part of the community. They are likely in an outdoor bin, and you may be unaware of it. They, too, are members of the decomposing community. In an indoor bin… yuck. Some people live in places or geographical areas where roaches are just endemic, like apartment buildings humid places like Florida. They can get into your worm bin and if they do, they’ll like it.
I unintentionally introduced some roaches into my indoor worm bins this past winter. I added some leaf mulch from a pile I had. My thinking was good: the worms will love these decomposing leaves. They did! Unfortunately, there were other critters in those leaves, as well: centipedes and roaches. Neither was in large quantities, but I did have to make an effort to remove them. The good news is that roaches will like your bin so much, if they get into them, that they won’t want to leave and wander elsewhere. The bad news is you’ll have to hunt them down and remove them by hand. (In my case, by spoon: I smashed ‘em). You can avoid this by learning from my mistake: freeze or thoroughly dry any leaf material before adding it to your worm bin. I would fill a garbage bag 1/3 full or so, tie it up, and then put it into my upright freezer for 3 or 4 days. When I do that, I don’t have any unwelcome visitors to my worm bins. Others have said they only add crispy dry leaves and they’ve never had problems, either. (Another alternative is to boil them, as one person I know does. I tried it once with very very hot water and I will say, it makes a lovely woodsy pot-pourri!). So, in this case, a few preventive measures can avoid the whole issue. Like usual, I learned by mistake and doing it the wrong way. It’s certainly a lesson I won’t forget! And, in case you are wondering, my bins are all free of those unwanted pests now. The roaches were, like the centipedes, small and only a few in number, as well, and not too many to eliminate.
5) Earwigs. There are many kinds of earwigs. Since adding the leaf mulch without taking precautions, I have found some of these in my worm bins. Again, only in very small numbers. The type I’ve found in my bins is very small, not even a cm in length. I don’t believe they could harm any but the baby and smallest juvenile worms. That said, when I come across one and can use my trusty spoon on it, I do. But I don’t worry about the ones I don’t find. Again, use very dry or frozen leaf material (if you are using it) and you shouldn’t have that problem.
This leads me to the welcome co-inhabitants in the worm bin. Admittedly, some are more welcome than others.
1) Mites. I’ve never heard of a worm bin without them. You may not think you have any– until conditions become favorable for a mite “bloom.” Then, suddenly, they are everywhere in the bin and you wonder where they came from. They were always present in small numbers. Their numbers become large amazingly quickly when it’s to their liking. Mites are also detrivores, working on breaking down the food materials in the worm bin. As such, they are helpful. However, in large numbers they do appear to disturb the worms. (Would you want mice, say, crawling all over you as you were trying to eat?) Worms will tend to avoid the food which is literally crawling with mites.
What conditions are favorable to mites? Wet conditions. Soggy wet. A worm bin is, by necessity, a moist place but there is a point where it becomes more moist than the worms need and that point is where mites get really happy. Seeing a good number of mites is an indicator that perhaps you could dry out your worm bin a bit. Some foods are also very appealing to mites. Cantaloupe is one of those. I think it’s because of the high water content of these foods. Cantaloupe is something worms love, but that’s a food mites also love. In a worm bin with a small mite population, the worms will probably get most of the melon but in a worm bin with higher numbers of mites, the mites may win out. There may be enough of them to discourage the worms.
Too much food also encourages mite blooms. I have found that there is a distinctive odor in my bins when there is a mite bloom. It could be the smell of food going anaerobic, I suppose. I’m not sure. But when I smell that smell, I know I have a mite problem that needs to be corrected. (A worm bin in good shape doesn’t have any odor other than a nice earthy post-rain kind of smell). The obvious fix at these times is to remove the excess food.
As with the fungus gnats and fruit flies, there are some ways of dealing with the mites.
I should note that there are many types of mites and there are 3 that can be found in your worm bin: white, red and brown. Aren’t those scientific names? Apparently the white mites are the most common type found. All the worm books and articles seem to refer to these. I’ve never noticed any in my own worm bins. Instead, I have brown mites. Mine look red to me but they must be brown mites. Why? Red mites, which are the rare in the worm bin, are carnivorous and will kill worms. My worms are just fine, so my red-looking mites must be “brown” mites. If the mites in your bin are not devouring a worm, you are fine. You won’t ever be totally rid of them, so your best bet is to keep your bin at a moisture level which minimizes the mite population and then forget about them.
2) Springtails. These guys are tiny. They look like white dots to me. But when you get close enough, you can see these dots springing across the worm bin. They have a specialized piece that acts like a spring and propels them into the air and some distance. Hence the name “springtail.” They, too, are detrivores. They will not harm your worms. Like the mites, springtails are assisting in the decomposition process. And, like the mites, their population seems to bloom when conditions get too wet.
3) “Pot worms” or enchytraeids are members of the worm family. They make even the Eisenia fetida, a small composting worm, look absolutely huge. In your bin, the pot worm looks like a white thread about 1 cm long. It wiggles and moves slowly. Like mites, these are an indication of more moisture in your bin than is optimal. Pot worms are found in the dense, mud-like, very wet vermicompost and usually this is the material at the bottom of your bin, where excess water collects. The pot worms will not bother your composting worms at all. They are also helping the decomposition process along. That said, I don’t try to cultivate them in my worm bins. To me, when I see them it’s a warning that I am not keeping the vermicompost in the bin as dry as I like it.
4) Rolly pollies, pill bugs, armadillo bugs, sow bugs, woodlouse. While there are two different species (one which can curl itself into a tiny ball, and one that cannot), I’m lumping them all together into one category. They are detrivores. They are especially good at breaking down lignins and other very hard, very slow to digest or break down materials such as woody fibers. (Several times I’ve said to myself that I should set up a rolly pollie bin and fill it with paperboard and see what happens. I’ve never done it, but I might some day!). You won’t have these in your worm bin unless you introduce leaf litter or other materials from outside. In several of my worm bins, I have rolly pollies. I like ‘em! I think they are kind of cute, moving across the vermicompost like little bulldozers, especially the teeny tiny babies. And I like knowing that they are busily breaking down materials that the worms can’t.
5) Mold. If you see fluffy molds growing in your bin, or the non-fluffy kind like you’d find on bread, don’t panic. I don’t like to see a large amount of mold in my bins, but even if you don’t see it, it’s there. In small amounts visible to the eye, it’s fine. It, too, is breaking down food. And fungal hyphae are something that worms themselves feed on. So fungus/mold is just a part of the great worm bin food chain. (That said, if you have mold allergies, you definitely don’t want to allow mold to develop at visible levels. You may not want to get real involved in your worm bin if your allergies or asthma are triggered by them. I have mold allergies, fairly severe, but I haven’t noticed any problems from getting my hands into the vermicompost, harvesting, etc.)
The worm bin is an entire ecosystem. As such, it has things that we like and things we’d just as soon forget about. The “good guys” are all working toward the same end result: turning your waste products into black gold for your garden. If you don’t have a worm bin but were thinking about it, I hope you don’t let this turn you off. These creatures are generally not that noticeable and the worms definitely dominate a healthy worm bin by a large margin. My point in writing this wasn’t to scare anyone or gross them out so much that they give up the idea of a worm farm. My thinking was that it’s best to know about these creatures before encountering them. Otherwise, you might get quite a surprise. And, too, I can help you avoid the mistakes I’ve made which can introduce those creatures you don’t want in your worm bin. The best preventative, I believe, for having too many of any of these, is to keep your bins no more moist than the worms require and to make sure you don’t feed in excess. If you find your bin is too wet, dry it out or add additional dry bedding to absorb the moisture. If you find you’ve put more food in the bin than the worms can process, remove some of it. And if you add leaves for bedding, make sure they are crispy dry first or freeze or boil them before adding them to your worm bin.
admin | 
08 31st, 2008| 
