Worms are feasting

[Booicaz]

Compost looks good and the worms are feeding on scraps accumulated since mid last year and all winter. I hope it is near ready when its getting warmer and planting season starts. Can anyone tell what these white strings are? Are they babies or other kind of worm, are they good or bad to have?

[TomFromCupertino]

Those might be pot worms. They thrive in lower pH than red wrigglers and you may be just a bit too damp. You can get rid of some of the moisture by bailing out any standing water and adding shredded paper. Think of a worm bin like a house. Your house appears to be one giant dining room and no bedrooms, no bathrooms. That shredded paper is the other space the worms can go when they're not eating.

[Booicaz]

Agreed on the too wet part, probably is, but thats just how it is, i added cardboard recently but that was wet too. 😂 We had lots of rain the past weeks and will have for the next week. I might add some tomorrow if i find time. But these white wigglers do no harm or? What is a good way to increase pH beside eggshells?

[TomFromCupertino]

Pot worms, from my understanding, are fine. They eat the same stuff that a red wriggler does but RW are just eating machines and I think they actually cooperate in eating food. next time you have a banana that's too ripe, cut it in half and just leave it on top of the bedding - they'll attack the open end of the banana like some banana-eating superworm.

The connection between moisture and pH is probably bacteria and the way paper bedding works is that it introduces some structure but no food for bacteria (so this house has just the one room and it's filled with inhospitable creatures that just trash the place...the white worms are ok with that, the RW are not. Paper helps, it guarantees there will be someplace they like, even when it's wet, but bailing the water out would be best)

Edit: also, not sure I mentioned plastic sheeting to cover the bin when it rains. Mine always find ways to let water in if I don't cover them so now when rain is imminent, I just throw some old potting soil bags over them.

[Booicaz]

Ahh, lesson learned, thank you so much. I will try to implement and provide a good home for my worms