ekandre
User
A Fertile Cocoon
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why did my worms all die? - 2008/05/22 20:07
hi. i just bought a purpose-made worm farm with plastic tiers and a drain spigot. i put a square of weed barrier cloth on the bottom to keep the worms from falling through and then added a brick-worth of soaked and wrung-out coconut coir. i immediately afterward added one pound of red worms that i ordered through the mail. i gently separated the clumps of worms and they all seemed to be active and healthy.
i did not wait a day (as recommended) to feed them (because i was so excited). i gave them about four cups of vegetable waste cut into small pieces and some crushed egg shells.
i did not, however, add any fine sand.
i did not leave a light on them for a few days as recommended, i just put the lid on and put them in the pantry.
the next morning there were lots of worms collected on the underside of the lid where there was some condensation. i gently put them all back in the coir.
i thought maybe i should have let the light on them for a while, so i took the lid off the bin and set it outside of the pantry in bright light (but not direct sunling). all the worms buried themselves back in the coir.
at night i put the lid back on and put them back in the pantry.
i did this for a few days, and would occasionally stir the coir gently with my hands to bury the veggie scraps and look at the worms.
after a few more days i fed them about a cup or two more.
then i left them for about a week.
i found about fifteen or so dried up dead worms on the floor inside the pantry. then when i looked under the lid, i didn't see any movement and saw only five or six dead worm bodies on the top of the coir and when i dug around in the bedding, i didn't see more than a couple dead worms.
i am wondering why they died.
it was not too wet (maybe a little more dry than a wrung-out sponge).
it was not too hot (the house remained cool and the food was not heating up from composting action)
i did not add anything acidic like citrus or coffee grounds.
could it have been the fact that i did not add sand for their digestion?
or could it have been that there was too little air circulation because of the weed barrier on the bottom and the fact that the farm was kept inside the pantry?
could the worms have been sick when they were delivered?
could it have been that i fed them too early or too much?
could it have been chlorine from the tap water i used to soak the coir?
any other ideas? i would really like to try this again, but i don't want to kill another pound of red worms.
if i do order new worms, can i just put them in the same bedding, or will i need to change it?
thanks for any advice.
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