Moisture content of your worm bin

Good day everyone!

Last week I wrote a post regarding things that are bad for your bin. In that post I briefly mentioned the moisture content of the worm bin because I wanted to go in depth on the subject.  

Worms are very simple creatures, they need little to survive, but some people go overboard (giving too much), or on the other hand they neglect their worms and give them too little.  Worms need moisture. Have you ever been digging in your yard and found a worm? The soil is usually moist to the touch when you find worms like that. This tells us that worms, in their natural environment need moisture, but not too much. Have you noticed that when it rains worms will come up out of the ground(their natural home)? Too much water is bad for worms. 

So how wet is wet enough for the worm bin?  The worm bin contents should be damp to the touch, but not glistening (with water). Generally when I restart a bin (put in fresh bedding: shredded paper, dry leaves, etc) I will get a few cups of water and sprinkle them around the bin. Worms absorb water through their skin, and if their bin is too dry they will die.

Once the bin is damp it should stay that way. The top most layer of your bin should have a "bedding layer" that helps keep moisture in. Generally the bin will stay at the appropriate moisture level if you are keeping it indoors. If my bin is looking a little dry I will take a spray bottle with water and mist the top layer of the contents a few times to get it moist again.

Like I said earlier there are some people that over water their bins. The video below is an example of a bin that has too much water, and has no ventilation. If you look closely, the bin contents and the worms 'glisten' with water. This is a sign that they are too wet. This guy probably adds too much water to his worm bins, and that mixed with poor ventilation is causing his worms to flee from their home. As I said before worms are simple happy creatures and they want to stay in their bin, but if the conditions are less than pleasant they will leave.

Well, I hope this post has helped in your understanding of bin moisture and ventilation. Keep in mind that even though the moisture and ventilation of your worm bin are crucial, it is very simple to achieve and maintain a proper level in your bin.  Just don't over do it!

That is it for today. As always if you have anything you would like to add or if you have any questions leave a comment below!

Thanks!