Comments on: Why Are My Worms Trying To Escape??

By: Lola Ray

Lola Ray — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:55:58 +0000

I just got 2 lbs. of eisenia foetida & this is my first attempt at vermiculture. I had a bunch of dry scented geranium (peppermint) leaves which I crushed and moisturized and added as part of the bedding, along with shredded cardboard & a little garden dirt & a couple of eggshells. Your article was referred to me ’cause I was worried about my worms congregating at the top of the bin. My question is: Do you think maybe they don’t like peppermint scented leaves? Any other comment?

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:07:01 +0000

I kindah have a problem I guess. I have my worms in a bin outside. In POTTING SOIL. They are still alive. But will they die? I didn’t see any worms trying to get out. YET. I use soda bottles that work like a drip system to keep the soil moist.
I read on. Wikipedia that the worms may try to escape after a rainstorm when the outside humidity is high. Well, it just rained. The bin has nothing to cover it. Will they try to escape??? When I read that, I started to become worried.
I don’t use any lights either. The lights won’t heat up the bin? I live in Curacao. It’s like always hot here.
I also got a few worms in half soda bottles. I found 2 worms outside once. And I used normal soil and didn’t give any food. But tomorrow I will put cardboard or something on top.

By: Selina

Selina — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:37:03 +0000

I live in a small apt in the middle of the city, and am trying to go green. I work alot and since I have no backyard, I decided to vermicompost in my basement/garage which is always 60′F. It’s a small kitchen trashcan, tons of holes and screening over that. Main point, that wasn’t mentioned that I saw. Is temperature!!!! My worms were always trying to escape until I got them off the floor. NOT one problem since then. It literally stopped within the hour. Hopefully, this info will help someone else.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:55:56 +0000

Hi and thank you for your wonderfully informative section on escaping worms!

I started my bin about a month and a half ago with a 1/2 lb. of worms and they used to clump along the exterior corners of my bin, but that’s mostly stopped now after I added dry shredded paper.

However, after this amount of time and just adding a second tray (it’s a 4-tray, vertically-stacked system), there are a handful of worms that seem to be leaving every day. On average, I’d say around 8 per day seems to be the norm. But that doesn’t seem normal to me. I’ve left the kitchen light on all night, the temp is fine, the moisture is fine, the food scraps I’m feeding them do not contain citrus nor am I feeding them anything bad (onions, dairy, meat, etc.). My only theory is that it was getting too crowded in there for the population, which is why I added the second tray, but since adding that new tray yesterday, there have been between 5-8 worms leaving the bin.

So should I just ignore these dummies that brave the light and dry conditions that await them outside the bin? Obviously it’s better to have a handful or two rather than the entire population attempt to flee, but it’s still disconcerting when, after this amount of time and what I think are pretty good conditions, the worms haven’t settled down into their new habitat.

I’d appreciate to know what your thoughts are on this. Thanks!

By: Bef

Bef — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:00:08 +0000

My worms arrived yesterday and this morning they were everywhere. Will take some of your good advice tomorrow and try and make them a bit happier – great post by the way, very much appreciated!

By: Irina

Irina — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:10:53 +0000

This was so exquisitely helpful, I can’t even tell you. I woke up this morning, my second day of trying this urban composting experiment, to find a worm cemetery all over my kitchen floor and a lid FILLED with clumps of worms. My skin crawled so violently, I literally just left the house and fretted about the situation all day at work. I read this while worrying and immediately felt so much better. Two hours into the implementation of above advice, all is quiet in the worm bin. Thank you!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:21:33 +0000

Good question, Warren! I mostly do it by hand. Pretty easy with egg carton cardboard, but it will help if you corrugated cardboard is moistened first.
I’ve heard of people having success with heavy duty paper shredders, and would imagine various chippers and grinders would work as well.

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:17:13 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of people suggest shredded cardboard. What is the easiest way to shred it? Are you using a paper shredder?

By: B

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:43:06 +0000

Has anyone tried something like double sided tape around the inside of the bin near the lid? I don’t know if this would deter the woms from going further or if they’d stick to it!

By: Sonia

Sonia — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:35:34 +0000

I just got mine two days ago and have been checking on them several times a day. Found about 10-20 stretched around the top. Thought I was going to kill the lot of them until I read this. Will add more shredded newspaper at the top and see what happens. Fingers crossed!