[potatopotato]

I hope this topic is ok in Grow Your Own (I'm planning to use the resulting compost in my veg garden at least!)

I've got a little wormery under the sink and I've noticed over a period of some time that my little worms seem to be very unhappy. The worms live in a large plastic tub with air holes drilled in the top and bottom, and filled with shredded damp newspaper. This is kept under my kitchen sink. Every now and again I lift the lid to chuck in a handful of my veg scrapings (eg carrots, spinach, potato skins etc) - all of it chopped up into small bits.

I've noticed though that having veg thrown in seems to disturb my worms. Every time I add more - which I don't do often - the next morning I find escaped worms on the kitchen floor. I don't think they're getting out when I chuck the veg in, I think there's something about the addition of the veg that's upsetting them if that makes sense?

Anyway the last thing I put in was sprout leaves, about eight days ago before we went away for Christmas. And I've just got home to find loads of worms dead on my kitchen floor. I looked inside the box and there are loads of worms in there but they're all clinging to the top part of the box, away from the newspaper, and loads of the sprout choppings are still there.

What am I doing wrong here? Should I add more newspaper, get a bigger box, move it, put in different veg, or what??

[Trillium]

I'm not too familiar with wormeries, but I know newspaper inks can be a bit acidic and uncomfortable for them, and brassicas are too tough for them. Seems to me they prefer softer things like cantaloupe rinds, apple peels, lettuces, etc. Also, if there's not enough air and or too much dampness, they move on.

[Aunt Sally]

I know nothing about wormaries I'm afraid but if a compost bin (dalek type) is too wet the worms will come to the top and crawl up the plastic.

[WG.]

Add lime and feed less is my advice.

[lefrog]

hello potatopotato,
The most common reason for a worm exodus is wrong conditions in the bin ( too dry, too wet, too hot).
have a good feel at the beding, it might be just too wet. Try to use corrugated cardboard instead of newspaper ( less likely to bundle up and turning into a mass of paper) . I tend to feed mine using the pocket feeding method ( one side at the time, under the bedding, a bit of chopped up cardboard under to soak up, and more bedding on the top) .
Regarding food, I tend to throw the raw veg trimmings in a food processor, to turn em into a rough powder , they ll go through the lot in no time even the hard to chew on like  cauliflower leaves/stalks, brocolli stalks, red cabbage .

in case put a pair of gloves on and give the bin a good turn around, but be gentle, not like a 4am drug raid.

[babe]

how do you tell that a worm is unhappy... just the thought of it is making my brain hurt. :shock:

[Selkie]

You ask it Babe... :roll:

[babe]

is that before or after you dangle it in front of a hungry chook

[Selkie]

I've had to stop throwing in snails/worms etc for my hens because I was feeling so bad about it -- all those little lives..

[babe]

see now ive got visions of you diving into the mud to save a worm from being eaten.    

ok too much coffee today, my imaginations in overdrive

[lefrog]

I might have given the wrong advices....

anybody aware of a shrink specialised in invertebrate?

[Trillium]

rosemary would love the new tissue ad on telly here, where a strolling buddhist monk finds a small turtle on its back and turns it over, then some other creature. He finally blows his nose on a new anti-viral treated tissue then is shocked when he realizes what he's done  

[potatopotato]

how do you tell that a worm is unhappy... just the thought of it is making my brain hurt. :shock:

When I find them dead on the floor their little wormy faces are all sad...

Thanks for the advice everyone - thinking about it I think the conditions inside the bin are probably too wet and that the food bits are too large. So what I'm going to do is go and get some of the Christmas cardboard we were about to throw away, shred that into tiny little bits and put it inside the bin dry - see whether that stops them wanting to hari-kiri all over my kitchen floor.

[Selkie]

rosemary would love the new tissue ad on telly here, where a strolling buddhist monk finds a small turtle on its back and turns it over, then some other creature. He finally blows his nose on a new anti-viral treated tissue then is shocked when he realizes what he's done  

  That would be me....

[Sally A]

Similar qustion on GQT today, and various replies, have a listen again on Radio 4 online, it was at least half way though the prog I think.