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Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:52 am
by paynes1
My wormery is just coming up to a year old. The first tray has composted well so the worms have been doing their thing, and I have just started the second tray. When I transferred some compost to the new tray I found although there were many worms, including small 'babies', there were not as many as I expected. Nowhere near as many as put in originally, whereas I was expecting the numbers to increase.
Part of the reason I was bought the wormery was to have some worms for fishing, but I think if I take some out there will not be any left.
The wormery seems OK but perhaps lacking a few worms. Any thoughts or suggestions please?

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:29 pm
by Lilwriggler
Maybe they know their fate and are making a run for it before they reach bait size? Do you see many escapees around the wormery?

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 3:20 pm
by WillyWorm
Hi, most worm bins are capable of accommodating approximately 2,000 worms. The Wormcity bin is one of the larger bins on the market and can hold 2,500 worms so should easily meet your fishing needs.
There are a few reasons why some bins fail to reach this level of occupancy. Worms will self regulate their population to a lower level if 1) if there is insufficient food available. For this reason I use the “four corner feeding system” it enables me monitor that there is the right amount of food available and that I’m not over or under feeding my herd. 2) if they consider that there is a lack of space in the available area they are occupying. A worm bin can accommodate 1000 worms for every square foot/square 30cm of surface area of the bin. 3) other environmental factors can limit the breeding of worms, temperature too hot or too cold, moisture levels too wet or too dry, ph levels too high or too low. None of these are critical but together will influence birth rates.
You mentioned that you had just introduced a second tray after a year of setting up your wormery, maybe the worms felt the space in one tray was comfortable for a smaller group or that the casting had been eaten and passed through their bodies so often it was no longer palatable (casting can become toxic to worms after passing through them six times). Most systems will process a tray of usable castings every three to four months.
Having introduced another tray you may find the population may rise but any increase in numbers will be slow at this time of year.

Willy

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 4:48 pm
by paynes1
Lilwriggler wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:29 pm
Maybe they know their fate and are making a run for it before they reach bait size? Do you see many escapees around the wormery?
:)

Lilwriggler
Thanks for answering
I must admit that is something I always check, it is on a slab/gravel. I also always check the sump regularly although not many escapees are found there either.

Willy
From your other reply, there are certainly not 1000 ish worms, and the remaining ones seem healthy enough and there are small juvenile worms. As you say, eating will be starting to slow down for winter so I will perhaps get some more worms in Spring and possibly change the feeding regime.

Steve P

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:51 pm
by WillyWorm
Hi Steve, you maybe Surprised how quickly worms can grow their population. I regularly take a handful of worms from my bin to start new projects on the allotments, within a week or two the numbers seem to have returned to normal.
Good luck please keep us updated
Willy

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 9:26 am
by GabyG
Thanks for inviting me here. I know that your forum always offers something interesting to read. I wish you good luck. Please keep it good posting, I am sure you have many other cool discussions.

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 7:21 pm
by WillyWorm
Welcome to the forum GabyG good to have you here.

Willy

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:03 pm
by Polly145
It sounds disgusting that the first tray has composted well and the worms have been doing their thing. I do not even want to imagine it.

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 2:26 pm
by WillyWorm
Congratulations on a successful start to your worm keeping. Sounds like things are going well. Are keeping to dispose of kitchen waste, to improve/feed the garden, fishing or feed other animal's??
Willy

Re: Not as many worms as expected

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:07 am
by PamelaD
It was so interesting to read about your achievements. Long time ago I also played this game. Your blog, which I accidentally found, inspired me on going on. Thanks!