Common worm composting problems
Problem with indoor worm composting bin: My composting worm bin smells! Solution: Plug your nose. Just kidding. My indoor composting bin generally smells….earthy. The times that I have smelled something else have been when I was over feeding the worms. If your composting worms are not actively working on the food you add, give them a break. Any leftovers for the next week can be sent out to your outdoor composting bin. Another reason you might have bad smells: adding spicy foods. Avoid onions and garlic. Finally, be sure to cover the active bin with plenty of shredded, and slightly wet, newspaper or cardboard. This should keep the smells down.
Problem with indoor worm composting bin: Fruit flies. Solution: hold off on adding over-ripe fruit for a bit. Cover the top of worm food with several inches of shredded newspaper. Move the indoor worm bin to a location nearer a spider web.
Problem with indoor worm composting bin: spider web near my worm composting bin has massive, well fed spiders. Solution: stop feeding them so many fruit flies!
Problem with tiny white mites in my indoor worm composting bin. They should just be more of a nuisance than anything. They won’t harm the worms. Try to cut back a bit on the grains (especially breads or pan cakes) you’re adding to the worm bins. Try to notice what they’re feeding on and stop adding it for awhile.
Problem: Mushrooms are growing in my compost! This isn’t really a problem. Fungi grows in damp, dark areas and feeds on many of the worm beddings you must be adding (shredded paper/cardboard, etc). Pull them out. They won’t hurt anything, and in some ways, demonstrate that more is going on in this cycle of life than just worms eating merrily. It takes more than just worms to really work the soil!
Problem: My wife won’t add food to the indoor worm composting bin. Solution: deal with it, pal. Count yourself lucky if your wife let you buy something that she isn’t particularly happy to have indoors. My wife helps separate out the worm food and stores it for me, but it’s my job to add it to the composting bins. My kids happily help, they love to see the worms making progress….but my wife just doesn’t care for that. She does agree, however, that it’s not smelly.
Be sure you’re not overfeeding worms in the indoor composting bins. You want them actively working on an area before you add more food. Keep the temperature moderate (55 to 75 is ideal) and be sure it’s not too wet. If you’ve added too much water, place dry paper towels or newspaper in the bins to absorb extra moisture. Worms like it wet, but don’t make them swim for their lives.
Worms shouldn’t try to escape their indoor worm composting bins. If they are, you’re doing something wrong. They should have a safe, slightly damp habitat with food….why leave? If you ever notice worms climbing out, take stock of what you’re doing wrong and fix it.