Wormcity Forum

In this weather, should we doing anything to help regulate our wormeries?

Hi, good question. Heat can be far more of a problem than cold. Anything over 30c can kill worms very quickly.
If your bin is outside try to move it to a north facing wall. Failing north then east. If you can’t move the bin try to erect some shade anything will help. Cover you bin with wet clothes, rewetted regularly if possible. Feed less kitchen scraps, they are made up mainly of moisture and moisture can result in anaerobic conditions in the bin which comes with the problem of more heat. Fill the top tray with dry shredded corrugated cardboard this will help insulate the worms from the heat and provide something to eat. If conditions get bad freeze half a bottle of water and put it in your bin, the worms will move towards it or away from it to regulate there own temperature. Only use half full bottles to avoid them splitting and making the bin wet.
If you can get a fan to move air on the outside of the bin this will be a great help.

Willy

Thanks, i checked them yesterday and they were doing ok, but may pop them in the shade in the garage over the weekend where there is more shade

Many thanks for posting the question Lilwriggler, and for the helpful advice Willy. I've been wondering what to do in advance of next week's predicted extreme heat so will follow these tips. My wormery is in a shed, and although there's no direct sunlight coming in onto the bin itself as I've covered the window, the air around it inside the shed gets very hot. I've got some old towels in there which will hopefully help if I wet them and drape over the bin. The shredded cardboard insulation sounds great too. All a bit of a worry but here's hoping everyone and their worms will get through it ok.

If your worms are in a shed try to rig up a clothes line inside, for wet clothes to hang on you will be surprised how much that will help. Obviously leave the door open. If you have or can get some electric to the shed then a fan will be fantastic.
I did see a solar fan, I think it was for camping and was not expensive, which would be great.
Stay safe keep covered up.

If your worms are in a shed try to rig up a clothes line inside, for wet clothes to hang on you will be surprised how much that will help. Obviously leave the door open. If you have or can get some electric to the shed then a fan will be fantastic.
I did see a solar fan, I think it was for camping and was not expensive, which would be great.
Stay safe keep covered up.

Ah, thanks for that tip, Willy - I'm sure I could rig up some kind of clothes line in there, what a good idea (might need one inside the house too!) Also I never knew there were such things as solar fans, would be very useful as there's no electricity out there- just had a look online and yes they're very reasonable so will get one. Very much appreciated Stay safe too.

I’ve checked mine a couple of times and they are doing fine, i will check all the trays tomorrow as i will be feeding them.

The big problem with heat is that things go down hill very quickly. Like you so far mine are fine so it’s fingers crossed for a few days. Tomorrow is forecast to be our last really hot day in SW Scotland.

I'm in Suffollk, the hottest part of the country yesterday, so quite a worry. Keep popping down to the shed to re-wet towels and old Tshirts draped over the wormery itself, also hanging on a makeshift washing line as suggested (amazing what you can do with a piece of garden twine, a ladder and a shelf unit!) Also corrugated cardboard in top tray to insulate as advised. So far I think the worms are doing ok, fingers crossed, but I'll have a better look once it cools down a bit as I didn't want to disturb things too much. Would be awful to lose them after 4 years of loving care Hope very much yours will all be ok too.