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Boardwalk :: Forum List Six (6) New Worm Digest Forums 1) General Earthworm Discussion Forum
Phil K
User

A Fertile Cocoon
Posts: 5
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 Worm bin too hot - 2006/08/14 20:14 Hello everyone. This is my first post. I looked around the previous posts and didn't find an answer that applied to my situation. Maybe someone here can help.

For the last two months I've been using an Earth Machine composting bin for my worms. It is now about two-thirds full. Since our family are vegans, a huge amount of fruits and vegetables go into the bin daily. Originally, the bedding consisted of newpaper, coconut fiber and straw. About once a week I add more wet newspaper and straw. The compost gets so hot that it steams and no worms are near the surface. The worms also do not seem anywhere near as plentiful as they were. They cannot escape since the bin sits on plywood and I placed a 4" plastic pipe with holes down the middle of the bin to cool off the pile. Are there other suggestions for keeping the bin cool?

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.
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Marshall
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A Protected Species Earthworm
Posts: 138
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/08/14 20:22 Phil,

It sounds like you are adding too much food at one time and it is overheating. Try adding less. I use a crock with a lid to store vegetable scraps and it is mostly mushy by the time it gets to the worms and doesn't usually heat up.

Marshall Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill
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Phil K
User

A Fertile Cocoon
Posts: 5
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/08/14 20:32 Thanks Marshall for the reply.

How long do you let the vegetable scraps sit in the crock? I have read that rotting food scraps in a closed container will generate anaerobic bacteria and this is not good for woms bins.
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mihardy
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A Hatchling Earthworm
Posts: 18
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/08/14 21:48 Sounds like your poor worms are getting Try not feeding them for good while and give them some coarse sand or coarse dirt to help them grind up some the huge amount of food u have been feeding them. You might have to put you're extra scraps in regular compost pile for a while. You could try an outdoor bin on the ground;its alot more forgiving
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redhen
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A Protected Species Earthworm
Posts: 686
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/08/14 22:48 Earth Machines are designed for "hot" composting. Vermicomposting is not hot but "cold" composting. I have an old Earth Machine and I could never make it work as it was designed, perhaps because I am just too lazy to do the work involved. That fact is also most likely what led me to vermicomposting, where the worms do the work and I just add the food.
My Earth Machine now is full of worms. It sits in contact with the ground and I never added worms. I just add food and leaves and ...viola!
From the sounds of what you are doing, most people who compost would envy the heat created in that compost bin.
Worms, however, cannot live in that heat and unless you were to move it to be in contact with the ground, (and the worms could leave until the heat cools off), they will not survive there. Susan Quinby-Honer
redhen@nc.rr.com
Starve the Landfill...Feed the Earth.
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pixelphotographer
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A Hatchling Earthworm
Posts: 11
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/10/11 20:28 straw is nitrogen and gets hot quick in the composting process try reducing or leaving out the straw all together for starters.
and yes you can over feed your worms.
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marc rassbach
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A Juvenile Earthworm
Posts: 35
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/10/14 09:16 Please provide a reference for straw being a Nitrogen source.
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pixelphotographer
User

A Hatchling Earthworm
Posts: 11
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/10/15 13:01 Marc Rassback asked me to please provide a reference for straw being a Nitrogen source.
LOL Never been asked that one before.
But to help you out Google Composting.

What I meant to say was.
Straw is a Carbon source
Hay would be a Nitrogen Source.
Thats what I get for not reading close enough.
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wellsworms
User

A Protected Species Earthworm
Posts: 523
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 Re:Worm bin too hot - 2006/10/17 13:39 go here to download a good compost content calculator it should answer your questions http://www.gmt-organic.com FEED IT TO THE WORMS
WELLS,vermont
jerry walker 2008
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Boardwalk :: Forum List Six (6) New Worm Digest Forums 1) General Earthworm Discussion Forum

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