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There are a few questions about worm farming that keep coming up in our customer service role, so we thought we would answer a few of them in this blog.

1. What do worms hate the most?
Compost worms, such as tiger and red worms, are sensitive creatures that thrive in reasonably specific conditions. Dry conditions are one of the worst things as worms have very little capacity to withstand dehydration. Pet manure is another problematic material, particularly if your pet has recently had worming tablets. Pet manure can also carry human pathogens.

As far as food goes there are certain things that can overwhelm your worms if they are in large individual amounts. Citrus, spicy high chilli foods, onions and garlic, meat fish and dairy products, oily and greasy foods, very salty foods, and starchy stuff like bread are all materials that worms will struggle with if they are in high amounts, especially on their own. It should be said that if you mix small amounts of these things into the overall food mix for your worms there will generally not be a problem, and this tends to be the case when your kitchen waste is the primary source of food as it is for many worm farmers.

For further reading Can I Compost That? (Worm Farm Edition) | Tumbleweed
 
2. Should I remove dead worms from my bin?
As with all living organisms, worms have a lifespan and will eventually pass away. With soft, nutrient rich bodies, earthworms break down relatively quickly within a worm farm. If it is just the odd earthworm dying of old age it does not cause any problems in our experience. However, if there is a mass mortality event, such as an extreme heat wave, that kills a large number of your worms then it is a good idea to remove any living worms and put them into fresh bedding material just in case the dead worms spread disease within the remaining population.

3. What should a worm farm smell like?
A healthy worm farm will generally have a slightly earthy smell that to most people is not unpleasant. If your worm farm starts to have an unpleasant odour such as rotten eggy sort of smell then it is an indication that it is out of balance and needs remediation. Usually bad odours result from anaerobic (very low oxygen levels) if things get too wet in the worm farm for instance. For further reading go to Aerating Your Compost | Tumbleweed

4. What insects and other creatures are ok in a worm farm?
There are many different creatures that can live in a worm farm. Frogs, ants, spiders, mites, springtails, soldier flies, cockroaches (for further reading Cockroaches as Creatures of the Compost | Tumbleweed), fruit and vinegar flies. There are a few that can be downright dangerous such as redback spiders that can nest in crevices of the worm farm, and while they are not usually aggressive, accidental bites are a possibility while maintaining your worm farm. Soldier flies are black wasp-like insects that lay their eggs in very moist organic matter situations. Their white segmented larvae are often described as large maggots, and their presence is usually an indicator that your worm farm is too wet.

Fruit and vinegar flies are tiny insects that can multiply quickly and are not desirable. We find that burying the food and using a worm blanket are effective ways to minimise these and other undesirable insects such as cockroaches that may migrate to your house. Ants can also become an annoying creature and smearing Vaseline or other similar sticky substances in a complete circle around the legs of the worm farm usually stops them colonising.

Apart from the above creatures most others that find their way into your worm farm will not be a problem.

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