Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Carrot is Just Not Enough...


My worms died! They were doing so well then I saw the "dirt" looked dry and I watered it a bit and now they are all dead... ?


  • Ellen Sandbeck Hmmmm.... How dry is dry? Was the compost completely dry before you watered it? Because if so, those worms were already dead. Do you think the worms died after you watered? Were there worm corpses after that? And if so, were they soft and pink (indicates they drowned) or were they kind of stiff and dark (indicates they were already dead of desiccation)?

  • C.I haven't found any. I am pretty sure they were alive when I watered them. I don't think they were dead - I thought they fed after that - but my memory is not good.

  • C I am going to have to get another handful or so from the guy who gave me the ones I killed. Re-read your book.

  • Ellen Sandbeck If you didn't see any dead worms after you watered, they didn't drown. Perhaps you had not fed them for a long time, and that is why the compost was so dry? If so, they may have starved.
    9 minutes ago · Like · 1

  • C There was a carrot in there that they didn't touch. I probably over-watered them. Or maybe they were dried out. I am a mass murderer in either case.

  • C And now I have flies.

  • Ellen Sandbeck It is possible that they starved. Whole carrots can take quite a long time to break down to the point where worms can eat them, because like other root vegetables, carrots can be root cellared, and a worm bin in a coolish location can act like a root cellar.

  • C I think that was what I did to kill them. Remorse.

  • Ellen Sandbeck Future generations of worms will benefit from their noble sacrifice. And in the future, make sure to cut up rot- resistant vegetables before you add them to the bin! (Rot resistant vegetables include all root vegetables and stems of cruciferous vegetables. Rot resistant fruits include any fruits that have a tough outer skin.)
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