Wormery Woes

[Scrambled]

Hi Everyone

I've got a wormery which has been set up and running for around a year now, but it doesn't seem quite right The worms have created a nice tray full of lovely compost, but they are determined to make their way down through the trays to the bottom, instead of upwards towards all the stuff that I keep (trying to!) feed to them. There's never been any sign of any of the magic liquid they are meant to churn out - in fact, the bottom tray is just full of (live) worms.

I've tried to sort it by moving the trays around and putting them in the top with the veg / paper / leftovers - but they've all just worked their way through the trays to the bottom again. Anyone else with a wormery had this kind of thing happen??

Thanks

[davina112]

Sorry I have no idea, but would love a wormery I may buy one for my hubby for Christmas

[Scrambled]

Lucky husband Mine was a much wanted birthday present and it's great....apart from the worms not behaving as they should

Chucked some apple peel in to the bottom layer and they're all loving it and there's a layer of compost forming down there now Will have to contact the wormery company for advice, I think.

[new2chooks]

Interesting dilemma.

Could you post a picture of your wormery, please? I'm struggling to imagine what it looks like.

Mine is a simple lidded bin with a sump in the bottom and a tap to let out the 'worm wee'.

According to the instructions the worms don't like it too wet so are naturally forced to the drier stuff near the top. You have to make sure you get the balance of wet and dry material right to stop the worms drowning.

Another thought - is the bin in direct sunshine all day. Its rather hot at the moment - maybe the worms just want to cool down!!

[Scrambled]

Hi Mark - thanks for your thoughts. I can't do a photo (camera died ) but it's one of these:-

http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/the-t ... tAodTmoAJw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And mine has compostable stuff in the top tray (which they're ignoring), lovely compost in the second tray and worms in the sump tray!!

It's in shade all day at the minute and it's not even like they're trying to stay in their compost - they're actually all in the sump tray Still all alive and wriggling. I think I'll have to scoop them all out (again) and put them in the top tray with a mix of the veg peelings, shredded paper and some of their compost - but remove the tray of compost they've made so that they're not tempted to wander back down to it....not that they even stay in it, they just head for the sump (which thankfully is devoid of worm wee at present so they're not at risk of drowning).

Who knew worms could be so complicated?

[new2chooks]

goo-gooed and found this thread:-

http://thegreenparent.co.uk/forums/viewthread/10598/

(its a slow day!!)

Dunno if its of use!!

[Scrambled]

Thanks so much! That's really interesting - I'm going to go out there right this minute and get some more paper etc in the top tray, hoik the worms into it and remove the compost they've made (maybe bar a handful or so which I'll mix in with the veg and paper).

I've just had a thought - I'll put a layer of newspaper sheets on the bottom of the tray too, so they can't get through to the sump so easily.

Really appreciate you posting the link - thanks again