should i wait for my compost to cool down before adding worms?
i have my compost in a large metal bin, the bin is a bout 4 feet deep and 7 feet wide, ive only filled it up about 6 inches with fruit and hay. and it gets hot!
i was just wondering if that’s too hot for worms its not for the soldier fly larvae that are in my bin but i would think worms would like a couple of inches of cooler compost to live in…what do yall think?
It depends on whether you mean red wriggler worms or earthworms. The red wrigglers won’t find much to eat once the compost has cooled; they prefer their food only slightly rotten. They also can’t stand the heat.
If you mean earthworms, they would love the compost once it cools. They reproduce in early fall, so if you just heap the compost on the ground once it cools, you will have lots of big worms, and worm castings by spring.
Bacteria are cold- blooded; their activity slows down in cool temperatures, which is why food doesn’t spoil quickly in a refrigerator. In the hot compost, their activity is super accelerated; you don’t really need worms when the compost is hot.
the temperature has to be within certain degrees for the worms. 55 to 77.
they should be protected from freezing, and anything above 84 is too hot for them and they could die…
References :
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm
It depends on whether you mean red wriggler worms or earthworms. The red wrigglers won’t find much to eat once the compost has cooled; they prefer their food only slightly rotten. They also can’t stand the heat.
If you mean earthworms, they would love the compost once it cools. They reproduce in early fall, so if you just heap the compost on the ground once it cools, you will have lots of big worms, and worm castings by spring.
Bacteria are cold- blooded; their activity slows down in cool temperatures, which is why food doesn’t spoil quickly in a refrigerator. In the hot compost, their activity is super accelerated; you don’t really need worms when the compost is hot.
References :