jenjameslyn
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A Fertile Cocoon
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maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/17 13:19
I work for an afterschool program that has worm bins at three elementary schools- the kids love them, and I have found the forum archives so helpful in answering my questions, and my students' questions about our worms. I have a couple concerns I haven't found int eh archives, so I'm hoping someone can help.
Background: We started the bins in late October- they are plastic bins, with ventilation on the sides, and holes in the bottom. The bin stands on little feet in a tray I fill with water. The bottom of the bin (inside) is covered with a black plastic mat. The bedding is newspaper. Each bin started with a pound of red wigglers. The temp in the middle of the bedding is usually about 69 degrees.
The kids feed the worms food scraps from meals a couple times a week- mostly this means apple slices, celery, the occasional banana peel or orange rind, and pizza crusts. The worms get about 6-8 oz of food a week. They have seemed generally happy and healthy, eating, active, traveling around the sides of the bin.
When I brought the worms home for Christmas break, I noticed that the worms in one of the bins were all congregated in big clumps under the mat at the bottom of the bin. I pulled them out, put them on top of the bedding, left the light for about an hour as they wiggled and burrowed like crazy, then covered the bedding with a damp towel and put the lid on, guessing that they were hanging out under the mat because the bedding was too dry.
Today, when I opened that bin and removed the towel, there were some worms in the bedding and some worms under the mat, but they all seemed sluggish- didn't react quickly to the light, didn't burrow when I moved them from under the mat to the top of the bin. They also seemed pale. There are some grapes and apples in the bin, so there's food available. The newspaper was much moister than last time, so I removed the wet towel, thinking perhaps they were too moist. I also turned the heat up in my house- the temp in the bins is much lower now that I have them here, more like 60-62 degrees.
There's no odor- so I'm assuming I don't have a worm death issue happening. Usually when I open the bins there are some on the sides and lid, but this time there were none- maybe because of the towel?
Are my worms slow and pale because they were too wet? Too cold? Maybe they are fine and I am just too concerned! But since the kids are so invested in the worm project, I want to be sure all's well with our bins-- otherwise, I will have to explain to sad children what happened to our worms!
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks- Jen!
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redhen
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/17 21:18
Hi Jen..Is there any smell? They could be just adjusting to the different temperatures. The best temps would be more 70-75 degrees F
The bin stands on little feet in a tray I fill with water. The bottom of the bin (inside) is covered with a black plastic mat. I do not know of a bin with a tray that you fill with water. I also do not know about plastic mats covering the bottom. Even without me knowing about this kind of set up, if your worms were doing well in the classroom, then my first guess would be a temperature change. The cooler it gets, the slower the worms will get.
I have done many class room set-ups. What I could encourage you to do, being you are in charge of the bin, is to keep a journal of the temperatures, food added and other observations. Then no matter what happens over break, you will have information to look at and study. All will not be lost and you all will have a great learning experience. Keep us updated and ask lots of questions, as they arise.
(Worms "congregating" is usually a sign of stress. That could come just from moving and they should settle in a few days)
Susan Quinby-Honer
redhen@nc.rr.com
Starve the Landfill...Feed the Earth. |
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jenjameslyn
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A Fertile Cocoon
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/18 12:09
Nope, no smell.
The bins are both still about 60 degrees today, and I am moving them to a warmer spot in my house in hopes that will help.
In one of the bins, some worms are congregating under the mat but most of the worms are massed around the food (rotting banana- always a hit.) In the other bin, there are still a lot of worms under the mat, a few are massed around the apples, and there were probably 50-75 up on the sides and lid. They still seemed slow and less responsive than the other bin- but I think removing the towels must have helped some, as I'm seeing more movement.
The tray functions as a sort of moat to keep ants (and I suppose other critters) out of the bin. So the water in the tray isn't actually entering the bin. I think the mat is intended to keep the worms from going out the holes in the bottom of the bin, and ending up in the moat or on the floor-- though since they seem to like being under the mat, and they're still not going out the bottom holes, I'm not sure how necessary the mat is. Maybe they would be better off without the mat, as it would encourage them to move around the bin more?
We do keep a record sheet of what and how much we feed the worms, where in the bin the food is, what the temp is, and general observations about the worms (this is the kids favorite part). I'm continuing the record sheets while I have the worms over break-- one of our goals is to track how much food waste the worms eat - we're doing monthly totals, and then we'll figure out a grand total when we harvest the castings and plant our garden in the spring.
No matter what happens, it's a good learning experience, and as long as we have healthy worms in one of the three bins, I can always divide that population and start the bins again, I suppose, so long as I know how we went wrong!
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Kuznles
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/19 00:42
Yep, it sure sounds like the worms are being stressed a little from the temperature change making them slow down, everything else sounds pretty normal. Is the plastic mat in the bottom solid, or has it got holes. I have used the mulch type fabric on the bottom of a few plastic bins and it worked pretty good, it is much finer than screen and still lets air in and water out. If the plastic is solid, it may be stopping air flow through the bin, that may explain them going under it.
KuznLes
Kountrykuznworms.com |
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jenjameslyn
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A Fertile Cocoon
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/21 11:58
The worms are now in my living room, and the temp in the bins is more like 65-70 degrees. I'm seeing worms on the sides when I open the bins, and they seem to be clumping more around the bottom edges, rather than under the mat. They also seem more responsive, which I assume is a result of the warmer temps.
I have found a couple dead ones on the floor- but the living room is a high traffic area, so they may be less stressed by temperature but more stressed by vibration and movement.
The mat is denser and more plastic-y to the touch than the landscape-type fabrics I've worked with in my garden (the tight weave that lets water through but keeps weeds from sprouting). The guide booklet the bin came with doesn't actually say anything about the mat or what it's made of. I'm tempted to pull it out and see how permeable it is- it's hard to get a sense for it when it's in the bottom of the bin. But I don't want to stress the worms more- so for now, I'm going to just keep monitoring the temp and hoping they don't mind the living room traffic!
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Judy
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A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2005/12/28 07:50
That mat thing bothers me. I have tried lining bins with screens to keep the worms in and it just seemed to challenge them. Once I had some go out the bottom holes to set up housekeeping UNDER the bin in the bedding they took with them. If there is some light space between the bottom of the bin and the moat, they probably wouldn't go out that way. Only a few foolish ones overcome by gravity. Other escapees will try to go out ""over the wall"". The moat is probably to dilute fluids from the bin.
When Life Gives You Scraps, Make A Quilt. |
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wellsworms
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2006/02/25 08:38
I have tried lining bins with screens to keep the worms in and it just seemed to challenge them. Once I had some go out the bottom holes to set up housekeeping I never [last two months]
have had any escapeies 
hot glue the screens inplace. hope this helps  after the screen were installed they just layed around in their prison stripes
FEED IT TO THE WORMS
WELLS,vermont
jerry walker 2008 |
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Bob Ingram
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A Protected Species Earthworm
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Re:maybe my worms are too cold? or too wet? - 2006/02/26 08:19
Yessir, Jerry, that works if conditions are right, however, like Judy Ann, I've seen em go through screen, even through joints on wood bins. If a worm wants out, it's almost impossible to keep em in without having a totally airtight bin. Kelly Slocum once said, the only way to keep worms in is by creating 'Worm Heaven' rather than 'Worm Hell'...makes since. You're obviously doing a good job. Seeya, Bob
www.trinity-ranch.com |
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