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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