Soldier Flies in My Red Wiggilers Worm Compost Bin

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by DanD, May 31, 2011.

  1. DanD

    DanD Junior Member

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    I set up a bathtub with poo, veggie scraps, and other veggie matter. When I checked on it today I found that the whole tub is PACKED with thousand and THOUSANDS of soldier flies!

    Normally, this would be free chicken food. However, my concern is that this has runied my worm casting making.. These things are eating a LOT and the compost worms cant eve get to fresh food before it gone..

    Will red wigglers and BSF live together ok?

    Can I place a window screen over the tub and wait for them to all die after they hatch into flies?

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. permup

    permup Junior Member

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    DanD,

    Flies in worm farms are a bit of a fact of life. The best way to reduce the problem is through prevention - ie not letting the buggers in in the first place. They will not harm your worms or stop them from feeding though. Ideally, your idea for a window screen is quite a good one because it will allow you to see when they are all dead before taking the screen off again. I suggest you cover the screen with a hessian bag or something similar, so that the worm farm remains dark and moist. The flies will die eventually but it may take a long time. Keep your worm farm rinsed well weekly.

    The other option is to sprinkle some dolomite lime onto the top of the worm farm. The flies won't like that very much at all and it won't hurt the worms. Let me know how you go.
     

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