Hoshi
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A Fertile Cocoon
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underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/10/06 15:06
I posted a entry about how I dug a 2X8 foot hole, 1 foot deep, and loaded it with bedding to keep my wormies in there.
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time but, sometimes when I watered it with a soaker hose
(and forgot to turn it off), the pit got flooded and it did not go down until 1 day later. Good thing I had not bought the worms yet. Just think of the masacre that could have happened!
I removed all the bedding, and filled up the hole again with the dirt that came out of there. Now, I have all the bedding on top of the ground, where it belongs.
One good thing though was, the bedding being underground for a while helped to decompose it faster, in getting it all ready for the wormies.
I just wanted to let everyone know what happened to save time the trouble of trying it out themselves.
Good news is about a few weeks ago I bought the worms and added them. They seem very happy. I was all worried they they would not make it, since I did not have a clue what I was doing. I read a lot, but reading is not the same as doing.
I save up food in the frig in baggies and add to the worm pile on the weekends. They seem very active. All that worring for nothing.
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/10/28 22:11
Last week I started a raised 'worm bed'. It looks like a rectangular patch of ground walled up by hollow blocks. I prepared the bed as usual--leaves and kitchen waste. I added plastic corrugated sheets on top to protect the bed from rains and flooding. So far the worms are doing fine. My only problem is that a swarm of termites have decided to take up residence along with my African nightcrawlers. I don't know if this would wreak havoc to my wormbed. Would appreciate advice from anyone regarding termites in wormbeds!
Tricia
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redhen
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/10/29 16:20
Are you sure they are termites?
Susan Quinby-Honer
redhen@nc.rr.com
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/10/31 19:09
Yes, am sure they're termites. I saw the same critters munching down my wooden garden gate early this year. I had to physically scrape them off! They have white bodies and bulbous yellow-orange heads.
Any tips on how to get rid of them? Or should I worry about them at all? Thanks!
Tricia
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Bob Ingram
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/10/31 19:24
Tricia, this is the one area where I get a pest control company! They can ruin your home, outbuildings...anything containing wood. I'd worry about it! Seeya, Bob
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Kuznles
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/04 01:12
Apparently you used untreated wood to build your raised beds, that is why you have the termites. They won't hurt the worms, but like Bob said they can do a lot of damage to your property very quickly.
Get rid of the wood in the raised beds and use concrete blocks, They work well, outlast wood and won't draw the termites.
KuznLes
Kountrykuznworms.com |
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Judy
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/04 08:31
I would be interested in hearing what your pest control people say about the termites.
Termites that eat your house have some distinct behavior characteristics. They cannot stand light, so they build mud tunnels if they must go outside the wood or paper area. They will destroy wallboard as well as wood. (I don't suppose a termite mother perceives this as destruction)
They must have water frequently, and move from the food source back into the ground for water using the tunnels they build.
They will come up through cracks in cement to get at the walls, sneak behind brick veneer and slither over and around any unshielded area of your foundations. And we think mites in the worm bins are creepy! 
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/04 20:31
Thanks for the advice and info regarding termites.
Kuznles, I did use concrete blocks and not untreated wood. I think it was the moisture and the leaves that attracted the termites.
My only hesitation regarding termite crews is that they might end up killing the earthworms along with the termites.  I guess then that they'd have to be sacrificed...
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redhen
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/04 20:58
Wait..whoa..Maybe this should go to JudyAnn, as I just read her post and she seems to know a bit about termites. If ThePurplePumpkin did use concrete blocks, why would termites show up there, (unless, maybe, he/she put wood chips in the bin)? I have 2 large cinderblock bins and will be interested in this information.
Susan Quinby-Honer
redhen@nc.rr.com
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/04 21:06
Nope, I did not put any wood chips into the raised wormbin. 
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Kuznles
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/08 00:45
I don't understand how they would be termites. I live down here in termite teritory and have never had termites in my bins even the ones made from wood. If you have a raised bed with concrete blocks and no wood chips, I don't think the termites will stay in just leaves and paper or decomposing veggies. I have never seen any that weren't around wood. If I lay a piece of wood on the ground around here, within about a month it will have termites in it but only around wood and I have never had any in my bins. Are you sure they are termites?
KuznLes
Kountrykuznworms.com |
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/19 22:18
Yes, am sure they are termites. Like I said in an earlier post, the same critters were munching down my wooden garden gate. Maybe termites in your area behave differently from those in the tropics? 
I live in the Philippines.
Anyway, the last time I visited the bed to turn over its contents (which was like 2 or 3 weeks back), I noticed that the termites have disappeared. I guess there might have been something in the bed that attracted them earlier...perhaps a few fallen twigs mixed in along with the leaves. They must have left after exhausting that food supply.
Good news is that the worms in the bed are still doing okay.
Tricia
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Kuznles
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/20 20:41
Yep, they ought to do fine now Tricia. Don't know what the termites might have been doing, but glad to hear they are gone. Good Luck with the worms.
KuznLes
Kountrykuznworms.com |
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/21 06:19
Hi again.
Does anyone out there have any helpful advice on how I can harvest the compost from my raised wormbed?
The compost is just above the soil on the bottom of the bed. Do I scoop it out along with the worms and just put the worms back after? Any better ideas?
Thanks!
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Bob Ingram
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/21 09:01
Yes maam, you can do it that way, but it's a little labor intensive...you might also try laying a fine screen over part of the bed, put worms and compost on top in a fairly thin layer, and let the worms go down to escape the light leaving the vermicompost on top, then spread a new layer, then repeat the process...Seeya, Bob
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redhen
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/21 10:24
Bob's idea is a good one. I would get a piece of hardware cloth, (it's a 1/4" metal screening found at Home Depot/Lowes etc). Lay it across part of your bed. Dig up the other part and pile it thinly on top of the screen. Go find some other thing to do for about 5 minutes. The worms will crawl down through the screen, back into your bed, to avoid the light. Dump the screen into some kind of storage bin. Rubbermaid totes are good, but make sure you drill air holes in these bins, as this is a living material. This vermicompost can keep for years in these totes and will get even better with age. I have a few outdoor bins and when I want to harvest compost, I just stop feeding one end. In about 2 weeks the worms will have moved out and you can the just shovel it out to store or use. This is truly the least labor intensive way.
Susan Quinby-Honer
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Bob Ingram
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/21 13:12
Yes maam, but I'd go with something smaller than 1/4"..unfinished vermicompost is one thing, but finished castings would go right through 1/8" even.
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ThePurplePumpkin
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Re:underground worm bin is a bad idea! - 2005/11/22 06:50
Thanks for all the helpful advice
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