Most Worms Are Dead

[mysticgeek]

Hey guys. I started my first worm bin this winter and started it off with 2 dozen Crawlers with newspaper moistened down .. and bread crumbs ... that was for a couple weeks... then i put in about 200 red worms and started putting in table scraps. So I would say I have had it for 9 months now... I am wondering if I didn't put in enough food or scraps ... because to be honest I kind of forgot about the bin.. everything is still composting though .. and I have a bin of thick black sludge now ... but only a couple worms to be found.
Did I not feed them enough? Is there a bad bacteria in there? Do you think I can add more worms to what is there and continue on or should I start over? Like I said this is my first time.. and I admit I forgot about it a lot and probably only put in scraps in like once a week or maybe once every two weeks at times.
Any help you guys could give me is greatly appreciated! Thanks. :cool:

[Backyard Permaculture]

If by sludge, you mean that it is soggy in the worm bed, you probably have been putting too much water in it. It should be damp "Like a wrung out sponge" although I keep mine a little damper than that.

Worms are adjustable. By that, I mean, they will adjust their population and size to the available food supply. When the population is too high for the available food supply, some worms will die and serve as food for the survivors.

The fact that you have a few survivors indicates the experiment didn't absolutely fail. I would just resume were you are.

Add fresh bedding to the bin, resume feeding the worms your veggie scraps, keep the bedding damp with suffiecient drainage, and your worms will repopulate all on thier own.

I probably have a couple hundred thousand worms in my various bins, and the pretty much take care of themselves.

All of these worms are decended from a Pepsi cup of about a dozen or so worms I gathered from a Permaculture Worm Bin Display at the Zoo.

Ron

[Garden Green]

To add to that great advice, make sure that it isn't too cold where they are. If it is too cold, they won't do well either.

[mysticgeek]

Cool. Thanks a lot guys... I will just continue going from where it is and make sure I remember to feed them.

[cityworm]

Cool. Thanks a lot guys... I will just continue going from where it is and make sure I remember to feed them.

Remember to feed them but also do not over feed. They will eat their weight in food every 1-2 days. Some of the scraps that you maybe feeding might have a higher moisture contat.

[gardengirl72]

Moisture is a big issue. Here is a link to Charles Darwins Book on worms. It's really interesting.
http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/formation-of-vegetable-mould/ (http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/formation-of-vegetable-mould/)

[mysticgeek]

You know... I think there is too much moisture in my bin. I have put in some zucchini and some other moisture rich veggies.
What is the best way to dry it up a bit? More Paper strips?

[cityworm]

You know... I think there is too much moisture in my bin. I have put in some zucchini and some other moisture rich veggies.
What is the best way to dry it up a bit? More Paper strips?

Paper or anything dry that you would normally put in.

[gardengirl72]

i just checked my worm bin and I have so many worms and worm castings. I also drained the pan of fantastic worm juice to use in my container garden.

[Cynthia]

How are your worms doing now?

[King North]

Hey guys. I started my first worm bin this winter and started it off with 2 dozen Crawlers with newspaper moistened down .. and bread crumbs ... that was for a couple weeks... then i put in about 200 red worms and started putting in table scraps. So I would say I have had it for 9 months now... I am wondering if I didn't put in enough food or scraps ... because to be honest I kind of forgot about the bin.. everything is still composting though .. and I have a bin of thick black sludge now ... but only a couple worms to be found.
Did I not feed them enough? Is there a bad bacteria in there? Do you think I can add more worms to what is there and continue on or should I start over? Like I said this is my first time.. and I admit I forgot about it a lot and probably only put in scraps in like once a week or maybe once every two weeks at times.
Any help you guys could give me is greatly appreciated! Thanks. :cool:

There's already some great advice here, so I can't offer much...

Just one word, actually:

"Cardboard"...

It works great for sopping up excess moisture.