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Who’d have imagined the challenges inherent in getting to know the newest additions to my household - the red wigglers busily chomping on my kitchen scraps. Experts offer advice about helping them adjust to their new home in your compost bin, advice I’m researching with all the earnestness of expectant parents reading "What to Expect". But it’s the advice about runaways that’s gotten my attention this past week as I’ve watched my worms scrambling to escape their new home. By that I mean every time I opened the lid, the underside of the lid was covered with the little guys, and a few even escaped, much to the delight of the cats.
My reaction has been along these lines: They hate me! I’m a terrible worm-mother! Typical pangs of parental rejection, I suppose, but new to ME.
Then it occurred to me that most of this runaway action had been in the past week and it had been pretty cold out and I wondered if the compost bin resting on an unheated tile floor was such a good idea. And sure enough, after moving the worm bin
to the living room the worms totally stopped trying to escape.
Wow, they’re such sensitive beings! They prefer the same temperature range that humans do, these red wigglers do. And who knows – maybe they like being with the rest of the household critters, humans included, and near the TV.
More vermicomposting reports coming soon.
Top photo by Wendy via Flickr. Bottom photo – would YOU want to live on that cold, cold floor?
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Ha! That is really funny. I had no idea they would try to escape.
I’m glad you had the instinct to realize they were cold and moved them to a better location. You are indeed a good “worm mom”!
Isn’t there a far side comic that relates to this , ohh how i wish i could remember.
What do you know? The phrase “all sentient beings” includes the humble earthworm. After losing heat for quite a few weeks – even in California where it’s not all that cold, I can still relate.
Apparently the worms climb walls if they are motivated enough. I have friends that’ve found them in the gutters of their house when they did “something” wrong to the vermicompost.
You are a good worm mother – if you can’t tell them to put their jackets on, warm their surroundings. Very cute!
H.
Great post, Susan! I think you are a fine worm mother. So, doing this vermicomposting thing isn’t so hard? Maybe I should give it a try! We always need more compost.
If you put those chilly worms in your living room I think you are a heroic worm mother. I put my worm bin in the basement which took care of the fruit fly problem, but during our great ice storm it got colder than 50 degrees. Briefly. The worms didn’t try to climb out. They must have known that might be from the frying pan into the fire, but I do think their numbers are diminished. Warmth for worms. Required.
Good news all around: for the worms and for the mom. My brood lives, quite accidentally, near a heating vent and until hearing your experience I never realized what a great spot it was.
LOL!
I have heard they will climb the walls if the compost becomes to soggy, goes anaerobic (which will smell) and for plenty of other reasons. Temperature does not surprise me.
I am considering embarking on getting my own wormery – so it is handy to get this info.
Susie Q: I’m a long term worm-wrangler with a wood box filled with the darling varmints. I’ve been trying to train them to line up in order of age so I can brand them in sequence, but frankly, they ain’t too bright. I’ve had the box for about two years and although I know the point is to generate lots o’ steamy worm patties for the garden, I’ve yet to harvest anything. Yet the level of the box stays in perfect equilibrium.
Never had any flight risks but our warmer Santa Barbara climes might be more to their liking. Come to think of it, living outdoors during a few nights of near freezing hasn’t yet motivated them to try a break-out. Maybe worms on the Left Coast are just a little more laid back and accepting of life.
Good info, thanks. And it’s good to know that it’s not as simple as it sounds too! I may have to try one. I tried to gather some compost from our outside compost bin this weekend only to find, and be chased off by, fire ants. They were everywhere in the compost, argh! Little earthworms sound so much nicer.
I should have tried the worm bins instead of the non-working electric composter from NatureMill. Try to get a refund out of them!
Just keep telling yourself, “I am a good worm mother. I am a good worm mother.” See, you intuitively figured out what they needed. Good job. Just so you know, the ones I had years ago didn’t fare as well for me, so I switched to human kids. LOL.~~Dee
I too am interested in getting some of these, but nothing I can find tells me if they’re the same species that is native to my area, and what it would take to get Native worms. Too many issues have been created by introducing previously “benign” species to take care of another pest, which in turns just causes a much bigger problem all around.
Rick, I have a longer post coming next week about invasive worms but here’s a preview: there are NO composting worms that are native to the U.S. But the one almost everyone uses – the red wiggler – is not invasive, so don ‘t worry. Even if you live where it’ll survive the winters, it only does well in compost situations, not in regular gardens or the woods. Even the experts on invasive worms – at the U. of Minn. – assure me the red wiggler hasn’t been implicated in any invasive behavior.
American native worms, like all earthworms, aren’t good at composting – they’re much slower to digest and crap than these wigglers.
I have added this post to The All About Growing Food Group. If you (or readers) have food growing related blogs, including veg, herbs, fruit, composting and planting tips, then please come and add your favourites to it.
I think mine have mostly died since I’ve been neglecting them, but I kept them going really well most of the year. I’ll start it up again in the spring.
Yeah, I’m a lousy worm wrangler right now.
Susan, your worm “nursery” looks like a plain ol’ Rubbermaid container with a spigot added to the bottom. If so, would you please tell us just how you made that container? I want to make one!
Cheryl, here’s my recent article about worm bins, which contains a link to instructions. http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/01/worm-composter.html
Susan, I think you are a great “worm mother”–and that’s the problem. Your little guys are just itching to come out and be with you. Such love from one’s “children” is a wonderful thing! My little guys, however, must not love me one little bit. They cower at the very sight of me, shrinking down into their zucchini/paper/potato peel world, thinking no doubt that I’m more Godzilla than mommy. They go so far as to slink as far away as they possibly can when confined to my Worm Factory–into the compost tea collection tray, where I’m sure they’re hoping to make a getaway through the spigot. So if you’re a bad mother, I must be Mommy Dearest!
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