Wet and thick.

I've been doing the whole vermicomposting thing for about a year now, and i've consistently had the same problem: the compost is always really wet and really thick. Additionally, there are always tons of little flies (which, thanks to this forum, i realize are just a part of the ecosystem). I just use a rubbermaid bin with a bunch of holes drilled in it. The first time i harvested the compost, i drilled a lot more holes in it to let more air circulate, and the second time I harvested, I drilled even more holes to see if that helps, and it doesn't. I've tried leaving the lid partially open, and that successfully dries out the newspaper bedding, but the compost itself is still super moist (and smelly!). I recently stopped adding food to the bin so the worms could fully process everything that was in there and see if maybe that helped, and all I've gotten is skinny worms; the compost is still really thick and wet (and smelly!).

please help!

Hule, I'm afraid that I can't be much help, but I will be interested to hear any advice that is offered, because I am having the same problems; the vermicompost in my multi-bin system is always heavy and wet. The newspaper in the top bin tends to get dry, but the compost never does. Is it really supposed to be dry and crumbly? If so, I must be doing something wrong.

well, from all the videos I've seen, it seems like it's supposed to be crumbly at least. This just sticks together in huge clumps. I just put a ton of paper in there, and mixed it all together to see if maybe that will help, rather than having the paper exclusively on top of everything. I'll let you know if it works.

I had two Rubbermaid tubs with worms for several years. I'm trying to visualize what you are talking about. I never had any wet or smelly medium. To get it wet, something is putting excess moisture or water in. Are you adding a lot of vegetables or fruit that are full of moisture (like watermelon)? I just took 1 to 2 inch strips of newspaper (torn top to bottom). I wet them, then squeezed them to almost dry and alternated some vegetable scraps with the damp newspaper in layers up to about 2/3 full as I recall. I often didn't have many vegetable scraps and would cut the ends of maple tree branches (a lot of them!) and run my lawn mower over them to shred the green leaves into to the mower bag. I guess it made maple syrup for the worms because they did fine on it. Corn husks would be good too. My worms did just fine for the two years I lived there. I left them when I sold mu house and moved away.

I think I would tear a lot of newspaper strips and put them in DRY to absorb some of the moisture and stop feeding for at least a week. You will have to take the medium out and put about 2" deep layer of it back in followed by the 1" dry news paper strips that look like about 2" deep when you put them in - it would be probably 10 newspaper pages torn into the strips. (just guessing- more is better than less). Don't throw away the wet stuff you have, just let it dry out some.

I just noticed that 239elaine said she put the papers on top. I read a lot of different instructions and they all talked about layering. Newspaper on top isn't going to do anything.

I will be interested in what happens (and what others say on this thread). Good luck,

Paul

Hule, you still have the wetness problem?
I wondered how much water you add and how often. I've had this happen to me once or twice, after removing worms and eggs from it I had left it open in sun for a day to dry out, mixing it regularly to get air in. I do mix my castings these days with equal part fine sand and perlite. This also makes it less moist and a real nice soil to work with, use it for house plants too.
Like to hear what happened.
Coby

Hule, many years ago I started out using shredded newspaper which I soaked for 24 hours in warm water before draining. I never liked this material and after going to peat moss I would never go back to newspaper. Peat moss can be soaked in warm water and the excess water removed with a six inch aquarium net. I do not poke holes in my plastic tubs and use a blender with lots of water to feed my worms once a week. I keep a four foot flourscent above my four bins and never place a cover over them. At feeding time I remove up to an inch of the dried spent media from the tops of the bins and dig trenches for the blended food, adding a couple of handsful of fresh peat moss to replace that which has been removed. The removed material is saved for germinating seedlings and potting mixes. Some people don't like peat moss or peat pots because they claim it is too difficult to maintain proper mositure. I dissagree. I believe peat moss and peat pots are the easiest material to gage moisture content of the media. Come people use choir and feel that works as well as peat moss. Never tired it myself but would agree that either material is worth the expense.

morgan

I agree with mraider3, I used peatmoss and only just few months ago bought (online) 2 huge blocks of coir (coconut). The worms are supposed to like that better. Both stay damp really well. I mix them together now. I use only shredded damp newspaper on top, just to "close off" the food so no other buggies are een thnking of going in there but the worms eat it too. I have a closed bin though with airholes; it came with 2 sheets of thin weedpreventer cloth, that helps also in keeping flies etc. out.
Worms are doing great!

TulipLady, may give coir a try sometime. How does the price compare to the peatmoss, and do you see any advantages in mixing the coir with peatmoss? Since I use as much as half of my vermiculture media in the spring for potting up various plants I would be curious as to how this would compare as a potting mix. For vermiculture purposes I go through about three large bails each year and the cost now exceeds $10 each for the largest package or bail. There is some cotton grown in Montana so finding a local resource may be possible.

Mraider3, I'm trying to find out how much I paid for my coco-coir early 2010 but cannot find it. I bought 2 blocks of each 5kg, bought at earthworks.com. I'm now almost (at least 4 more trays worth) done with 1st block! The stuff expands like crazy, takes up therefor less space than huge bags of peatmoss. I do work into my soil also, for houseplants or outside plants (in ground or pots). It is a wonderful medium! Reason I'm mixing it up now is that I had suddenly millions of white springtails in the worm box. It didn't seem to bother the worms very much, but it bothered me. In the Fall I bought a Amarillis set, you know bulb and medium kind of thing, turns out the medium is also coconut coir. And low and behold coming December I have little creeping, jumping things in my pot. Amarillis was beautifull but it gave me reason to believe that they occur in coir. So I went back to my original medium: peatmoss; it was fine, no springtails. My second tray mixed peatmoss with little coir; it was fine. My 3rd tray now is 50/50 and is still fine. So, there is no scientific meaning to this I just didn't care for the millions of litle springtails in my worm tray.
I usually prepare it a day before I need to change trays (I have a 3 tier system btw). I break or cut a piece of coir from the block of about 5x5", add luke warm water to it and it expands to a full tray or more of medium. I use a deep plastic tray (like you use for hand wash clothes or dishes), make sure it gets all wet, mix around well and the next day I pour out which has not been absorbed.
I'm just a small vermicomposter , worms eat 1Lb p/week, but I clean out the tray every 3 to 4 weeks and have a nice soil. And yes, it is natural product so I use in my garden without any reservation.
Hope this answers your question? Good luck.

i started using some coir in my worm bins.. now i use almost all shredded up cardboard.. i get it free.. im cheap..LOL :)
the coir took longer for the worms to break down too.. but they do like it..
in the gardens..where ive added coir..the worm population is big.. plus i have alot of homemade compost in there
too..
i buy my coir from cali U.S. orchid supply.. last yr i bought 20 big 2KG bales.. this yr..i'll probably buy
40 bales.. im sold on it..
shipping is the killer.. Tuliplady.. i would think down in atlanta..you could find a source in texas or florida so shipping
wouldnt be alot..???

Yea I guess I will check around again but since 1 5kg block took me so long to finish and I still have one, I am not in a great hurry. But will def check it out. They do like it, also I top the food off with shredded newspaper (no color pages) and dampen it.
Tropicalnut what kind of worm bins do you have, you use a lot of coir in 1 year.

I am no expert and I may be way off base but when my plants soil stays wet it is because of bugs. I spray the top of the soil with soap and water or sprinkle a little Diatomaceous earth on top, it kills the bug and life is happy again for the plant. Could it be the spider mite and flies that keeps the composter to moist?

I have had great success with both cardboard and wood pulp products. By wood pulp products I mean egg cartons and trays, fastfood drink trays and the wrap-around hotcup holders. I get flats of egg trays from a local restaurant. They are free and they break down very easily. If your bin get too wet, just mix some in to absorb the moisture. They don't tend to clump like newspaper.

I use similar bedding to Coach-Grumpy (how did you get that name?). I ,too, have noticed that the newspaper tends to clump but the cardboard, toilet paper tubes and egg cartons leave air space in the bin. I add some food every other day, but once a week I give my worms "worm candy"-- I fill a 5 gal. bucket with my bedding and then add one of those clear plastic bags you put your produce in at the grocery store filled with vegies (which I have frozen) and coffee grounds. I mix them up during the week so that the bedding absorbs the liquid from the vegies and the coffee grounds have a chance to cool down. I spread it over the top of the bin. The worms love it. This makes enough for 3 bins so you can adjust amount to fit your situation.

I have not had any problem with stinky bins. My castings are sticky but after I've sieved them they're dark, loose particles. Bentley just posted a good video on this subject on his website: redwormcomposting.com

I put dry cardboard or newspaper at the bottom of the bin (where it's wet). Then I replace it with another dry cardboard or newspaper the following day. As for the wet one, I air dry it. That helps in drying out the bottom. So no, my bins rarely stink now (except when I overfeed and I'm trying to be more behaved). Anyway, my drying attempts go on for about a week and then I can harvest the vemicompost. It'll still be a little moist, but it doesn't clump together like mud.

My first batch was large clumps too and so I made tea out of it. I decided that too much paper was causing the clumps. I use a homemade Rubbermaid device and had put lots of strips of newspaper in it to start and I had continually added coffee filters from my morning coffee and more shredded newspaper. Now I am not adding any more newspaper. I am adding strips of my used coffee filters. (There is no good reason to add the coffee grounds, other than the worms like them; grounds can be added directly to the landscape.) I put a large sheet of wet corrugated cardboard over the bedding. If the worms get really hungry, they start on the cardboard. But otherwise, it works like a layer of shredded newspaper. I put the new compost under the shredded coffee filters under the cardboard. I think this is working better.

I'm no expert infact just getting started and haven't even got my worms yet but just one question. Are you using a single bin or are you using double bins and allowing the tea to drain into the second bin and draining that off. If its holding to much water try building a false bottom and then keeping the tea drained off.

Please consider what you compost. What goes in comes out. When composting for consumption news paper,cardboard contains toxins which are carcinogens. Try to trace the origins of what to compost. Composting some manures contain wormers that are very dangerous. Also consider what worms to use.
CAUTION IN BUYING THESE WORMS,Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms,
Eisenia foetida

Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms,This is why we
with any non-native species, it is important not to allow them to reach the wild. Their voracious appetites and reproductive rates (especially among the red wigglers) have been known to upset the delicate balance of the hardwood forests by consuming the leaf litter too quickly. This event leaves too little leaf letter to slowly incubate the hard shelled nuts and leads to excessive erosion as well as negatively affecting the pH of the soil. So, do your best to keep them confined!


CAUTION IN BUYING THESE WORMS,Eisenia foetida, or"European Night crawlers."are non native worms,
Eisenia foetida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eisenia fetida, known under various common names, including redworms, brandling worms, tiger worms and red wiggler worms, are a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material. They thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure; they are epigeal. They are rarely found in soil, instead like Lumbricus rubellus they prefer conditions where other worms cannot survive. They are used for vermicomposting. They are native to Europe, but have been introduced (both intentionally and unintentionally) to every other continent except Antarctica, occasionally threatening native species.
Google the story of Hongkongwillie

Use a native worm from your region. Thanks Hongkongwillie.