Worm bin question

I started the "cheap and easy" worm bin last week and so far have not found any dead worms, but they are trying to escape. Every morning I go out and find some of them on the sides of the bin and it looks like they are leaving castings where they are crawling. I added some more bedding and moved them into our cabin where it's warmer. I know they have plenty of food but now I don't know why they want to leave. Any suggestions? Maybe I should just keep putting them back in the bottom of their new house and let them settle in.

Hmmm. Mine never tried to escape. Is the bedding damp enough? Are there enough holes for them to get plenty of air? Also, I've read they do NOT like thunderstorms and kind of panic. Is it raining where you are?

I think the bedding is plenty wet, did you use newspaper? Do you think they could have been cold-- today I moved the bin to our cabin(the dog sleeps in her crate there too-- so much for quests) I really want these little guys to live, picked them out of the compost bin so I could harvest the castings. Doggone it!! What did you use to make yours? Winter hasn't started here yet, but nights have been pretty cold.

They really like temperatures around the 70s. Mine were in the pantry in the house. That may be the problem -- they may be seeking warmth. I used shredded newspaper in opaque plastic walmart bins, and a whole sheet of newspaper directly on top of the whole "mess".

Sorry to be so late replying. How are they doing?

brig, there seems to be fewer trying to escape every day, I just put them back down where they belong. Yesterday I made some of the vent holes bigger, added some more bedding and fed them a bit more. I'm giving it the old college try.They are now in our little cabin and I keep the temp around 65 out there. I hope this works, I usually buy castings at a rabbitry near by (she grows worms under the hutches) but she wants to go out of business and I love to have them for my garden. I have a piece of cardboard on top of the bin, maybe I should switch to newspaper too.Thanks for your help. I'll let you know what's happening.
Jacquie

I have not got my worms yet, but I remember reading somewhere to leave a bright light on because the worms are not suppossed to like light and they should dig down and after a week or so that they would settle down and then you could turn off the light. I do not know for sure, but you might try it if they are in the house now. Take care, Mike

This morning when I went to check on the worms they were still in the bottom of the box, and I think they are all survivors. I didn't see any dead ones and they seem to be congragating on the food. Mike-- what are you going to use for a bin?I think I could use a light above the bin, if they continue their attempt to escape, I'll try that. My DH is getting such a kick out of this, he could never have pictured me growing worms, guess we change as we grow older. This is such fun!

Hi dguimo. I am thinking about digging a hole about two feet deep in a space about three feet by ten feet close to my primary garden area and backfilling different areas of it with different stuff as I know very little about worms. I was thinking about putting fine tilled clay soil back in one portion, horse manure in one portion, and different mixtures of both along with table scraps and such in others and just hope that they like something. I would also put 4x4's aroud the top and fill dirt up to the top. I am also thinking about a FIVE BIN WORM COMPOSTER/tea maker on Ebay for about $75 plus shipping. I have already bought one pound of three different types of worms (should arrive this week) on Ebay and am hoping one of the three will like my soil (hardpan clay). I had a lake house on Lake Tawakani in East Texas that I sold to my aunt. We had some kind of earthworm there that was huge and they were just under the leaves (early summer), did not even have to dig for them. I might try to get some of those also. Take care, Mike

Hi Mike,Thought I'd tell you what I do in the garden early each Fall to attract earth worms to my garden beds. After I tear out the tomatoes and other 'stuff", I turn the soil with a fork, rake it level and top it with manure and then a thick layer of straw. The first year I did this, I was amazed to see the worms that had come there during the winter. I think the food I provided combined with the straw was just the right environment they needed to stay happy. When I first started my garden the soil was nothing but clay, weeds didn't even grow there. It's taken a few years of adding tons of compost and manure and other organic elements, but the soil is wonderful now. I have 4 compost bins out behind the garden and I keep them going all year. They are full of red worms and when I empty a composter, I sieve them out and move them to another one, just to keep them going. Their population is growing like mad, but I wanted just a worm bin so I could harvest the castings. Let me know if you buy the worm bins on E-Bay, sounds interesting.

Sorry for the delayed response to your question, but sometimes what kind of food I put in the bin will cause them to crawl out. For example, if I put too much moldy bread in at one time, they head toward the top of the bin as the mold growth rapidly increases. I'm not certain if the mold is directly responsible, or if it's creating spot heating, or if it is just consuming oxygen faster than it can be replenished through the small air vents. At any rate, if I remove the top for a few minutes daily even if I don't have something to add to the bin, it seems to help.

I've also noted that my worms really don't like cilantro scraps, and will crawl as far away as possible from them until the cilantro decomposes. I no longer add cilantro to the bin.

Hi all, dguimo I bought the worms on EBAY, red, european, and african. The red seemed to be the most active, so if I get more I will probably get those again. I dug about a 10'x15' area about a foot deep and added alot of horse manure and leaves. I made it about a foot higher than it was originally and surrounded it with landscaping timbers and covered it with a tarp. I put most of the red worms there and then I put some in one of my compost piles and then in a few places around my main garden area. I also put the other worms in sections of the garden away from each other so hopefully they will multiply. I surrounded my 10x15 redworm area with that diametrese(not sure of the spelling and I aint going outside to look at the bag) earth to hopefully deter ants. I have not even lifted the tarp to look since I put them out almost a month ago, but hopefully they are doing okay. I have been trying to get a better chicken house built before it gets cold, but after I framed the four walls, I gave up and my wife got her contractor to take over which is pretty close to completion. I kind of feel sorry for the wildlife around here since I apparantly fed them with my caneloupes during the summer and my two surviving chickens will be almost predator proof once the house is completed along with a bathroom vent/light /heater mounted under a roof vent. I have been toying with the idea of screening in the whole coop area since I lost most to an owl and the last one was to a hawk. Sorry for getting so longwinded as I know this ain't the chicken forum. Take care, Mike

I love my worms, I have thousands in one of my compost bins, but I wanted to keep some in this worm bin because I want the castings when I plant in the spring. I know the ones outside in the composter will hibernate for the winter, but these little guys are thriving in their bin (about 68 degrees). Yesterday I found a bunch of them trying to get out and discovered that the wet cardboard on the top was getting moldy, so I replaced it with newspaper sheets. Don't know if this will matter or not. Mike, how do you like the worm bin you bought on E-bay? If this bin I have going is successful I may try one of the good ones. I'd like to be able to put all of my kitchen "trimmings" in there, it's a long walk to the compost bins in the winter. When there is too much snow I just keep bags of stuff in the garage and add it when I can get out there, I'm sure not going to put in down the disposable.

Hi dquimo, I did not by the worm bin, not sure if I will. I just made a large hole with a variety of materials to let them choose their environment. Today is our first freeze, and it is snowing right now. Who knows, we could get a whole inch this year lol. We had to chase down our chickens (all two of them) last night in the rain to put them in their new house. My son waited until they were roosting so they would be easy to get, but they took off. Me and my wife chased them with flashlights in the cold rain. What are you planning to grow in the spring? Take care, Mike

Snow!!!---yuck We had a dusting Sunday and it has been freezing cold-- the rest will be here soon enough- can you tell I don't like it? lol I usually have a fairly big garden - tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans (I'll plant sugar snap peas early) eggplant,swiss chard, basil (have to make pesto) squash- several kinds, chives, parsley and a lot of flowers. I truly love my garden, I always say it's my therapy, keeps me going.
You take care too, Jacquie

Do you get cucumber beetles on your garden? I had the spotted ones bad last year. I was wondering what really works on them but want hurt the lady beetles. My burpless bush cucumbers did well early last year and then they got that fusarium wilt from the cuc beetles. My other cucumbers(not sure what kind) must have been resistant to the fus wilt as they kept living even though they had the beetles too. I heard another cold front is suppossed to be coming through today, even though I do not think the other one has left yet. We need some freeze days to help kill bugs as I do not think they all died last winter. I don't think we had enough cold days for most kinds of apples to produce fruit last year, at least I hope that is why I did not have any. Last year was my first year to make a garden on my own and my second year to have fruit trees. I did two gardens last year making a total of a little more than a quarter of an acre. This year I am probably going to do one and it will be smaller. Could not keep up with all the watering, bugs, and weeds. We had more hundred degree days than normal and I think it was our third year of drought. Talk to you later, Mike

Mike, we really don't have cucumber beatles, not that I know of anyway,or snails ,slugs, horn worms, or a lot of other critters. We live at 4000' altitude and I think that has something to do with it, never see a flea, but we have to watch our animals for ticks, there are so many deer here.And, we do get a few feet of snow over the winter. If you mulch pretty thick, you won't get a lot of weeds, at least I don't and I mulch like crazy. My apple trees are pretty new also, had 4 Gala's this year, am hoping for more next year.I think they take a few years to produce much.I'm going to plant a pear this year, they grow very well here. Today is pretty nice, about 42, so I'm off to plant some more bulbs. Have a good week-end.Jacquie

Hi Jacquie, I have two pear trees also. I almost lost them to fire blight ( might not be a problem there), I think the only thing that can help that is bordeaux powder. Pretty flat around here. I probably could not breath well in that altitude, which my alergies are pretty bad here without the altitude. Take care, Mike