No worms in my compost
By Kipper
Dorset, United Kingdom
There are no worms in my compost
although I fling in a handful or two
Its got me really puzzled why,
Ive offered them the remnants of the best veg I have had,
Is the offerings in my compost really all that bad?
Pray all you seasoned growers,tell me where they go
For its not for the want of trying
I Really do not know
- 29 Jan, 2009
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Answers
Usually in summer the compost bin is crawling with lots of small worms which must come from the soil. At the moment there is no sign of them - maybe they are hiding from the cold. Does your bin have a bottom or is it directly on the soil?
29 Jan, 2009
hi kipper,
just broken my compost heaps down and there were loads of little worms in there, mr robin had a field day!! but these worms are smaller than the normal garden worm and a reddish colour.do you have a cover on your compost heaps.................steve
30 Jan, 2009
Hi its Kipper
Thanks for your replies,I Have a lidded compost bin on bare soil,the waste still seems to be breaking down even with no evidence of worms.
30 Jan, 2009
With all the cold we've had maybe the worms have gone down deep so they don't freeze? Don't blame them...brrrrrr I must say I find loads of worms in my compo when I empty it, but I do tend to leave it a longish time - about 6 months - so maybe the compo gets more worm-friendly as time goes on?
30 Jan, 2009
The type of worms that live in the compost bin are not earthworms so don't put those in. They do go deeper in cold weather and as long as the base is open to the soil they will find their way in. Otherwise try a handful from a successful heap and when you start the next heap put some of the part-rotted stuff from the previous heap in as a 'starter'.
31 Jan, 2009
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I know you can get worm farms and you can chuck a load of them in a leaf mould bin, but as for normal compost I don't think they are supposed to be in there. Compost has heat and the worms do not like it.
29 Jan, 2009