Brenda
User
A Juvenile Earthworm
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Re:Worms still dying - 2009/01/31 07:36
Thank you for the reply.
I started with a few that I bought from a bait seller, about 15-16 weeks ago. The bin was thriving then started dying a few days ago.
The bait cups I bought had many cocoons and some hatchlings, and the herd increased to several hundred thriving juveniles in addition to the 150 or so breeders. The breeders had laid hundreds of cocoons in the meantime.
I decided to give up and planned to put everything in my flower garden when I till it in a couple of weeks.
As an experiment, I put the entire herd into a small bin, with a larger bin under it. Those which crawled out, quickly burrowed into the new bin.
I added some fall leaves, filled it to the top with shredded paper and have left it as is since.
The rest were tossed into a large cardboard box containing more fall leaves, a dozen or so Candians and the remains of plants which didn't survive a surprise freeze: mostly aloe.
There were several dozen reds that didn't crawl out of the small bin, so I dumped all into the cardboard biox. They were in a ball when I dumped them, except for a few dead ones.
Most of them burrowed down, so some may survive.
I'd planned to give the cardboard contents a quick sort, remove the uncomposted materials and put the rest in my flower bed when I prepare it in a couple of weeks.
I may pluck out the survivors and start a new bin for them, just to see what happens.
Poor things. I wish I knew what happened. I did see a few tiny insects: some white, some a reddish color. My first instinct was 'spider mites', but I'm not sure. I don't know if they were the problem or not.
I will continue to leave the plastic bins alone: just mist if either bin becomes obviously dry.
Many Thanks once again.
Bren
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