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I’m running the juniors with worms in them and they keep sneaking out. I’ve got quite the collection of dead dried out worms. Does anyone else have this issue by chance? No sense in continuing to buy them if they’re just going to harry Carey and jump off the ledge.
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Are they red wrigglers? Do you keep the reservoir full or let it dry out before filling again?
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Are they escaping from the top or from the overflow? The easiest escape route would be from the bottom. I’ve had more than a few worms surf the tube out the overflow when I overfilled. I don’t think they have ever escaped out the top b/c of the mulch cover.
My answer is always yes to worms! Start a worm bin and have access to fresh castings and the worms will multiply rapidly!
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Euro crawlers
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Wife won’t go for that. I’ve tried unless there’s some absolute smell proof container that they won’t escape from.
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Worm bins don’t smell at all if cared for properly, which also isn’t very difficult. Usually the less you mess with it, the better they do.
Edit: this is assuming you would be using red wrigglers in your worm bin.
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You might be better off with red wrigglers, I think the euros prefer to be deep. Some people mix them in their larger worm bins so you have the wrigglers working on top and the euros working the bottom.
The boxes might not be deep enough for their liking? Anyone think I’m off here?
Another thought… if the res is always full and the euros like being down under, it might be too wet for them as well. This is why they come out after a big rain, no one like drowning.
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My understanding is that European night crawlers are good for aeration, as they go up and down in the soil creating tunnels. Red wigglers and other variety of composting worms do most of their work in the top couple inches of debris. Having a variety of worms, doing different jobs is ideal.
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Agree 100% No smell and no escapees from the bin. If I can sell my wife on a worm bin, you can to. That or I’m in the wrong line of work. Ha!
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I get the mixed bag from uncle Jim’s
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This is true, to a point. Unless I’m misremembering, Euro night crawlers prefer to do most of their work at least 6" under the top of the soil although they pop up to the surface now and again. Composting worms rarely venture more than about 4-6" below the surface unless the surface gets too dry. In a bed both are desirable because they’ll work the entirety of the soil, top to bottom.
Not sure I’d put euro crawlers in an EB due to the very limited depth, though.
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Found this on the interwebs:
“Both red worms and European night crawlers live in the top few inches of soil generally never digging down more than 10 inches.” I did see where Nightcrawlers can tunnel as much as 6.5 feet down into the soil. Cool!
@anon74731205 how many worms are escaping? How dry is the medium? What are you feeding your microbes? Are you using the mulch cover? Are you keeping the reservoir topped off or letting it go dry for extended periods?
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It seems like a new few slip out every day if I’m being honest. I feed it ferments , coconut / aloe basic no till stuff if I’m being honest. I let the res dry out and hand water when soil isn’t super moist . I think the container is just too small and the idiots slip out from the reservoir.
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The worms might be running away looking for a food source if there is not enough for them to feed on.
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Opinions will probably differ but I’d shy away from all of that stuff or use it very sparingly (Ferments, coconut, aloe (contains saponins)) and maybe just create a healthy bedding with decaying food for them to feast on. No need to add enzymes or anything else either to break down the food for them. These are composting worms and they turn “garbage” into magic, no need to pour magic potions on them. Find a bedding material that works for you and the process is incredibly simple.
researchers are exploring the use of saponins derived from plants to control invasive worm species, including the jumping worm.
Food for thought, though maybe the saponins in aloe are fine.
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Honestly if the worms can be a non necessity I might try them out next run with no worms given the cost I put into buying them every few runs it seems.
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@syzygy saponin is a subclass of terpenoids and may act as a anti-fendent to protect against microbes and fungi some plant saponins may enhance nutrient absorption some saponins are toxic to cold blooded organisms and insects are particular concentrations. Some leguminous crops such as: Pea, sugar beet, soybeans, cowpea, asparagus, and capsicum peppers have been reported to contain saponins (De Geyter E., Lambert E., Geelen D., Smagghe G. Novel advances with plant saponins as natural insecticides to control pest insects. Pest Technol. 2007;1:96–105.) Saponins content in plants is dynamic, and it influences various biotic stimuli that are related to pest attack, pathogenic infection, plant mutualistic symbioses with rhizobial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi(Mugford S.T., Osbourn A. Isoprenoid Synthesis in Plants and Microorganisms. Springer; New York, NY, USA: 2012. Saponin synthesis and function; pp. 405–424.) Saponins are biochemical compounds or otherwise depicted as natural products, which have an extensive spectrum of natural performances. Numerous biological roles have been indicated for various saponins, including anti-inflammatory allelopathic action, anti-carcinogenic, mitigating cell reinforcement, heamolytic, hypocholesterolemic resistance stimulators, cell layer permeabilizing characteristics, as well as can influence feeding behavior, development, and cause mortality, development hindrance, limit the insects’ productiveness and protection against insects and other micro-organisms. The toxicity of saponins to various organisms is linked to their interaction with biological membranes. Some saponins form complexes with proteins and by this action, they apparently inhibit proteinases and affect digestion in some insect guts. Plant-derived triterpenoid and steroidal saponins are very promising for the development of botanical insecticides. Aside from cellular poisoning quality, saponins additionally exhibited hindrance or anti-feedant drive against herbivores, especially insects. (Constitutive plant toxins and their role in defense against herbivores and pathogens.
Wittstock U, Gershenzon J
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2002 Aug; 5(4):300-7)(Mithöfer A., Maffei M.E. Plant Toxins. Springer AG; Switzerland: 2016. General mechanisms of plant defense and plant toxins; pp. 1–22.)
A white page I read about saponins depending on the concentration unless he’s throwing everything in the kitchen sink I doubt they are the cause of the migration one thought of mine is depending on the bedding it might be off in ph but I agree keep it simple no need be fancy with vermi composting
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The only saponin I use is Q on occasion.
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If the ph was off you might notice white pot worms in your soil. Some crushed eggshell or OSF would help to correct the issue. At least that was my experience with a worm bin.
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