Help with a mouldy worm farm

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by Chris Willis, Mar 16, 2012.

  1. Chris Willis

    Chris Willis Junior Member

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    I'm wondering if white fluffy mould appearing on the surface of my worm farm is normal or not. Since putting the last food scraps into the farm it is smelling quite badly. Can anyone shed light into what I'm doing wrong....or not:think:
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    You could send a PM to briansworms - he's the local worm expert - Composting Worms
     
  3. permup

    permup Junior Member

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    Chris, send me an email to [email protected] and I will send you an education sheet on how to keep worm farms. The mould is normal, but the smell isn't.
     
  4. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Senior Member

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    When I put prawn heads in my bin, it stunk for a few days I added lime problem solved pretty quickly.
    I don't worry about white mould it comes and goes.
     
  5. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Smelly worm farm means there is a number of issues you need to address.
    1. Is there any worms in the farm? If yes there is probably not many.
    2. How deep is the bedding? ( Bedding is the organic material they live in) Worms need space to live and food (veggie scraps etc)is not bedding.
    3. Do you have a stackable worm farm? These are prone to problems if not used properly and most people find their worms either don't thrive or just die out in them.
    4. You are over feeding for the number of worms you have.

    If you have worms then there is no need to buy more unless the numbers are so low and would take some time to re establish the population to a healthy level. The bedding is essential and at least 250mm to 300mm deep. If you have a stackable farm fill the bottom tray and at least half the next tray with horse manure. Not too fresh or it can heat up at that depth. You can add some every couple of days till the desired depth is reached. Just soak it with water if it is dry and allow to drain first.

    When you notice the worms are through the bedding you can start feeding small amounts of food over the surface. As the worms eat it and not before you can add more. Every few days just dig over the top 150mm of the bedding to add oxygen to the bedding which in turn increases your microbial count (good). Keep the bedding damp but not dripping wet and put a cover over the bedding eg. old carpet or felt underlay and keep this damp.

    As your worm population increases then you can feed more. Chook pellets/Layers mash, Coprha, fresh manures (horse ,cow) are all excellent food sources. Feed these in addition to your veggie scraps.

    For further reading check out my Information Section on my website. I sell worms as a hobby and I try to keep my website updated with useful information ( as I get smarter) rather than just what I am selling.
     
  6. Chris Willis

    Chris Willis Junior Member

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    Thank you for your reply....smell seems to have gone...thank goodness :)
     
  7. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Same, I dont worry at all except when it stinks, then it is time to add more paper or cover it up some other way.
     
  8. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Thank you for that. I've learned a lot from you over the past year and got 2 worm farms of my own now. :)
     
  9. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Thank you, your comments make it all worth while.
     
  10. PeterW

    PeterW Junior Member

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    This is a slightly different issue, but since it's worms, I have a question. My worm farm is doing quite well without demanding too much messing round or adjustment, but there are millions of slater bugs in there - they seem to be almost as numerous as the worms. It also seems that they keep more on the surface, compared to the worms who are through the material in there. I am wondering if I should worry about the earwigs, and is there something I can or should do to reduce them?

    I've just been out for an update, and I see that the slaters predominate where the material is drier, where it's wetter and more gluggy the worms hold their own and you could pick them up by the fistful. Perhaps there lies the answer - more attention to the moisture/dryness balance.
     
  11. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    My worm farm is really kicking along now due to Brian's expert tutelage. The only thing I need to do is start harvesting the castings with a sieve and supply myself more regularly with horse manure. I bought two large bags the other day, moved all the castings to one side and dumped it straight in. The worm population absolutely exploded in there. Anyone want some worms?

    I'm also food processing all my food, then freezing and feeding. This cut down the Black Soldier Fly to nothing. Only problem now is I have one rat regularly visiting and burrowing in for food, don't have the heart to kill him.
     
  12. PeterW

    PeterW Junior Member

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    'supply myself more regularly with horse manure'

    I wonder if cow manure would do as well? We have cows but no horses.
     
  13. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Brian recommends old horse manure as bedding and fresh cow manure as a super-food.

    We shall see what he says when he arrives.

    Edit: Horse manure is definitely more grassy and less digested than cow, probably works better as a bedding for this reason. Maybe cow manure with shredded paper would work.
     
  14. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Nice wet sloopy cow manure is one of the best foods you can feed. Just put it into small dollops across the surface or in a couple of lines about 100 mm wide and about 200 mm apart. Just before you do this dig over the surface to a depth of about 150 mm then put the manure in. Lightly water in, put the cover mat over the top and the worms will be into it within 24 hours..

    Horse manure is excellent if you want to breed up your numbers. It provides food and enough fibrous material for them to breed in. Autum and Spring are the worms main breeding seasons.

    I don't have any problems with bugs. I do have them in the farms but are considered part of a normal healthy farm. You could try digging over the bedding every couple of days and watering a couple of times a week. You should do this anyway. Usually bugs in great numbers are there for a food source so try feeding different foods for a while.Try dolomite over the surface and lighty water Then there is Diatomatious Earth Food Grade. Must be food grade. There is a link on my website to the Plant Doctor here on the Gold Coast who selll it. Can be ordered on line and they post. Use the D.E. dry and lightly sprinkle over the surface. This will not hurt the worms but will kill the bugs.

    You can try feeding Coprha, layers mash, pony pellets and pollard. You can mix them up or on their own but wet it down first so it is slpoppy and add some dolomite to it. Good luck
     
  15. PeterW

    PeterW Junior Member

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    Great suggestions - thanks specially to SOP and Brian. I'm going to be away for a week but I'll get all this in action as soon as I get back - then I'll report back.
     
  16. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Before you go Peter, I had another thought. The slaters would not like the light so take the lid off or cover mat if you have one on. When you come back see if they are gone. The worms will move down to where it s damp and away from the light so will be fine for a week. I see you are in Nimbin. Went there for a visit once, very interesting along with The Channon Markets.

    I am off to Adelaide this Wednesday so I to will be away for a few days
     
  17. PeterW

    PeterW Junior Member

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    I've tried the cow pooh solution, with dramatic results. I was somewhat unrestrained about it Brian, putting two small bucketfuls over the surface of my bathtub worm farm. Then I forked it in a bit, hosed it, and forked it and spread it a bit more when it was wet. The first surprise was that this produced an instant exodus of a few million earwigs. They just didn't like that at all: What? Bathe me in shit? NO THANK YOU! in the space of 1/2 hour there were hundreds of them all over the outside and the lid of the bath. Today, about a week later, there are hardly any earwigs left, and still a few slaters but far less than before. And when I went round inspecting beneath the surface of the sea of still wet manure, the worms were thick under just about every trowelful I picked up.

    This starts a new phase in worm farm management - we have 6 cows, so the supply of manure is enough for an industrial worm farm. One of the limitations so far has been the amount of waste produced by our 2-person household, not all that much. The throwouts from local cafes seemed a bit dubious, since I wasn't ever sure just what sort of rubbish had been chucked in there, e.g. cigarette butts etc. So as I said, the new phase starts now.

    Thanks for the advice.
     
  18. Adam

    Adam Junior Member

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    Just a note for the original post in this thread:

    In my own experience, starchy materials like bread, pasta, and rice tend to go moldy a lot quicker than any other type of food. When I first started worm composting (I have been worm composting indoors for nearly three years), I had mold problems on two occassions. Once was from stale bread I put in there, and another was from macaroni that had started to go bad. They molded over quite rapidly and the worms were all trying to get out of the bin, crawling up the side and whatnot.

    I have found that an easy way to prevent this is to avoid large amounts of starchy foods in your bin altogether. Small bits here and there will not be a problem, though.
     
  19. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    And to counter that, I've blended up whole loaves of bread, mixed with other organic matter and I've had no complaints. Outside though.

    Question: Leaf litter, grass, compost would be cheap, easily found food?
     
  20. Chris Willis

    Chris Willis Junior Member

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    Well, being the originator of this subject, I've learnt such a lot from everyone who have contributed, so thanks a heap :) Actually, the smelliness went away pretty quickly, and having added some cow poo certainly did get things happening, so thanks Brian for all your useful information. I had put in a heap of shredded paper as bedding but it went horribly lumpy and no happy worms around it....so I eventually got it removed. The question I want to ask now is....how do you sieve the worm castings, especially since it's damp, or do you leave it to dry out first? I have a Bunnings Worm Cafe with 3 levels and so far the worms are in 2 of them. The bottom layer looks well and truly free of food scraps....but they're still squirming around in it....more worms in the 2nd layer getting their way through food scraps. I'd be interested to know about the sieving if anyone can educate me :) Thanks a heap for all your help. Cheers!
     

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