Last month I ordered some worms from a competitor which I do regularly to see what the competition has to offer. I even have my own network of secret shoppers which help me hide my identity.

What this competitor did was send me a bonus for free. Turns out the worm bedding they were shipped in contained loads of fungus gnat eggs. Unbeknownst to me, I added them to one of my beds. Within a couple days the fungus gnats began to flourish. Within a week or so they were out of control in one of my buildings.

Do not worry; we did not sell from this building!

This started my mission of trying to eliminate them as well as see what would work not just on the gnats but mites as well.

I began using some methods others state on their web sites that work effectively. Below are some of the methods which did not work and the one method that did work to assist you from using some remedies suggested by others that can be and are fatal to your worms!

First I tried apple cider vinegar mixed with water in a jar. I sat one on the window sill where I would see some fungus gnats as well as one in the worm bin. After two weeks this caught a total of 2 fungus gnats on the window sill.

I tried attaching fly paper to 2 popsicle sticks to stretch it out and placing in a worm bin adjusting it to rest just above the bedding material.  This was effective in catching some of the adults but was not going to eliminate the problem since it did not have an effect on the eggs and larvae.

Others state to vacuum them out of your worm bin daily. I tried this and perhaps my shop vac is too strong(felt like Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor – more power…) as I was careful but every so often the end of the hose got to close to the bedding and would suck up a chunk of bedding along with worms. This does help but by the next day the numbers were back because the vacuum does not handle the eggs and larvae unless you suck up all the bedding and worms.

Next I tried cinnamon which others claim will work since it can be used as a natural pest control. This is one that I recommend you avoid. It did scatter the gnats but did not kill them. A little later they would return. Once the cinnamon was watered in, worms began trying to escape from both the bottom and the top of the worm bin. The worms that ran through the watered down cinnamon died within hours. This remedy actually created the most worm loss of any.

Another trick stated on some web sites is to use coffee grounds. I was skeptical of this one for if you save any coffee grinds and they remain damp they will attract gnats within a number of days. At this point I had nothing to lose but some time so I tried it. When applying they scattered but returned only to enjoy the environment more. Hence there was not effect on the fungus gnats other than feeding them more food!

For mites I read in a natural remedy book I have to use onion, chives or garlic to chase the mites away. I placed some fresh cut chives from the garden into the worm bin and left it over night. The next morning, the chives were had about 50 mites on them. There were still plenty of them in the worm bin though. In effect the remedy worked to the opposite of what the book stated. I even went back to read it again to be sure I read it right.

Next I decided to try “Food Grade” Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.). Now I mention food grade as there are two main types of D.E., food grade and pool filter grade. The pool filter grade is harmful not only to humans and pets if inhaled, digested… but will kill off your worms.

Now as for the food grade, there are actually a number of different grades as well as some are more pure than others depending on where they are mined.  I actually purchased from two companies, Perma-Guard and the AFA Codex food grade. After checking on the mineral analysis from each web site, I found that the AFA Codex was more pure as well had a more neutral pH hence not messing with your worm bin pH level.

AFA Codex food grade Diatomaceous Earth are fossilized freshwater seashells which are mined from the earth and ground to a flour type consistency. The way the product works is it acts like shredded glass to pests. They walk or crawl through it and get cut, allowing the Diatomaceous Earth to enter the wounds and dehydrate them.

It is safe to humans and can even be used in the vegetable garden the same day you pick your crops. As always it is a good idea to wash any vegetables whether from your own garden or produce section of your local store.

I performed an original dusting and followed up with a second dusting about three days later. The mites have dwindled way down in numbers. The fungus gnats seem to have been eradicated after about one week from the initial dusting.

The worms have not been affected by the applications of the AFA Codex food grade D.E. I went one step further on the second application which is not recommended by applying some of the dust directly on some African nightcrawlers on the top of a couple bins. To my amazement, the worms are still alive and were not affected by the direct contact to the Diatomaceous Earth. My theory to this is perhaps when they burrowed back down they were able to cleanse themselves hence removing the dust.

Food Grade D.E. is all natural and is effective on

Adult Flea Beetles, Ants, Aphids, Bedbugs, Cabbage Root Flies; Carrot Root Flies, Cockroaches, Coddling moths, Earwigs, Fleas, Fungus gnats, Mites, Pillbugs, Sawfly, Silverfish, Slugs, Snails, Thrips, Ticks, Twig borers & More….

So there you have it. The one product that is all natural and effective on numerous pests in a worm bin and around the home. It can be used as a preventative as well as handle existing pest problems.

Be sure NOT to purchase pool filter grade D.E. Also be sure to get a better quality Diatomaceous Earth since it is mined from different parts of the country, some containing many impurities. You can always purchase some of the AFA Codex food grade Diatomaceous Earth from Organic Worm Farm. They offer re-bagged 8oz. for use on one or a few worm bins or 2lb bags for larger worm farms, use in the yard and garden since they purchase in large quantities…

]]> http://wormcompostingblog.com/pest-repellent/food-grade-diatomaceous-earth-for-worm-bin-pest-control/feed/ 9 http://wormcompostingblog.com/worm-compost-bins/homemade-flow-through-worm-bin-update-1/ http://wormcompostingblog.com/worm-compost-bins/homemade-flow-through-worm-bin-update-1/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:27:11 +0000 Bruce http://wormcompostingblog.com/?p=174 It has been a week and a half since I built the flow through worm bin and placed 1 pound of red wigglers into it.  I placed a pound and a half of food in there which is just about gone. Hence under the correct conditions, one pound of red wigglers can eat approximately one pound of food scraps per week.

You can read the original article which includes directions on building this flow through worm bin.

Enjoy the video below.

Bruce

Understanding the pH Scale:

pH reading of 7 is neutral and is in the middle of the scale of 0 to 14.

Anything from 0 to 6 would be low, however is actually high in acid. OK, don’t ask me to make sense out of this, as I did not create the scale

Anything from 8 through 14 on the pH scale is high as the alkaline level is high!

Confused yet???

Just remember, 0 – 6, acidic = low, 8 – 14, alkaline = high, while 7 is neutral

Many people assume the pH meter is linear such as a thermometer, hence they believe a pH level of 6 is very close to a pH level of 7. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The pH scale is logarithmic. Without all the mathematical explanations and simply put, a soil with a pH level of 6 is ten times more acidic than a pH level of 7.

For your worm bin the ideal pH level is 6.5 and can vary slightly, more towards the neutral zone of 7.

To raise the pH, being it is too acidic, 0 – 6, you can use agricultural lime or other alkaline material; however this takes a bit of time to level the pH. Another trick is to use hardwood ash. Since this is powdery, it acts very quickly, however a little goes a long way so do not over mix!

In order to lower your pH level, 8 – 14, in your worm bin, you will need to add acid based material. You can add peat moss, hardwood sawdust or some fresh spent coffee grounds.

To maintain a neutral pH balance in your worm bin, finely crushed eggshells will do the trick as well as keep expenses down.

Reducing the Acidic Level of Peat Moss:

Soaking peat moss will NOT reduce the acidic level as many websites offering worms would have you believe. If we could balance the pH simply by adding water we would all have perfectly balanced pH flower beds, gardens and yards after watering  ;-)

Peat moss by itself is acidic as low as 3.0 on the pH scale and should be neutralized prior to adding to a worm bin. The way to reduce the acid level in peat moss is to apply one of the above mentioned, preferably hardwood ash as it is quick acting. The best method is to add a little in with the dry peat moss and mix thoroughly prior to adding water for soaking. Turn the soaking peat moss a couple times a day to insure that the alkaline material used is dispersed evenly.

Why Peat Moss Needs to Be Soaked For 48 Hours:

Soaking peat moss for 48 hours is required due to the nature of the peat moss. It acts as a sponge in slow motion, some fibers absorbing the water quicker than other fibers. If you soak for less than the 48 hour recommended time period, your bedding will begin to dry out rapidly and be difficult to moisten to the correct level of 70% to 75% moisture content.

This will occur as the result of not all the peat moss having time to absorb moisture, hence sharing the existing moisture throughout. The dry peat moss fibers will absorb some of the moisture from the wet peat moss fibers hence drying out the wet fibers, eventually leaving all fibers shy of the correct moisture content.

Well there you have it, a short lesson in pH levels as well as why you need to soak peat moss prior to adding to your worm bin!

Good Luck in Your Vermiculture Adventures

Bruce Galle

The first thing is to check a few things such as temperature, pH and moisture levels of your worm bin. If any or a combination of the previously listed are off, your worms maybe trying to get out of unfavorable conditions, in search of greener pastures. If this is true, you will want to rectify the problem so as not to end up killing off your worms.

Temperature plays a vital role not just in keeping your worms happy and the rate at which your food scraps will begin to breakdown permitting growth of beneficial microbes for your worms. An ideal temperature is 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit inside the bedding material of your worm bin.  If you add to many green products to your worm bin, raising the pH level, the temperature will also increase, heating the bin, potentially to high.

If your pH is off, usually the result of being too acidic, eliminate adding anymore green scraps to your worm bin for a while until you rectify to an acceptable pH level of 6 to 7. You could add some agricultural lime or crushed egg shells to assist in lowering and maintaining proper pH levels. Also add more brown products for a while such as shredded newspapers and cardboard.

Moisture levels are a common issue as the food scraps added to the worm bin release additional moisture as they decompose. This is especially true for certain fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers, melons… This is probably one of the most common reasons I hear from people having an issue with worms trying to escape. Moisture levels should be approximately 70% to 75%, no matter which type of worm you are raising, red wigglers, African nightcrawlers or European nightcrawlers.

To begin drying the worm bin and to assist in keeping your worms from escaping, add some shredded newspaper to the top few inches of your worm bin. Worms prefer not to crawl through dry newspaper; hence usually this will keep many of them below the dry paper.

Another trick is to leave the lid off in a room where you can leave the light on. This serves a dual purpose. The first permits more ventilation, hence allowing your worm bin to dry out faster. Secondly, the light helps to keep the worms from poking their heads out as light disturbs them, hence keeping them down inside the bedding.

The last trick I have been meaning to post, something I tried a while back with effectiveness, is to build a flap under the lid of your worm bin.

Basically you need strips of newspaper approximately 6 inches wide. Next crease the strips in lengthwise so as the 6 inch strips now or folded in half, 3 inches wide as in the photographs below.

Tear off a few smaller pieces to cover your four corners. Then use longer strips for the remaining four sides of your worm bin.

Carefully place your worm bin lid on top and snap down into place.

Be sure to check daily for worms stuck up on the underside of the newspaper that are trying to escape. Simply place them back on the top of the bedding in the center of the worm bin.

If your worm bin is to moist or in the event numerous worms get caught up on the underside of the newspaper, replace the flapped newspaper when it becomes to damp, as it will lay down on the side of your worm bin, allowing worms to crawl out again.

Good luck in your vermiculture adventures,

Bruce Galle

Composting is actually trying to stabilize unstable organic matter and storing the nutrients for immediate or future use.

Usually in nature, organic matter is decomposed in thin layers such as leaves in the woods or the grass clippings in your lawn. Being the layer is thin, the organic matter is penetrable by oxygen and aerobic organisms come to play. These are the good guys hence usually a balanced compost for the environment.

When we compost, with or without worms, we tend to pile up the organic matter which makes it difficult for oxygen to penetrate hence anaerobic organisms take over. Yes these are the bad guys. Anaerobic organisms are what take over a landfill, hence why they must be lined to prevent harmful runoff to protect surrounding soil and water sources!

When we manage decomposition, such as a worm bin or worm farm, decomposition takes place in three stages for the most active microorganisms.

Phsychrophilic bacteria begins to process at temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit

Mesophilic bacteria, the fastest decomposers process between 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit

Thermophilic bacteria come into play at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit

When managing decomposition, we pay attention to the carbon (newspaper, cardboard…) to nitrogen (vegetable scraps, grass clippings…) ratio as well as moisture and oxygen.

Composting with worms is a more controlled method of basic composting as well as speeds up the process. You maintain a constant temperature which enables the most active bacteria, Mesophilic to take over. Worms move through the organic matter helping to aerate the decaying matter as well as making smaller particles of the decaying matter, hence leaving more surface area for beneficial microbes to work on.

If the moisture content gets to high, usually above 80%, the decaying matter becomes compacted, the same way the landfill does. This is when the worm bin can begin to change over to those nasty anaerobic organisms which can be harmful to your worms and even begin killing them off.

Once the moisture content begins to rise even more, the decaying matter releases a liquid called leachate. You will see many websites refer to this as worm tea, which it is not!

Worm tea is derived by brewing worm castings which are full of aerobic microorganisms. This process is done by aerating the worm castings, water and unsulphured molasses for approximately 48 hours in order to explode the aerobic microbe population.

Leachate is usually the opposite, full of anaerobic organisms.

If you are getting a little leachate from your worm farm or worm bin, try adding several inches of dry shredded newspaper on top and place the lid on it. This will absorb a little of the moisture. If you are getting a lot of leachate, it might be time to remake the bedding for your friends!

Now that you understand the process you can probably understand why I have an issue with a few things.

First, all the websites selling worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom which they advertise as a worm tea dispenser, when in reality it is leachate which can be harmful to your worms and plants. Put it this way, it is not doing your worms or plants any good if you are getting leachate from your worm farm.

Secondly, there are many websites as well as listings on EBay offering bottled worm tea and bagged worm castings in resealable plastic bags. As you might realize by now, cutting off the oxygen in either of these two sealed products kills off the aerobic microbes and produces anaerobic microbes. So in reality, you are spending your hard earned money on something which can be detrimental to your plants.

So to answer a number of emails I receive every week, this is why Organic Worm Farm does not sell the worm farms with the little spigot on the bottom, bottled worm tea or worm castings in resealable bags. They only offer worm castings and worm tea bags which are shipped in breathable bags via Priority Mail since you are dealing with live microbes.

Hope this helps you understand the basics a little better and why it is important to avoid leachate from draining out of your bin.

Bruce Galle

Also known as “The Worm Expert“ writes informative articles to assist others raising worms. For information regarding ordering an array of red worms, worm castings and worm food visit Organic Worm Farm.

First of all you will need a bin or “worm factory”. Allow me to take a minute here and explain the difference.

There are a number of types of worm factories available for around $60.00 to $90.00 which come by themselves or with bedding… Most will emphasize the fact they come with a spigot for which you can drain the liquids which some refer to as worm tea (in essence it is not really worm tea but will explain in a separate post). The important fact here is that if you have liquids draining from your vermiculture setup, you have too much moisture and your worms will end up dying.

In short you can purchase a rubber maid type bin, being sure it is opaque as to block out light for under $5.00. All you need is a drill so as to make 1/4″ holes on the bottom and 1/16″ holes on the top of the bin and the lid. This is important for air flow as worms require a mix of moisture and oxygen. In fact, I personally do not even place the lids on mine; however your spouse may get upset if you have an uncovered worm bin in your kitchen or guest bedroom

I found in the past that by placing the lid on the worm composting bin, there was not enough air flow, even when I drilled more holes in the top side.

Utilizing a lid seems to trap more moisture within the bin, hence generating mites throughout the worm bedding. Now most mites will not be harmful towards your worm population, however as I learned in Latin many years ago, there are exceptions to every rule

You will need to do a little more work if you decide not to use the lid on your bin. I find that the moisture more readily evaporates; hence I need to spray my bins more often with water. I personally use a small B&G sprayer to mist my worm bins since the number of bins is growing rapidly, however a simple spray bottle is sufficient for most. Do NOT simply use a watering can or other means to add water. You need a fine mist as to avoid over watering and to evenly disperse within your worm bin.

For some simple directions on building a worm composting bin click here (link opens in new window).

Next you will need some bedding for your worms to exist in. Many folks recommend coconut coir, peat moss… in reality all you need is shredded newspaper and brown cardboard. Shred enough paper to place between 5 to 6 inches deep in your worm bin. In fact, red worms will not be able to live in just peat moss or coir by themselves; however they can survive on just newspapers. I do not recommend just newspapers as you will have much healthier and larger worms with the proper food, something I will get to in a minute. Another item to add is brown cardboard. Do NOT use the shiny waxed cardboard and best if plain brown.

Now the rule of thumb is to soak your newspaper and wring out so as when you squeeze it only a drop or two squeezes out between your fingers. I have tried this and found this makes your red worm composting bin to wet, especially once you begin adding more food for your worms.

I simply use a B&G sprayer, since I have a large number of bins, however you can simply use a spray bottle to moisten your bedding. I do have a plant soil moisture meter and slide it in horizontally while moving it back and forth. I have found around 7 to 8 on a scale of one to ten works best (70% to 80%).

Next you will need food for your worms. OK worms love most food scraps. There is a lot of ground to cover, not just on food but as a whole in general, but I am just going into the basics here.

Worms love most vegetables, however keep away from those high in citric acid such as lemons, tomatoes, oranges etc. Also avoid or use very little onion and garlic scraps. Lettuce, greens and most vegetable scraps are great to add. Limit starchy foods such as potatoes, bread etc. Banana peels are good, however limit as they tend to add more of an odor and also seem to attract mites in your bin, which for the most part are OK but not necessarily something most folks want a bunch of

Do NOT place meat, dairy products or oily foods in your bin as this will end up killing your red worms.

Since worms have gizzards much like a chicken, hence they require grit in order to digest food. You can add a handful of dirt, sand or I prefer ground up eggs shells. Be sure if using dirt or sand that is purchased that it contains no harmful ingredients such as salt or is not bleached in the case of sand.

When adding food to your bin, place in a different corner each time under some of the damp newspaper as this will help reduce both odor and the infestation of fruit flies.

I highly recommend placing your bedding and food into your bin at least one week prior to the addition of your red worms. I usually do this with fresh bedding two to three weeks prior to adding worms. This allows for the food scraps to begin to break down and build up organic matter, something that is required for red worms to be able to eat it.