A Worm Bin Should Not Stink?
Do you have “Stinky Bin Syndrome”?
What is “Stinky Bin Syndrome”? Walk into any mens locker room (I can only guess what a womens locker room smells like..haha). That familiar stink is the pungent aroma of anaerobic bacteria….for simplicity, we’ll call it SBS.
Have you ever started a worm bin, then had friends or neighbors come over and ask, “What is…..that….smell”? The truth is, nobody should know that you are doing worm composting. When done correctly, there is almost zero smell. Even if you pick up the bedding and put it to your nose, the smell should be a natural earthy smell…..not stink.
There are 2 main causes of SBS, both of them involving “Too Much”.
Too Much Food
and/or
Too Much Water
Too Much Food-You want only the best for your worms. Sometimes, you even like your worms better then your kids, cause the worms never talk back! So, you do the natural overprotective thing and make sure they have plenty of food. The problem is, when the amount of scraps are significantly greater than the processing capacity of the worms…they turns into what best can be described as…sewage. Nasty, Nasty, Nasty.
The Worm Dude’s Common Sense Approach:
Start out with only a handful or two of produce scraps. Pocket Feed your worms (Unbury the damp bedding in a corner, dump in the produce scraps, cover them thoroughly, then go have a Margarita). Every few days check and see if the scraps have been eaten. When the scraps are completely gone, feed again. Soon you will know approximately how quickly and how much your worms will eat, and can add or subtract the amount of food appropriately. Excess produce scraps go into a slop bucket (I just use a 5 gallon bucket with many small airholes), or the freezer. Scraps coming out of the slop bucket are usually soupy, which is the perfect consistency for your worms. Food defrosted from the freezer gets mushy very quickly…also a good thing. No need for a blender or food processor(Except for the Margarita’s) when with a little planning, nature will do the job for you.
Too Much Water-Be honest here. Did you buy a stackable worm bin with a way cool spigot…then challenge yourself to use the spigot (Or die trying), by pouring a bunch of water into your bedding? C’mon…we’ve all done it! The truth is, if you have water coming out of the spout, your bin is excessivly wet. Before leachate will drain, it needs to collect at a minimum level to reach the spigot. If you have so much leachate collected that it flows freely from the way cool spigot, woops…too much!
The Worm Dude’s Common Sense Approach:
Your goal should be to have light, fluffy bedding…with the consistency of a wrung out sponge.
In a plastic bin, your greatest challenge is moisture management (Ie, how to avoid too much liquid). Because all your produce scraps naturally add liquid, If you are not careful…SBS From Hell!
Before EVER adding water, fluff your bedding. Usually, that will do the trick. If you need to add water…think about how you can successfully control the amount of water you are adding. A 2 liter bottle will add tons of moisture and drench your bin (The Worm Dude’s Method of choice when he was a Rookie Worm Dude)! Instead, use a spray bottle, or the mister attachment to your hose. Ahh…just right!
Your worms, your neighbors, and your nose will all THANK YOU!
Tags: anaerobic bacteria, red wigglers, Redworms, Stinky Bin Syndrome, worms