Wormery 1 month old; apple added, worms escaping! Add paper?

[wormcity]

Hi Kevin

the apple shouldnt have caused a problem, the worms should have been able to handle it properly...

potato skins can takes ages to break down, but will eventually (though they often start to sprout)

re the fruit flies, you could hang / stick a sticky fly catcher in the wormery, though by burying the food will help, at the flies cant get to the food to lay their eggs on.

worms generally take 3 months to get from egg hatching to mature adult - they can live in their egg for some time, so you should start seeing lots of babies hatching soon.

the amount of worms that your wormery will eventually hold should be around 1-1 1/2 kilos (1000-1500 worms)

try adding some cereals like weetabix (if you have some) as well, this seems to promote breeding and growth.

Hope that helps

Ronnie

[wormcity]

your welcome

Ronnie

[wormcity]

I discovered pockets of foul-smelling food; it seems my adding compost on top to keep the flies out was masking/containing the smell.

If you have clumps of food that the worms havn't penetrated it will go rancid.
Thats why we always suggest a thin layer.
However my worms are happily living in a huke lump of mashed potato at the moment !

Ronnie

[wormcity]

Thank you for your kind comments

although worms are easy creatures to look after, situations can arise which will quickly turn a healthy wormery into a stinky slimy mess.

Unfortunatly when this happens often people just want to give up, but even the worst wormery problems can be sorted.

at Wormcity we don't confess to be experts, but we have been using and making wormeries for many years to know what works - and if a situation arises how to deal with it.

Forums are such great places to collect information and impart knowledge

Ronnie