Can I just dump these worms into my compost tumbler? Will they survive the hot Georgia heat? I only use fruit and vegetable scraps in my composter.
1374366
Worms need bedding (newspapers, cardboard, coconut coir, peat moss, ect) for the majority of their habitat. Kitchen scraps exclusively would be too hot. I live in TX and my worms do fine in the heat, just keep them moist (wrung out sponge).
1009813
I move scraps periodically to the worm composter, but, if you maintained proper conditions, I guess you could compost small amounts in the canister.
125109
I have mine in my kitchen. No smell rarely fruit flies as long as I maintain keeping it taken care of. You will kill the worms if you put it outside in those temps since the bin itself has not insulation or a place for the worms to go deep in the ground during the winter if they were living in the ground. Do you have a garage? You could put it there during extreme weather temps. Worms like it when the temp is consistent. Nothing over 80 for mine. I rarely put it outside here in southern California as we get ups and downs of temps. If you have a greenhouse or hot house you could put them there. Not sure I helped much. I have mine in my kitchen. No smell rarely fruit flies as long as I maintain keeping it taken care of. You will kill the worms if you put it outside in those temps since the bin itself has not insulation or a place for the worms to go deep in the ground during the winter if they were living in the ground. Do you have a garage? You could put it there during extreme weather temps. Worms like it when the temp is consistent. Nothing over 80 for mine. I rarely put it outside here in southern California as we get ups and downs of temps. If you have a greenhouse or hot house you could put them... » Read More I have mine in my kitchen. No smell rarely fruit flies as long as I maintain keeping it taken care of. You will kill the worms if you put it outside in those temps since the bin itself has not insulation or a place for the worms to go deep in the ground during the winter if they were living in the ground. Do you have a garage? You could put it there during extreme weather temps. Worms like it when the temp is consistent. Nothing over 80 for mine. I rarely put it outside here in southern California as we get ups and downs of temps. If you have a greenhouse or hot house you could put them there. Not sure I helped much. « Show Less
726938
Yes, they can crawl in all kinds of ways, actually. The key is to have the right mix of materials. When my compost is mostly food scraps, then we get critters. When I add more green or brown material - yard clippings, leaves, etc. - then they go away. This bin is a just a heavy duty (HEAVY) sheet of plastic with holes in it. No bottom, no top. Included are 5 fasteners that easily applied or removed. It stands up better than I expected. Over time, the compost within the bin will form itself into a 'cake' - start the pile with yard clippings, leaves and other green/brown matter to do this - it will look like a bird's nest. When the fasteners are removed, the compost remains in the cake form. You can use a shovel at this point. I had 2 bins side by side, but ended up taking one down. I removed the fasteners and shoveled the matter into the main bin - it was cool to see how all of the matter I had dumped in had become rich, dark soil within 6mos. If you want fast-producing, smellier compost then you will want to purchase a barrel of some sort. I prefer this open air bin which allows for airflow and takes much longer to decompose all of the matter. When the pile gets too wet, I add some paper shred. When it is too dry, I add food scraps or spray the waterhose on it. Last night, there were too many flies b/c of the food scraps so I dumped the vacuum cleaner canister on it plus a bunch of dryer lint. Tell your friends you have a compost pile and they will gladly give you food scraps. A co-worker brings me her weekly food scraps. My brother brings a 5 gallon bucket of food scraps every 2 weeks to dump. A baker friend gave me 8 dozens egg shells. I'm going to let my compost keep building another 6-9mos before I start using it in my garden.
905125
being that it is organic and uses organic microbes, they should not kill the earthworms or red worms in your compost since they create similar microbes and live in the same dirt. I would test it out with only a small bit if you are concerned and see if they are still living after a week of using it. i usu it for only starting a fresh batch without microbes or worms.
1196329
Grass clippings I would say no. The clippings would heat up the compost too much for the worms. Leaves on the other hand I have added with no problems, they are a nice brown to add to the worm factory and the worms seem to really like them.
905124
Anything that dramatically increases the heat in a composter will kill your worms. This is the reason you should not put grass in a worm composter -- grass raises the temperature too high for healthy worms. Worm composting relies on a good balance of browns and greens so throwing a bunch of greens into the mix is not a good idea.
852629
By all means yes... just give them the right environment. Avoid the anaerobic/stinky/mushy environment and they'll produce. I purchased a second worm farm and scooped some from the first and that one is fully populated.
935356
Well vented but don't let The bins get to thick with debris. Nothing bothering mine other than worms and a little smell. Maybe you're putting to much compost debris in the bin at one time? it's taking too long for the worms to eat it so therefore the flies have something to deposit their eggs upon. I wouldn't hesitate to call the worm farm and ask him any questions, if you haven't done so yet.
727622
Thank you for taking time to answer. If I froze them I would definitely wrap them tightly in plastic first. I freeze all my other flours and meals so they won't get weevils. But I will take this into consideration.
328133
I keep mine in the garage and run a Hydor 25w Hydrokable Substrate Heater coiled on top of the compost in the second box from the bottom. This is the second winter I've done this and can keep it plugged in without if getting so hot that it drives the worms out of the top bin but still warm enough that the top bin does not freeze even with the recent temps at close to 0F.
476811
No, these worms will not survive winters where temps fall below 40F and they won't survive temps above 85F for extended periods of time. These are special composting worms so please do not consider buying these for garden soil either. These are are not burrowing, soil eating worms, these worms live only in the top 8-10 inches of the soil and their diet consists of leaf litter, mulch and manure so unless you have a lot of this for them to eat they will starve to death.
523608
I personally use castings mixed with azomite as well as compost. Check out this website: http://www.tastefulgarden.com/store/pc/Worm-Castings-d114.htm
1032382
Works really well, but one must empty it out in the fall if you live in a cold climate. Little buggers wouldn't like freezing temps. I dumped mine out on the garden & plan to buy new worms this spring.
967351
Are you sure the grubs in your compost are Japanese Beetle larvae? It sound like you have black soldier fly larvae, which are beneficial to your compost. If you can take a picture and send it to me, or do a google search, you can find out. Good Luck
451359
Unfortunately, the fruit flies are just part composting. Even the most airtight pail will not prevent them from flying out when you open the pail. The best thing to do is to wash all your fruits and vegetables a s soon as you bring them into the house.
14478
While you technically can, I've always been told that the tumbling action will kill them before they have a chance to do anything. This type of composer is best for rotting and not worm based. A standard compost pile would be better for worms.