Vermicomposting fly troubles

My first bin was a large 35 gallon rubbermaid, I drilled holes in it and man did the flies grow. I bought a few tubs of red wrigglers from the bait shop. I added some screening material and that helped but doesn't keep the flies out, those few dozen worms died.

I ordered a pound of red wrigglers and built some worm bins,

This time I used 20 gallon buckets and layered them, I drilled holes along the top, added screening material. I really thought I was making them fly proof. Used caulking around the edges of the lids to seal where they stacked. I drilled about a 100 3/16" holes in the bottoms of the top 2 and the next to the bottom bin has larger holes w/ screening material. Very bottom is solid.

Many worms were ending up drowned in the bottom bin so I added newspaper (no food scraps) to it so they wouldn't drown.

I have all of this under a shade tarp. My family creates quite a bit of food scrap - watermelon rind, corn on the cob just last nights dinner.

Any ways, I hope this isn't all too much for one post, but does any one else have a problem w/ flies? Any succesful way to keep them out? Do I have to get a $100 worm bin to make it succesful? I'm afraid the worms won't survive w/ the infestation of maggots I saw in their the other day.

Hi, RJ-Hythloday
I don't know if I can help, but I have 18 gal plastic tubs, Also with holes in top and bottom, When I change or start a new tub, I put about 3-4 inches of newspapers that I ran through the paper shredder, I get it wet and ring out the extra water. Before I add my worms I put food in one side, and add more wet newspapers over the top. Next week I have add the worms, pull the top newspaper back, add worms, put newspaper back over the top. I have never seen any flies yet. Once I had two fruit flies, I just add more wet newspaper, they went else where? I have 2 tubs going at once down stairs in the basement, The first year my wife didn't know I had worms. I hope I gave you some ideas to help you. flip

Thanks flip, I've been using shredded brown paper grocery bags. I think the stacking is part of my problem. Maybe I need to cover the top w/ more paper to not attract the flies.

My problem is adding food every day, is it just too much? Maybe I should get one of those tumbler composters in addition to the worm bins.

I also think part of the problem is just being outside. I don't have a basement and the neighborhood has had fly problems the last few years any way before I started composting. It just seems to be inviting them now.

Does any one know if the flies will kill the worms, or if they'll be ok?

I was reading some other threads, sounds like I've got too much produce for my new worms. I do have a few dozen brown paper bags shredded and soaked in there, as well as some dirt from an earlier compost pile I was turning. I'll have to stop adding food to this one for now.

My main concern is about the flies. Do I need to try and rescue the worms I have and put in a new bin(more fly proof) or will they be ok?

This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 10:37 AM

This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 2:13 PM

sounds like right now you do have too much produce for your size bin mine are 55 gallon drums cut in half and I have no fly problems even though they are heavy around the house. Also are you burying your produce? Getting it deep into the bed cuts down on what the fly has to feed off of. Hope that helps.

Thanks, I'll stop adding produce for a while, and add some more paper to the top. I'm also going to strategically place some fly paper to try get rid of the problem.

All the info I've read says you need shredded or strips of newsprint (a lot) in between the layers of produce.
Also, I wonder if the tarp provides enough heat reduction. Can you try moving the bin to the shady side of the house? I had good luck for 2 yrs in Charlotte, NC with bins outside (except for the Winter when I dragged them into the garage).

Why don't you ask your local county agent for a pointer to how to build and prepare your bin for the worms? All the county extension services seem to have this info. If you have a really lot of produce scraps (NO MEAT) then you may just need a bigger container and more newspaper/brown paper strips layered between produce layers.

Don't be discouraged, all of a sudden you will be VERY successful.

Paul

I was doing yard work today and got into the bins. I put on some disposable gloves and pulled out some bigger produce, corn cobs mostly. Added some shredded paper to the blue bin and stirred. Dumped the top grey bin into the blue bin and removed it from the stack. I'll fix the lid/ring when I can get some liquid nails or something better than the original caulking I tried. Stirred paper into the new top bin and layered a few inches on top. I noticed the flies that had been around were no longer bothering the newly layered paper and were elsewhere in the yard. Stirred alot of paper into the middle bin, lots of worms in this level, they appear to be doing well. I'd like to say thriving, but at least they were active and plentiful.Added a few inches to this one, and alos added alot of paper to the bottom bin, it's just there in case any get through the bottom screen so they don't drown.

I'll post some more pics later, problem should now be under control, I didn't see any maggots crawling and they shouldn't get the easy meal they had before.

Sounds like your well on your way to compost

I thought I'd update, They've eaten most of the food that I left. It's a grayish pulpy mass w/ no discernable smell. I buried the bin and added lots of mulch to hide it.