The Bad

Hello Everyone!

Today I am going to talk about things that are bad for worms and worm bins. There are a few things that you should not put into your bins, as they are either bad for your worms, bad for your bin, or bad for you.

Lets start out with what you are giving to your worms. Worms will eat darn near anything, that being said there are a few things that you shouldn't feed them very often, or not feed them at all. Below is a list of Do's and Don't's, along with some maybes...



Do's:

Fruit: Pretty much any fruit will be good for the worms, except for citrus (orange, lime etc are bad for the worms.).  A word of caution, the skins of fruits and vegetables are harder for the worms to get through, so make sure you blend them up well or leave them in long enough for the worms to get through.

Vegetables: Again, pretty much all vegetables will be quickly consumed by a bin full of worms. Avoid potato skins, onions, and garlic as they are harder to consume and will add an odor to the bin.

Grains: Cereals like oats or wheat can be added to the bin as well, But avoid breads because they can attract unwanted insects.

Paper products: You can put in just about any paper product and the worms will be happy. This means that you can put tea bags, coffee & coffee filter (too much coffee will make your bin acidic though...), card board, news paper, etc.  Just make sure you shred your paper to make it easier to consume and also make sure you don't put in glossy or coated paper like photo paper or shiny news paper.

Yard clippings: As I have stated in previous posts the worms are able to go through yard clippings. Dead grass, dead leaves, and other dead plant matter is the worms natural food source, so obviously this will be healthy for them.


Don't's: 

Dont add any candy, chips, or junk food. They are bad for the worms, and they attract ants and other insects.

Also, don't and anything that isn't biodegradable. The worms wont be happy.

Dont add cat or dog poo to the bin. Only herbivore poo should be added. So even if your pets eat a veggie only diet don't try to recycle their waste unless they are herbivores.



That should just about cover it. If there is anything I need to add put it in a comment below.



Now, food isn't the only thing you need to worry about putting in your bin. There are two other things that I will breifly touch on and then go into further detail in futrue posts. (The Bugs)

First, water. Too much water and your worms wont want to stay inside your bin. Too little water and your worms will be unable to stay hydrated and they will die. Look out for my future posts on this topic and I will go into much greater detail.

The second thing to watch out for when adding to your bin is insects. I only had my worm bin for about 2 weeks when I had unknowingly added fruit (probably apple or banana) to the bin that contained fruit flies.  Read my post about how to avoid and get rid of fruit flies that I will be writing shortly.


Well thank you all for reading. Please if you have any questions or comments leave a comment below.