Wormcity Forum

I used to have a small wormery that was quite easy to move indoors however the wormcity one is quite big so I am not so keen on lugging it through my flat to the coal cellar. It is currently in quite a sheltered position. Is it likely to survive outdoors (I'm in Bristol) if I leave it out? Was thinking due to the size the processes inside it might keep it warm enough or is it safer to make a bubble wrap cover to insulate it?

Hi Swedboy, I'm considering a similar problem. I started off my wormery in the garage, but over the summer I moved it outdoors because I got a lot of fruit flies - no problem for the worms, but not nice to have in the house! I've just moved them into my (cool) greenhouse.
All year I've been monitoring the temperature inside the wormery with a sensor, and it's rarely more than 1 degree above ambient, so I don't think that the worms by themselves generate very much heat. So I'm not convinced that insulation will help much when it gets really cold, and I'm wondering about putting a small tubular heater nearby.
Let's see what Willy has to say! He'll know what to do.

. Our worms will survive down to freezing point (for a short while). The cocoons will be viable even after being frozen so if the worms are killed off all is not lost.
Taking precautions is the best course of action at this time of year. The best thing to do is to move them inside, to a place where the temperature remains above freezing, a cellar or garage is perfect. If this is not possible then a shed or greenhouse will help. The problem with fruit flies is never as bad in the winter as you will be feeding less and it’s easy to maintain a thick layer of shredded paper and card on top of the food to take care of the few flys that are around.
I moved my worms into my cold greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, I do have a small 30cm (1 foot) tube heater between my two bins, this provides 60 watts of heat and I calculated it costs about £7:50 a year, to run at night during the cold winter months. The bins are wrapped together in bubble wrap. I have been protecting them in this way for a few years and they have survived minus 10c for a night or two in the past.
If you must leave them outside insulate with what ever you have, bubble wrap, straw, wood shavings, try to build a shelter over them etc. Move them to a south facing wall. I find that rain getting into the bin during winter can be nearly as killing as the cold. Some people dig a hole and bury their bin for winter.
Finally a few little tips that may help. Use all your trays in the pile even if they are just filled with dry shredded paper, it takes longer for cold to penetrate to the centre of a larger pile. For the same reason make sure all your trays are full, again use dry shredded papers to fill them.
Some people put a slice of bread on the surface of the top tray. Bread is said to generate heat and the worms collect under it to stay warm, just like an electric blanket. Bread like any grain product will quickly go anaerobic, this will generate heat but if you do try this then check regularly remove the bread if it starts to smell “off” at all, because you don’t want your entire bin going anaerobic.
With a few precautions your worms will come through the winter with no problem, just check them regularly and don’t over feed (more people kill their
worms by over feeding at this time of year than the cold kills)

Hope that helps
Willy

Of course, the problem we have in the UK is that we just don't know how cold it's going to be

Sometimes it just rains or like last year it gets really really cold

Horticultural fleece is cheap and readily available and can be wrapped around or placed over the wormery

Ronnie

Moved the workers into the living room last night, which was lucky as it is just above zero degrees in the morning. Will move it into the coal cellar where it is usually stable around 5 degrees.

They will be fine at 5 degrees but be careful not to over feed. The will only eat about 20% of the amount of food they were eating a couple of weeks ago.
Enjoy your new house mates

Willy

With my old one, I stopped feeding them during the winter months and they seemed to survive that ok. Might just give them the odd snack tough as this wormery is bigger.
Thanks for your advice!

A couple of weeks ago was feeding each of my bins couple of mugs full of food every day. Now I have not fed them for nearly two weeks. They will survive fine on one feed a month.

Stay warm
Willy

Hi guys, thanks for all the tips. I haven't got a shed or cellar, and my garage is integral to the house, so it has to be the greenhouse. Slitherin House is now happily relocated in there, with oodles of shredded cardboard on top and a thick folded blanket over the whole thing. We've had a couple of very cold nights just lately so I put on a small greenhouse heater on a low setting, just enough to keep the temp above 5C. (Actually I would do ANYTHING to protect my worms☺) They are still thriving, though I guess I'll have to bresk them of their one-banana-skin-a-day habit!

Hi, got my wormery about three weeks ago and have only just given them their first feed. Given they will not be eating that much now that winter is approaching i’m Likely to have only one active tray going for that period. It’s in the garage which will offer some protection from the cold, down south so hopefully won’t have too many really cold nights and I will close the garage door if it goes sub zero. Should I add a tray with shredded paper above to give them some extra housing options and added insulation? I assume they will go back down to feed?

Escapees have reduced down to 2/3 a night now, and I find them under the bins each day so they are swiftly returned, I will actually go and check on them now.... any help gratefully received!