Molding in my worm farm

Aimee · Oct 4, 2009

Hey everyone,

I set up my first worm farm recently and noticed a few patches of mold on the surface this morning....I have some soil, fish food, news paper strips, carrot butts, green onion butts, pieces of potato, and egg shells in there right now. Am I putting too much in there? Do I need to stir more frequently?

Has anyone had any issues with this?

Otterwoman · Oct 4, 2009

Yes, if there's too much food in there it'll get moldy. You might try stirring it (the food) in UNDER the dirt, then it won't develop mold on it.

michael · Oct 4, 2009

Turn the moldy parts under. Most of the time I cover the food in my worm bins and it cuts down on mold. If you have to much food turned under it can create heat which can be another problem.

Jennewt · Oct 4, 2009

I agree. It takes some time (months) until a worm bin really gets going at full pace, so there is probably just too much food for the moment.

Aimee · Oct 5, 2009

Alright. Thanks for the tips, guys! I'm going out now to take a look...probably just need to take out a few items.

Cheers

Aimee · Oct 5, 2009

EEK! Looks like the ants have discovered the tub of free food (aka my worm farm)

My housemate suggested spraying a household pesticide around the worm bin, but seeing the potential for a pesticide to come into contact with my worms, I'm far too paranoid to do anything of the like!

Anyone else have experience with keeping the ants at bay? There aren't too many right now, but you know how ants are....1 today = 100 tomorrow.

Oh dear....so far my worm farming excursion seems to be headed south in a hurry lol.

SludgeMunkey · Oct 5, 2009

There is two very simple methods I use to keep ants away from my feeder critters:

For worm farms, a "moat" of Borax around the bin keeps the ants away. Borax is harmless to worms, amphibians, and mammals but deadly to ants and crickets.

Another method that works extremely well and is not toxic to anyone is a real moat. Just keep your worm farm in another container with an inch or so of water in it. The ants are very hard pressed to cross water. (Well, most American ants...some of you folks may have some crazy tropicals roaming around...

)

nora · Oct 6, 2009

I use SludgeMunkeys second method. I set the worm bin on a cheap child's step stool(got at a thriftstore) which is set in a small bin of 1" water. No more ants and dilutes the "compost tea" to use in the garden.

Aimee · Oct 6, 2009

Awesome suggestion. Thank you for the advice, everyone. Looks like another trip to Target is in my near future :happy:

Cheers.

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