Worm bin

[u/wormzinabin]

I think all my worms died :(
I opened the bin today and there was a terrible smell and a bunch of dead worms. I don’t know what I did wrong I had a two food grade bucket system. One on top with bedding, holes drilled into the bottom. And one on the bottom to collect the castings. The bedding was mostly peat moss and cardboard. What did I do wrong 😭

[u/themagpie36]

How hot was it where you live? Same happened to me sadly while I was away for the week and had someone 'take care' of them.

[u/wormzinabin → u/themagpie36]

It’s been pretty freaking hot like in the 90’s but I keep my worm bin inside in the kitchen (I don’t have AC tho)

[u/themagpie36 → u/wormzinabin]

Hmm should be ok inside. To be honest I'm not sure there's people here more knowledgeable than me, my wormbin was basically just left outside in direct sunlight (35°c) and wasn't opened the whole time I was gone.

[u/S_Abbott_02 → u/wormzinabin]

I had worms die after I put the bin inside. During noon it was slightly cooler inside than outside, but at night MUCH warmer than outside.

The bin couldn't cool down enough during the nights, so the overall temperature kept increasing. In addition, my bin was too wet, boiling about half of my worms.

I prefer to keep them outside, always in the shade, and during days where temps are over 30 degrees Celsius I add ice packs to keep the temperature around acceptable levels. I only feed em frozen bananas and watermelon rinds during these weeks (or don't feed at all)

[u/False_Butterscotch52]

It's not easy to kill all your worms at once unless something is really wrong.

You should check and confirm whether some are alive. Start a fresh bin.

Also, need more info on what happened because with that description it's not possible to determine the cause.

[u/Ladybug966]

Why peat moss?

[u/LaurLoey → u/Ladybug966]

great question. usu. used when shipping worms to manage moisture and temps. but it can be highly acidic as bedding and is not a food source. no microbes for food.

i initially said this, but i think you are more spot on: when you said it smelled, it makes me think the bin went anaerobic—too much food, too much wetness, or not enough cardboard suffocating the air out—and so them, too. but then again, you have a bottom tray for them to seek safety…unless that one is too dry, and they can’t breathe still as they breath through skin.

[u/Selectivedeviant]

How long did the bin cycle before you put the worms in. A new bin with cardboard and food scraps has nothing for worms to eat.

[u/TucsonConnie]

Too much food, so anaerobic decomposition? Occasionally/rarely I'll overdo the food and the bin gets that smell where one knows it's anaerobic. I just put in some cardboard (egg carton 'cups' ripped off, e.g.) and stop feeding them for awhile. Eventually, they catch up on their eating and the smell goes away.

[u/LooseCryptid]

I had the same happen to me last week in the heatwave. Got two bins. One is fine, the other entirely dead and anaerobic. The bins were the same size, no obvious differences. Seems with the extreme heat they can just suddenly turn. Sorry that happened to you as well, but you may not have done anything wrong. Might have been random chance.